The Witcher, CD Projekt's first game, is getting a full remake

The Witcher, the 2007 RPG that put CD Projekt on the map, is being remade. The studio announced the remake today, saying that it is "being rebuilt from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5."

"The Witcher is where it all started for us, for CD Projekt Red," studio head Adam Badowski said. "It was the first game we made, ever, and it was a big moment for us then. Going back to this place and remaking the game for the next generation of gamers to experience it feels just as big, if not bigger.

The remake is being developed by Polish studio Fool's Theory, the developer of Seven: The Days Long Gone, with CD Projekt providing "full creative supervision." Fool's Theory CEO Jakub Rokosz previously worked as a quest designer on The Witcher 2 and Witcher 3.

"Collaborating with Fool’s Theory on the project is just as exciting, as some of the people there have been previously involved in The Witcher games," Badowski said. "They know the source material well, they know how much gamers have been looking forward to seeing the remake happen, and they know how to make incredible and ambitious games. And although it will take some time before we’re ready to share more about and from the game, I know it’ll be worth the wait."

The original Witcher was an outstanding RPG, but it was also pretty quirky in some notable ways. The most obvious was its combat, which relied on rhythmic mouse clicks to simulate smooth, flowing swordplay. I liked the system after I got used to it, but it was so completely different from other skill-based or click-to-spam combat systems that some players struggled with it. 

I imagine that will be changed in the remake for something more conventional—and I expect the in-game cards that Geralt could collect for scoring with the many available and attractive ladies in the game (a relic of a very different era and culture) will be gone too.

CD Projekt confirmed that The Witcher remake is "Canis Majoris," one of the two spin-off games announced earlier this month. No further details have been revealed: CD Projekt said on Twitter that "we want to do this right, so please be patient."