• CD Projekt Group shared its plans for the next few years in a strategy update.
• There are five projects in the works, one of which is a new Witcher trilogy.
• Multiplayer is coming to all new CD Projekt titles.

With developer and publisher CD Projekt Group enjoying a morsel of success with Cyberpunk 2077 thanks to Netflix’s Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the Polish firm took time to detail its plans for the next few years.

A strategy update from the firm (PDF) has revealed all the balls it has in the air at the moment and if we’re honest, the plans for the future are highly ambitious.

There are a number of titles in the works namely:

• Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty – Major expansion for Cyberpunk 2077 (in final production stage with a 350+ strong team working on the project).
• Project Sirius – “An innovative take on The Witcher universe telling an unforgettable story for existing Witcher fans and new audiences.” (in pre-production with 60 staff working on the project).
• Project Polaris – A story driven RPG built on the legacy of the Witcher that will play out across three games released over six years. (in pre-production with a team of 150+ involved).
• Project Canis Majoris – Single player open-world RPG set in the world of The Witcher (contracted by a 3rd party studio led by ex-Witcher veterans)
• Project Orion – Cyberpunk 2077 sequel (no news).

Aside from the forthcoming Cyberpunk expansion, there is no real timeline for when gamers can expect any of these projects. Project Polaris alone sounds like a mammoth task and that’s without mentioning the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel. Considering that it took the first game nearly a decade to launch in a broken state, we don’t expect to see that sequel this decade.

We are also incredibly concerned about the pressure this timeline places on developers. CD Projekt is infamous for its culture of crunch and while changes have been promised, these projects are sure to put those promises to the test.

Surprisingly, CD Projekt also announced that multiplayer would be heading to “most of” its new games. This added complexity is sure to cause headaches and while it was planned for a follow up to Cyberpunk 2077, those plans were scrapped.

“Previously we hinted that our next triple-A would be a multiplayer Cyberpunk game, but we have decided to reconsider this now. Given our new more systematic and agile approach, instead of primarily focusing on one big online experience or game, we are focusing on bringing online into all of our franchises one day,” CD Projekt chief executive officer Adam Kiciński was quoted as saying last year.

It seems then that the time has arrived for an online component to enter CD Projekt titles.

Hopefully we see these new titles launch before the decade is up but, we’re not really hopeful given CD Projekt’s massive lead times when releasing a game.