Support NeoGAF

[LectureMaster]

Baldur's Gate 3 is 'an inspiration' for CD Projekt, but it's all-in on big open worlds: 'We are definitely not going to make a game like Larian did'

Open worlds aren't as novel now as they were when The Witcher 3 came out, but CDPR isn't keen to abandon its signature style.

www.pcgamer.com

---

Confirmed best PC game Baldur's Gate 3 brought CRPG stylings back into the spotlight, and more than that, proved the enduring appeal of an exceptionally reactive, player-driven story with emergent narratives and shenanigans aplenty.

But while the game's success was "an inspiration" according to CD Projekt's joint CEO Michał Nowakowski, it's not necessarily the direction development division CD Projekt Red (CDPR)'s games are headed.

Speaking to PC Gamer's Joshua Wolens, Nowakowski said "There was a lot of inspiration in what Baldur's Gate 3 did, but I think we're still sticking to what was in Witcher 3, Cyberpunk. But we don't want to just make another game like that, just with better graphics. We do want to innovate."

As for how, Nowakowski didn't have anything to reveal just yet. But he doubled down on the fact that it wouldn't resemble Divinity or Baldur's Gate: "We definitely are not going to make a game like Larian did.

"That's the kind of game they can make. But a lot of stuff with how they can interact with the world and what it does was, for sure, some inspiration to us."

Of course, CDPR has taken The Witcher in new directions before with spinoffs like Gwent and Thronebreaker. But as Nowakowski told Joshua, "we made at some point the decision that the in-house team has to focus on the key pillar games rather than doing spinoffs … maybe that's going to change, but at the moment, the way we are structured right now, we don't necessarily want to walk away from that."

I'm keen to see what the next open-world game from CDPR looks like. Cyberpunk took a while to find its footing, but it turned out pretty snazzy in the end, and it's no secret that The Witcher 3 is one of the best RPGs in the biz. It cured my open-world fatigue once; maybe the next entry can similarly tear me away from my nth replay of Baldur's Gate.

 

[Danny Dudekisser]

I just want some damn focus. The mechanics need to feel good and make sense within the context of the game. The world can be big, but endless expanse for no purpose is not fun. Even less so than when W3 came out in 2015, because the novelty of doing that is completely gone at this point. Give me well-crafted quests instead of detective mode. And for God's sake, polish the first go-round of one of your games for once.

 

[Loomy]

From a storytelling and narrative design perspective, that's a good inspiration to have.

 

[calico]

"we made at some point the decision that the in-house team has to focus on the key pillar games rather than doing spinoffs …"

They're literally all working on a Ciri spinoff of The Witcher right now.

 

[Kumomeme]

i just hope it has proper responsiveness to the animation this time.

 

[timothet]

"we made at some point the decision that the in-house team has to focus on the key pillar games rather than doing spinoffs …"

They're literally all working on a Ciri spinoff of The Witcher right now.

The Witcher 4, as the name suggests, is a continuation, not a spinoff. If you ever read the books or played W3(Blood and Wine expansion especially), you would've know the story was heading that way. Geralt's story is over for now, give him a well deserved break. CDPR have been very clear in their communication about that for the last decade.
I'd rather see them try new things than milk the fuck out of Geralt just because some people are attached to him.

 

[UltimaKilo]

I would like to hear more about the Witcher 3 expansion they're supposedly working on to bridge the story with Witcher 4. Do something interesting with that.

 

[Dazraell]

I would like to hear more about the Witcher 3 expansion they're supposedly working on to bridge the story with Witcher 4. Do something interesting with that.

It's apparently coming next year, but it's not CDPR who is making it but an external studio which is also working on The Witcher 1 remake. That thing about bridging the story with Witcher 4 was only leaker's speculation though not a part of their report

 

[UltimaKilo]

It's apparently coming next year, but it's not CDPR who is making it but an external studio which is also working on The Witcher 1 remake. That thing about bridging the story with Witcher 4 was only leaker's speculation though not a part of their report

Ah that makes sense. Still, I hope the expansion is great. Both expansions were incredible, so much so that it's almost unfair to call them "expansions" at all, so expectations will be high.

I'm guessing Witcher 3 expansion 2026, Witcher 4 in 2028.

 

[Dazraell]

Ah that makes sense. Still, I hope the expansion is great. Both expansions were incredible, so much so that it's almost unfair to call them "expansions" at all, so expectations will be high.

I'm guessing Witcher 3 expansion 2026, Witcher 4 in 2028.

It's certainly an odd decision to make an expansion to over a decade old game, but at a same time I can see a logic behind it. Fool's Theory aka devs of that rumored expansion wrapped up their last project (The Thaumaturge) last year and were ready to move on to their next project for which they already had a contract signed. Witcher 1 remake is supposed to use the same tech as Witcher 4 and with CDPR working with Epic on improving Unreal 5 and Witcher 4 being still in pre-production at that time meant Fool's Theory may had to wait until all of the things will be ready for them to jump in. So it would make sense they couldn't involve entire team with working on a remake, so having key people being involved with prototyping TW1 remake and the rest being delegated to an expansion to TW3 which most recently received official mod tools would made sense to act as kind of a "stop gap" for them

As for launch date, it looks like it's coming for this generation (the tech demo they shown runned on PS5) so I would guess it might come late 2027. It's just my guess though

 

[Infested Goblin]

Wait, this story bridge dlc for witcher 3 is really happening lol?

 

[calico]

The Witcher 4, as the name suggests, is a continuation, not a spinoff.

It is by definition a spinoff. Not that a spinoff can't also be a continuation.

Geralt's story is over for now

Yes, exactly. Geralt being the character the title was referencing specifically in The Witcher 1-3.

How would reading the books inform us where the story is going given all of the games are set after the books?

It's certainly an odd decision to make an expansion to over a decade old game, but at a same time I can see a logic behind it.

If it happens, it's going to be interesting to see if they even try and bridge the gap from Empress Ciri to TW4, or if they treat that as a non-canon ending.

 

[Dazraell]

If it happens, it's going to be interesting to see if they even try and bridge the gap from Empress Ciri to TW4, or if they treat that as a non-canon ending.

Leaker thing aside, CDPR already confirmed for investors they're working with Fool's Theory on a smaller unnanounced video game related project that isn't tied to Witcher 1 remake. Better question is how big this rumored expansion will be and what exactly it's about

As for Empress thing, if I remember correctly devs stated that none of the endings breaks the canon they've planned. So they may come up with a possible answers for all endings why she decided to go through witcher trials and her Empress heritage may still be a part of the story in one way or another. It'll be an entire trilogy after all, so I wouldn't be surprised if at least one of the future games will be set in Nilfgaard empire and touch upon this plot point

But imo that's a problem of the sequels and using characters whose futures can be drastically different depending on the endings. For continuing the story you still have to find a way to put those branches on the same track so new story could happen, which often cheapens the value of those original endings

 

[StereoVsn]

The Witcher 4, as the name suggests, is a continuation, not a spinoff. If you ever read the books or played W3(Blood and Wine expansion especially), you would've know the story was heading that way. Geralt's story is over for now, give him a well deserved break. CDPR have been very clear in their communication about that for the last decade.
I'd rather see them try new things than milk the fuck out of Geralt just because some people are attached to him.

I wish we could have had "make my own Witcher" character instead. It worked with Cyberpunk and would have worked for Witcher 4.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

couldnt get into witcher3
combat felt like trash

 

[Hero_Select]

 

[Physiognomonics]

I hope they'll get inspired by Eden Ring combat in TW4. 10 years ago TW3 shitty combat was OK but they really need to improve it.

 

[Killer8]

They should be taking the inspiration from other open world games like GTA and Red Dead Redemption 2, not RPGs. Although i'd argue the latter practically is one.

 

[MidGenRefresh]

From a storytelling and narrative design perspective, that's a good inspiration to have.

Can't wait for every character in The Witcher 4 to want to fuck me after exchanging two sentences. Such great narrative design.

 

[Sticks]

 

[DeepEnigma]

Can't wait for every character in The Witcher 4 to want to fuck me after exchanging two sentences. Such great narrative design.

*looks in the direction of new companion*

*Astarion wants to fuck you now.*

 

[MidGenRefresh]

*looks in the direction of new companion*

*Astarion wants to fuck you now.*

I read it in that annoying narrator voice.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

I like Ciri and she's definitely going to have more potential than Geralt due to her Elder Blood powers.

Don't care for BG3 as I was never interested in it but if that means Witcher 4 would have more options to do quests than I'm all for it. Although Witcher 3 already have a good amount of options for doing things differently.

 

[A.Romero]

I hope they continue doing their own thing. I absolutely loved Witcher 3, it's one of my most played games.

Hopefully the movement will be improved. I've been playing Ghost of Yotei recently and the controls feel pretty good for an action adventure game. I haven't played Asscreed since Origins but I'd think that could be a good approach as well. To me it was the only glaring fault of the game but the rest compensated for that and more.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

*looks in the direction of new companion*

*Astarion wants to fuck you now.*

"careful, i bite"

astarion never left my party

 

[geary]

CDRP just hired the Lead Quest Designer from KCD2 for the W4 project. Let's hope will go in that direction with the quests.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

The Witcher 4, as the name suggests, is a continuation, not a spinoff. If you ever read the books or played W3(Blood and Wine expansion especially), you would've know the story was heading that way. Geralt's story is over for now, give him a well deserved break. CDPR have been very clear in their communication about that for the last decade.
I'd rather see them try new things than milk the fuck out of Geralt just because some people are attached to him.

The problem with what they are trying to do is making the main character - Ciri - into an RPG trope. She is literally one of the most powerful beings in existence, a Lady of Space and Time. Yet we will start at Lvl.1 with no powers probably, that's going to be lame.

 

[Bernkastel]

They should take inspiration from Kingdom Come Deliverance 2

 

[Loomy]

The problem with what they are trying to do is making the main character - Ciri - into an RPG trope. She is literally one of the most powerful beings in existence, a Lady of Space and Time. Yet we will start at Lvl.1 with no powers probably, that's going to be lame.

Welcome to video games!

 

[pudel]

The problem with what they are trying to do is making the main character - Ciri - into an RPG trope. She is literally one of the most powerful beings in existence, a Lady of Space and Time. Yet we will start at Lvl.1 with no powers probably, that's going to be lame.

They could explain that with the trials...as she is supposed to be some kind of witcheress now. I am really curious.

 

[Pasta la Vista]

They dont dont have the talent for it even if they wanted to.

 

[UltimaKilo]

It's certainly an odd decision to make an expansion to over a decade old game, but at a same time I can see a logic behind it. Fool's Theory aka devs of that rumored expansion wrapped up their last project (The Thaumaturge) last year and were ready to move on to their next project for which they already had a contract signed. Witcher 1 remake is supposed to use the same tech as Witcher 4 and with CDPR working with Epic on improving Unreal 5 and Witcher 4 being still in pre-production at that time meant Fool's Theory may had to wait until all of the things will be ready for them to jump in. So it would make sense they couldn't involve entire team with working on a remake, so having key people being involved with prototyping TW1 remake and the rest being delegated to an expansion to TW3 which most recently received official mod tools would made sense to act as kind of a "stop gap" for them

As for launch date, it looks like it's coming for this generation (the tech demo they shown runned on PS5) so I would guess it might come late 2027. It's just my guess though

You're probably correct on your timeline and assessment, your logic is sound.

The third expansion will also provide them with a cash infusion and give them some breathing room on both the Witcher remake, and the Witcher 4, with now a 3-4 year roadmap.