Witcher fans who can’t get enough of the character have cause to celebrate as Geralt of Rivia will be returning in two upcoming projects. While CD PROJEKT RED has been busy getting new content, updates, and features out for Cyberpunk 2077 it has also begun shifting resources over to the next game, aka Project Polaris. To date, not much has been revealed and there’s been much speculation about who the main protagonist will be, but game director Sebastian Kalemba has provided several details about it in an interview with Italian website Lega Nerd. The next game will pick up some years after The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and will see the return of the iconic character. A quote was provided via Insider Gaming but it has seemingly been removed or edited from the original interview.
Per Insider Gaming:
“The Witcher 4 won’t be out for some years, and it’ll be a long time since the previous one, so we cannot just target the audience already fond of the saga. We must also build a new community. On that note, I believe I can say it’ll be an excellent entry point for many players, without forgetting the long-time fans who still wish to follow Geralt’s adventures.”
Kalemba, who was also the lead animator on the last game and Cyberpunk 2077, is now the game director of the next trilogy. Sebastian emphasizes how CDPR’s goal is to make the game still based on lore while allowing players freedom to make their own choices similar to what has been done with the first trilogy and Cyberpunk 2077. Other goals include keeping things familiar while not completely duplicating, or cloning, what has already been done.
Per Lega Nerd (machine translated):
“We want to continue in the same direction we had taken, but we don’t want to play the same game, I would say that this is a given. We have some elements of the lore that need to be confirmed, on the other hand the universe is always the same and we cannot go beyond certain limits. We must therefore follow a very specific direction by innovating.”
Kalemba adds that the next game while continuing the story of Geralt of Rivia, is also being designed as a means to bring in a new audience to the franchise. What is still left unknown is if Geralt will be the main character and if Doug Cockle will return to voice him.
“At the same time it is clear that we have to try to please a new audience. The next chapter will arrive in a few years and after many years from the last The Witcher, so we cannot expect to target only the audience who was already fond of the saga. We also need to create a new community and on this I think I can say that it will be an excellent entry point for many players, without forgetting those who are fond of the saga and will want to continue experiencing Geralt’s exploits.”
The Witcher: Sirens of The Deep
Meanwhile, Netflix very unceremoniously released a teaser trailer for a new animated series it says will arrive in late 2024. It has not even provided a description for the series yet but fans of Geralt of Rivia can look forward to Doug Cockle reprising the role of the character he’s widely been accepted as being the definitive voice of. Doug’s return has been confirmed via IMDB. The trailer does show Geralt hunting monsters and then becoming involved in an even greater plot.