CD Projekt Red Confirms The Witcher 1 Remake Has Been Pushed Back

CD Projekt Red has revealed that the remake of the original The Witcher, being developed externally by Fool's Theory, has been delayed due to technical dependencies tied to The Witcher 4.

In an interview with The Game Business, CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michał Nowakowski explained that Fool's Theory was originally brought on specifically to work on the Witcher 1 remake. However, the studio determined the project needed more development time because of underlying technology tied to The Witcher 4 the tech that the remake would presumably need to be built on top of.

They were supposed to work on The Witcher 1, but we realized that needed a bit more time because of certain technology dependencies with The Witcher 4

Rather than sit idle, Fool's Theory pivoted to a different project altogether: Songs of the Past, the first expansion for The Witcher 3 in over a decade, tied to the newly announced The Witcher 3 Remastered edition — which itself launches within the next month as a free upgrade for existing owners.

Nowakowski described the shift as something of a happy accident. CD Projekt Red had long considered The Witcher 3 a "closed book," with an old, shelved idea for a third expansion sitting untouched. The collaboration with Fool's Theory reopened that door.

Importantly, Nowakowski's comments suggest this is a scheduling and technical-dependency issue rather than a cancellation the Witcher 1 remake still appears to be on CD Projekt Red's roadmap, just waiting on foundational tech being built for The Witcher 4 before full development resumes.

The news comes as CD Projekt Red confirms it is now juggling three major projects simultaneously for the first time in its 20-year history: The Witcher 4, a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, and a new original IP codenamed Project Hadar. The studio has also moved away from its proprietary REDengine in favor of Unreal Engine 5, a shift Nowakowski says should make it easier to move development resources between projects going forward.