The remake of the first Witcher has been pushed aside, and the reason is neither money nor trouble at the studio. CD Projekt joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski explained to The Game Business that the game needs more time because of technology dependencies on The Witcher 4, and that Fool's Theory got busy with something else in the meantime.
What Nowakowski said
We started a collaboration with Fool's Theory. They were supposed to work on The Witcher 1 remake, but we realized that needed a bit more time because of certain technology dependencies with The Witcher 4.
Michał Nowakowski, joint-CEO of CD Projekt, to The Game BusinessTranslated out of corporate speak: the remake is built in Unreal Engine 5, and CD Projekt is building The Witcher 4 on the same engine with its own set of in-house tools. Until those tools are finished, making a second game on them means rebuilding it later.
What the team did instead
The freed up time did not go to waste. According to Nowakowski, two things grew out of the conversations around that pause: the updated edition of The Witcher 3 and Songs of the Past, the first expansion for the third game in over a decade.
- It started with small things. The team looked at a game more than ten years old, began fixing minor bits, and it turned into a full remaster.
- The update is a gift. Nowakowski says charging for it was never even a question they asked themselves: it goes free to people who already own the game.
- The expansion came out of a drawer. The idea for a third expansion had existed for years and sat unused. One conversation led to another, and they decided to give Geralt one more ride.
When the remake actually arrives
There is no date, and the interview did not offer one. Back in February, analysts at Noble Securities reported the remake slipping to 2028, but that is an outside estimate rather than a company commitment.
The careful arithmetic goes like this: The Witcher 4 is planned for 2028 and the remake depends on its technology. So it cannot land before the fourth game, and it is more sensible to expect it after.
There is not much to be upset about. A 2007 remake is not going anywhere, and in its place players get a refreshed third game plus an expansion nobody was expecting. As trades go these days, that is a decent one.
Sources
Quote and explanation: Michał Nowakowski's interview with The Game Business, August 2026.
The 2028 estimate: reports from Noble Securities analysts, February 2026, which is not a company commitment.
