Remake for the Original Witcher game announced: What will it look like?

Polish video game developer CD Projekt RED is working on a remake of its debut game, the first in the The Witcher series. The developer tweeted that the project, code-named Canis Majoris, the game will be remade from scratch and translated into the Unreal Engine 5 (the old version of the game uses Aurora engine from BioWare).

CD Projekt RED is working with the Polish studio Fool's Theory, which has 7 years of experience in supporting the development of AAA-games. Moreover, this studio was involved in the development of the second and third games in the series - The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (2011) and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015).

Why does the first The Witcher deserve a remake?

The first The Witcher game was released back in 2007. The action takes place in the world described in the books by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski: the game, like the next two, tells about the adventures of Geralt of Rivia after the book events.

The world of The Witcher is different from most fantasy game worlds: it is more 'mature', there is no clear division into black and white, evil and good, and most of the characters are not driven by abstract forces and ideas, but quite earthly, human needs and feelings.

Even before its official release the has received many prizes and awards - at exhibitions and from gaming magazines. Even more awards and high praise it received after its release.

Although the first game about The Witcher is really interesting, today its graphics looks a little outdated (although you can play it quite comfortably after installing some user mods). And many fans of the third game, who call it - and not without reason - one of the best and best-selling games in the world, have never played the first game or even the second. A remake could remedy this situation and bring a lot of attention to The Witcher, undeservedly ignored by young gamers.

What do we know about The Witcher remake?

What exactly the developers mean by a remake from scratch - it's hard to say yet. But most likely, the remake will mainly affect the game's graphic part, and the story and characters will remain unchanged. It is possible that some (or all) of Geralt's combat skills, as well as his level-up system may also be updated.

For now, the game is in the early stages of development, and more news and details will come in the future.

"We're thrilled to reveal that, together with @Fools_Theory, we're working on remaking The Witcher using Unreal Engine 5 (codename: Canis Majoris)! We want to do this right, so please be patient — it's gonna be a while until we can share more details," the developers tweeted.

We're thrilled to reveal that, together with @Fools_Theory, we're working on remaking The Witcher using Unreal Engine 5 (codename: Canis Majoris)!

We want to do this right, so please be patient — it's gonna be a while until we can share more details.
⚔️ https://t.co/6VCAokPgXs pic.twitter.com/ERFOXQrUEP

— The Witcher (@witchergame) October 26, 2022

Other games in The Witcher universe

CD Projekt RED is also planning to release three brand new sequels for The Witcher, but still not much is known about them. The code name of one of them is Polaris, but there's no release date yet, or any information about whether this game will be about Heralt or any other character from this universe. At least one of the upcoming games, as far as we can tell from the teaser picture, will be about a character from the School of Lynx.

Three more sequels, which will also be developed in Unreal 5, are scheduled for release over the next six years.