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The Witcher 4 is being 'intensively worked on,' but Cyberpunk 2 is keeping most of its senior devs to 'preserve' the RPG's DNA

CD Projekt Red confirms that The Witcher 4 is in active development, with a team of experienced developers from Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion working on the project to preserve its core DNA. The studio is committed to sustainable development practices to avoid crunch and ensure the well-being of its team.

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CD Projekt Red has revealed The Witcher 4 is being "intensively worked on," and that most of Cyberpunk 2077's devs are staying on for the sequel to "preserve" its DNA. 

In an interview with Aftermath, Paweł Sasko - who worked as quest director on Phantom Liberty and is now the associate director of the Cyberpunk sequel - gives a small update on not only the futuristic RPG but also The Witcher 4, aka Project Polaris. The studio currently has several games in the works and it seems they're all progressing at different rates.

The developer said some of the Cyberpunk 2077 team has moved over to The Witcher 4 - which is being "intensively worked on" at the moment. Before you worry about how this will affect Cyberpunk 2 aka Project Orion's development, Sasko has said the game is in the"fairly early stages" of production and is being worked on by devs who are "well-trained" from working on Phantom Liberty previously. 

In addition, "most managers and most directors who worked on Cyberpunk and Phantom Liberty are on [the new] Cyberpunk," the developer tells the outlet. Sasko also reveals that some lead developers are on board and that it depends on the "needs of a project at a given time." It's important to keep as much of the team as possible, Sasko says, as "we want to make sure that whole DNA is preserved and still in the game." 

In the same interview, Sasko reflected on Cyberpunk 2077's less-than-ideal launch and said avoiding crunch is key to keeping studios afloat. The developer also revealed that CD Projekt Red moved away from its "old-fashioned" production methods during Phantom Liberty's development as "sustainability is incredibly important."

Elsewhere at the studio, some of CD Projekt Red's developers are busy working on The Witcher 3: Wildhunt's official modding tool which, as of this week, is available to try out via Steam for those who sign up for the playtest.

*Find out what else the studio is working on with our upcoming CD Projekt Red games list. *