The release of The Witcher 3 on next-gen consoles has been further delayed, as Polish studio CD Projekt RED decided to in-house development.
The PS5, Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S editions of The Witcher 3 were so far developed by Saber Interactive (subsidiary of Embracer Group), which had also taken care of the convincing porting on Nintendo Switch, but CD Projekt RED finally decided to take over the development with one of his teams : “We are currently assessing the scope of the work to be done and therefore have to postpone the launch which has been set for the second quarter until further notice. We will let you know as soon as we can.”
Saber Interactive gets pulled from development of next-gen version of The Witcher 3
It would seem that the decision of CD Projekt RED is linked to the current geopolitical context with the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Although based in Maplewood (New Jersey) in the USA, Saber Interactive has offices in Madrid, Porto, Sundsvall but also in Minsk and Saint-Petersburg. For the record, the Polish studio has officially suspended all sales to Russia and Belarus : “The whole group stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. Although we are not a political entity capable of directly influencing the affairs of state, and do not aspire to be, we believe that commercial entities, when united, have the power to inspire a global change in the hearts and minds of ordinary people. We know that actors in Russia and Belarus, individuals who have nothing to do with the invasion of Ukraine, will be affected by this decision, but with this action we want to further galvanize the global community so that she expresses herself on the subject, to talk about what is happening in the heart of Europe. To our brothers and sisters who are fighting for their country, stay strong!“