The Witcher 3 Hit With A Crushing Delay
The Witcher 3 next-gen update is one of the most anticipated games right now, but the game has now been hit with a crushing delay.
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Fans of The Witcher got a double dose of great news in the last two weeks. The Witcher 4 game was teased and announced, and The Witcher Season 3 got a first-look tease as well. However, not all news in the realm of the fan-favorite property is good news. Developer CD Projekt Red has announced that the long-awaited net-gen update for The Witcher 3 has been suspended indefinitely. This is sad news considering the developer had promised the next-gen update to come out in 2021. Now in the wake of their other promised Q2 2022 release, they have shelved the update completely. You can see the announcement below:
We have decided to have our in-house development team conduct the remaining work on the next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. We are currently evaluating the scope of work to be done and thus have to postpone Q2 release until further notice. 1/2
— The Witcher (@witchergame) April 13, 2022
In their defense, the studio is currently working on The Witcher 4 and further expanding Cyberpunk 2077. Cyberpunk 2077 had a masterfully awful launch, and the host of issues that came with the game’s release was barely fixed back in March. The next-gen update for that game included a host of bug fixes, graphic facelifts, and free DLC. This free DLC included updates to how NPCs behave, guns and attachments, and several other quality of life improvements. With the undertaking that updating that game had taken, it is likely that CD Projekt Red doesn’t have the manpower or time to spend doing the same for The Witcher 3. Also, with how terrible their launch was for Cyberpunk 2077, they are likely not going to rush anything ever again.
The second of the two-part above tweet also states that CD Projekt Red will update the fanbase with news whenever that is available. The Witcher 3 is one of the most successful games in history. On top of winning Game of the Year honors, the game sits in the top 20 all-time in sales. The Witcher 3 steamrolled to over 30 million units sold. Not too shabby. Fans will be clamoring for this game to eventually get a next-gen version, however, it is also a massive game. The fact that CD Projekt Red is speaking plainly about delaying the update, means they are being as transparent as possible. With all the DLC elements and everything, the game is said to be around 200-300 hours worth of content. That is on the slow side of beating games, but still, that is a massive amount of ground to cover when enhancing a game to today’s graphic standards.
The Witcher 3 may be one of the best video games of all time, but CD Projekt Red is doing its part in now promising something that was hyped up, only to watch it crash and burn. That is exactly what happened with Cyberpunk 2077. That should be a lesson learned to CDPR and the rest of the game studios out there. Though we all get impatient when waiting for game updates and releases, the best releases are often ones that take extra time to iron out all the kinks. Give them a bit more time. It will likely be worth it in the end.
