Historically, CD Projekt RED has built its reputation around crafting story-driven role-playing experiences. Flagship titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 exemplify their expertise in weaving compelling narratives. After decades of refinement, studio leadership now acknowledges an organizational inability to pivot to other game genres (via 3DJugeos).
Studio Leadership Embraces RPG Destiny
During a recent installment of the AnsweRED podcast, executives Marcin Iwinski and Adam Badowski outlined the company’s strategic vision for upcoming projects. The dialogue emphasized maintaining core competencies rather than exploring unfamiliar territory.
Unsurprisingly, CDPR intends to double down on expansive, narrative-rich RPGs – their established specialty. While acknowledging creative curiosity about experimental formats, leadership insists quality demands strict genre focus. Badowski elaborated:
In all that we’re doing, we’ve learned that we have to be razor-sharp, focused. We cannot do so many things we would love to do, we are tempted to do. We tried, and it didn’t work out. We need to focus on what we are good at and really put 100% into it. But everything is in our strategy. We’re gonna develop AAA RPG, open-world narrative-driven games, and this is our – let’s say – niche. So the focus is there.
Historical attempts at genre diversification have yielded mixed results. The Gwent card game evolved from a Witcher 3 minigame into a standalone product, while the MOBA-inspired The Witcher Battle Arena mobile game saw rapid discontinuation after its 2015 launch.
It sounds so simple. When you’re growing, it’s hard, because there are all these temptations. The ideas are great. Games are getting better and better, especially in terms of gameplay. But they need to be adapted to our concept. It takes time. Initial enthusiasm is high, but in the long run it doesn’t work.
This renewed focus suggests upcoming entries like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 will aim to surpass their predecessors. Mystery project Hadar remains undefined, though Badowski’s statements strongly imply another narrative RPG in development.