The upcoming remake of the original Witcher will be an open world game, CD Projekt has confirmed. In a report to investors [PDF] today, the publisher said that the new game is an "open-world RPG" and "a modern reimagining" of the original.
The original Witcher RPG released in 2007, and was divided into a number of large maps which contained smaller crypt and cave maps, but didn't feature a seamless open world in the sense that The Witcher 3 does. A better comparison would be Dragon Age: Origins.
We haven't yet heard a ton about CD Projekt's plans for the remake, which was announced in October. Aside from this new description, though, we do know that its development is being led by Fool's Theory, maker of recent RPG Seven: The Days Long Gone, under CD Projekt's supervision.
"Collaborating with Fool's Theory on the project is just as exciting, as some of the people there have been previously involved in The Witcher games," CD Projekt Red studio head Adam Badowski said back when the remake was announced. "They know the source material well, they know how much gamers have been looking forward to seeing the remake happen, and they know how to make incredible and ambitious games. And although it will take some time before we’re ready to share more about and from the game, I know it’ll be worth the wait."
CD Projekt is also working on a new Witcher trilogy and spin-off games (plus Cyberpunk stuff and a new game world), so it makes sense that it'd put this remake in the hands of another studio. We liked Seven: The Days Long Gone quite a bit: In his review, Fraser said it was "a brilliant stealth sandbox and unconventional RPG in one very ambitious but buggy package." Hopefully we'll get a similar success from the Witcher remake, aside from the thing about it being buggy. (Not that we'd be surprised by bugs in a big open world RPG.)
