CDPR's long-term plans include new IP, Cyberpunk and Witcher sequels

During its group strategy update outlining its long-term plans, CD Projekt Red announced the next slate of projects it has in the works. In various states of development are several games in the Witcher franchise, along with a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 and a third title in an entirely new setting. 

Cyberpunk 2077's had a noteworthy comeback story since its 1.5 update for current generation consoles earlier this year, and last week it was announced that the game surpassed 20 million lifetime sales. Towards the end of September, Cyberpunk had also reached 1 million daily players thanks to the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime on Netflix. 

Currently known as "Project Orion," CDPR wrote that the Cyberpunk sequel would "prove the full power and potential of the Cyberpunk universe." 

As for The Witcher, CDPR confirmed earlier this year that it would be returning to the fantasy franchise with a "new saga" developed with Unreal Engine 5. In its update, the developer called the next game ("Project Polaris") the start of a new trilogy that CDPR aims to deliver within a six-year period following the release of the first installment. 

Along with "Polaris," there are two other Witcher games in early stages of development. The first, "Project Sirius," was described as an "innovative take" on the franchise that's planned for a broader audience. "Canis Majoris," will be developed by a third party studio led by former Witcher developers, and "use Unreal Engine 5 and the toolset created for Polaris."

In addition to Witcher and Cyberpunk, "Project Hadar" will be a wholly original game from the developer. "For the first time in its history, CD PROJEKT RED is developing an entirely new universe from scratch." 

CDPR's end goal for Hadar is to establish it as a franchise strong enough to spin off into its own multimedia brand of games, animation, and comics. According to the report, the studio aims to ensure that all of its franchises have "broader recognition, larger community of consumers, better product synergies and increased revenues."

Another potential avenue to increase revenue that's being explored is multiplayer, as "Sirius" will feature multiplayer in some capacity. Whether this means CDPR is getting on the live service train is unclear, but the developer underlined in its report that it would be "enhancing our game experiences with multiplayer features."