The Witcher 3 was supposed to be around the corner but CDPR suddenly announced an indefinite delay, which may have something to do with the geopolitical situation.
The Witcher 3 is easily the most well-received CDPR product to date and it was no surprise the company decided to put it out to the widest market possible. It was not meant to be for the current-gen consoles though, with CDPR announcing an indefinite delay on the release date for the new version of the game.
From the sound of it, PS5 and XSX/S owners will get their upgraded version of The Witcher 3 at some point but it's all but confirmed it won't happen in Q2 2022 anymore. The reason listed was that CDPR decided to complete the upgrade in-house, as opposed to keeping it outsourced.
Saber Interactive was in charge of the next-gen upgrade for The Witcher 3 until recently. More specifically, it was Saber's Russian branch, the same people who successfully ported the game to Nintendo Switch and earned all-around praise for the good work on that version of the title.
While CDPR didn't explicitly note a conflict with the Russian studio was the reason for the switch to in-house development and the delay, there were rumours of it happening as far as two weeks ago.
CD Projekt previously blocked Russia and Belarus from using their services and it's not out of the realm of possibility the company's stance on the Russian aggression in Ukraine carried the risk of complicating relations with Saber, which would then lead to the delay.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, An Iconic RPG by CD Projekt Red
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Neither CDPR nor Saber confirmed this officially but those rumours about the next-gen Witcher 3 troubles that popped up two weeks before the announcement seem to be spot-on.
