CD Projekt Red says the mysterious Hadar game is its "biggest project to date," but even after "a good few years" it looks like it still has a long way to go.

CD Projekt Red has described its mysterious new game, currently codenamed Hadar, as its "biggest project to date," revealing that it's taken "a good few years" to get to its current state, and it's not even in pre-production yet. Read more

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"We're not in pre-production yet."

This, according to CDPR Co-CEO, Micha&lstrok; Nowakowski, who told Polish outlet PAP Biznes (translated by DeepL): "At this point we can say that we have a coherent vision of the [Hadar] world and its key elements. The team has started working on the game, although we are not yet in pre-production. We are currently developing small prototypes and also testing game elements."

In the four years since its announcement, CDPR has said nothing about Hadar. However, we do know that unlike other major CD Projekt titles - The Witcher by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski and Cyberpunk 2077 by TTRPG creator Mike Pondsmith - it won't be based on any features. (Incidentally, I have spoken to Sapkowski and Pondsmith about their work in this area.)

Earlier this year, Nowakowski shared "an important development update" regarding Hadar's status. "Work on the project is in progress," Stanwakowski said in March, "dynamically, and the team is laying the foundations for this brand new IP." "Now, we've clearly defined the distinctive features of this world and established key pillars that will provide a foundation not only for the game itself, but potentially for other future products." He also mentioned that prototypes will be made in Unreal Engine.

We know from CDPR's last financial report in September that there were 33 people working on Hadar as of July 31st, so it's a small project compared to the studio's other titles. At last count, 519 people were working on The Witcher 4, 184 on Cyberpunk 2, and 84 on the multiplayer Witcher game Project Sirius. However, the Sirius project recently faced layoffs.

Elsewhere in the interview, Nowakowski talked more about The Witcher 4, which he called "our most ambitious project to date." He also said that the studio wants to "avoid repeating itself," so each game should offer "new narrative and gameplay solutions" as well as "innovations" in the main and side missions. "We want players to be confident that when they sit down to play this title, it pushes the boundaries of what an RPG can be and is technologically advanced," he said. The Witcher 4 recently set a 2028 release target.

He also mentioned the recent Remastered update for The Witcher 3, saying that the company is "pleased" with sales, which "remain at a higher level than before the remaster", even now that the discount period has ended.

Finally, Nowakowski talked about the impact of Sony's decision to phase out PlayStation disc production starting in 2028 — putting the possibility of a physical Witcher 4 release in jeopardy. He reiterated much of what he had previously said on the matter, saying that since the console manufacturers were making the discs, there wasn't much CDPR could do if they decided to stop production. "A studio doesn't simply decide to release a game and then distribute the physical version itself," he said. "If a certain developer completely turns off the option to release games on physical media, they simply won't be available."