CD Projekt Red Announces a Remake of The Witcher in Unreal Engine 5

CD Projekt Red has announced that it will remake The Witcher in Unreal Engine 5, alongside developer Fool's Theory.

This is one of the five new games the company announced earlier this month, and previously went by the codename Canis Majoris. As part of its announcement, the company cautioned: "We want to do this right, so please be patient — it's gonna be a while until we can share more details."

We're thrilled to reveal that, together with @Fools_Theory, we're working on remaking The Witcher using Unreal Engine 5 (codename: Canis Majoris)!

We want to do this right, so please be patient — it's gonna be a while until we can share more details.
⚔️ https://t.co/6VCAokPgXs pic.twitter.com/ERFOXQrUEP

— The Witcher (@witchergame) October 26, 2022

Canis Majoris was one of the more intriguing announcements in CD Projekt's upcoming slate, marking the first time the developer will work with a third-party developer. Fans had been very intrigued to find out which developer that was, but we hadn't seen Fool's Theory as a guess before now.

Set up in 2015 and described as "a collective of AAA veterans", the company is a Polish studio that has previously contributed to Baldur’s Gate III, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and Outriders, among other projects. Fool's Theory is also working on a project codenamed Vitriol, a new IP made in collaboration with 11-Bit Studios (Frostpunk, This War of Mine).

Released in 2007, The Witcher was CD Projekt Red's debut game and, while less refined than its successors, set out a huge amount of the lore, tone, and systems that would define the now-landmark RPG series. At the time, we gave it an 8.5 review, saying it was "definitely a game you’ll remember well over the years."

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.