CD Projekt Red announced a multiplayer initiative for the studio's slate of upcoming games, which includes multiple brand-new Witcher and Cyberpunk games. The company is currently planning to develop a new trilogy of Witcher games, a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, and a new intellectual property codenamed Project Hadar.
CD Projekt Group released strategy update materials outlining multiple new games in pre-production and the future of CD Projekt Red. The company confirms CD Projekt Red will introduce multiplayer into multiple new games to "enrich the single-player experience." At the same time, CD Projekt Red wants to bolster the Witcher and Cyberpunk franchises with new releases. These new Witcher and Cyberpunk games are expected to include multiplayer features if CD Projekt Red's strategy encompasses most of its IPs.
CD Projekt Red also revealed the company wants to maintain three enduring franchises with more content for gamers. Witcher and Cyberpunk are two of the main franchises being utilized by CD Projekt Red, and the third is Project Hadar, a brand-new IP being conceptualized internally at the studio. Furthermore, CD Projekt Red reiterates the goal of creating "memorable single-player stories and multiplayer experiences." The strategy update presentation depicts Cyberpunk 2077's Johnny Silverhand with CD Projekt Red's initiative to create multiplayer games, so it may be implied that Cyberpunk is one of the IPs to receive multiplayer in the future.
Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt are among the company's most successful franchises of all time. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt drove series sales past 65 million while Cyberpunk 2077 surpassed 20 million sales on its own. Once again, Cyberpunk is highlighted as a franchise that could introduce multiplayer experiences and continue the momentum created by Cyberpunk 2077 this past year.
However, CD Projekt Red has not outlined definitive plans to introduce multiplayer into its upcoming games. Cyberpunk 2077 was planned to feature multiplayer in some capacity, but the status of the multiplayer content remains shrouded in mystery. Cyberpunk 2077's credits still mention development members and their contributions toward multiplayer features.
CD Projekt Red's multiplayer plans will continue to cause speculation for months to come, but it's another sign of growing interest into Witcher and Cyberpunk. The company's latest multiplayer endeavor is GWENT: The Witcher Card Game, an online PvP card game for PC and mobile. GWENT: The Witcher Card Game continues to receive updates as one of CD Projekt Red's sole multiplayer titles available on the market today, and the experience gained from the card game could help the developers in the future.