The Witcher remake studio is removing 'outdated' parts of the original game

The Witcher
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Developer Fool's Theory has confirmed that it plans to make significant changes to its remake of The Witcher.

The remake of the 2007 title - initially codenamed Canis Majoris - was announced back in 2022 and will be helmed by a crew of CD Projekt Red veterans including CEO Jakub Rokosz, who said in a recent interview with Edge (via GamesRadar) that a multitude of elements of the classic role-playing game need to be addressed for the remake to work.

Rokosz worked on The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt but didn't get the opportunity to work on the first game. He said that "bothered" him and wanted a "chance to give it the justice it deserves." 

Now taking charge of the remake, the CEO already has some ideas of what needs to be addressed, and said: "First and foremost, we need an honest, down-to-earth analysis of which parts are simply bad, outdated, and need to be remade." 

This applies to features that simply don't hold up almost two decades later, such as visuals and other gameplay elements, but will also be "highlighting the parts that are great, should be retained, or are direct key pillars that can't be discarded."

We don't know too many details about the remake right now, only that it will be open-world so it's likely it'll see an overhaul similar to The Witcher 3 in terms of exploration and visuals, like those stunning sunsets. Fool's Theory will also be doing some "rearranging" of the best parts of the original "to create something that is both satisfying and still resonates with the feel" of the game.

The Witcher remake will be developed in Unreal Engine 5 using the same technology as The Witcher 4 - codenamed Polaris - which is being worked on by CD Projekt Red alongside the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel.

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