CD Projekt RED has been eyeing the multiplayer space for a while. The original plan was for the studio to develop a standalone multiplayer game in the Cyberpunk universe, but shortly after Cyberpunk 2077’s launch, CDPR announced that that project had been shelved, with the studio instead looking to “enhance” its single player games with multiplayer elements, which would be added gradually to both its main franchises.
The Polish studio had, as such, been working on in-house multiplayer technology to support those plans, but recent developments have brought about some changes. CD Projekt RED recently entered into a strategic partnership with Epic Games to use Unreal Engine 5 for its future games, including the next mainline Witcher title. In a recent quarterly earnings call, CD Projekt CFO Piotr Nielubowicz confirmed that that in-house multiplayer development has now ended, since thanks to Unreal Engine 5, CDPR now has access to readymade “advanced” multiplayer tech.
“In past years we worked on creating our multiplayer technology,” Nielubowicz said (transcribed by Wccftech). “In the wake of the recent decision to start strategic cooperation with Epic Games and to use Unreal Engine 5 which offers advanced multiplayer solutions, we ceased further development of our own multiplayer technology and created a respective write-up in the amount of nearly $4.90 million.”
During the earnings call, CD Projekt also announced updated sales figures for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher, and announced that the former’s expansion will launch sometime in 2023. The studio also provided assurances that The Witcher 3 next-gen version’s recent delay isn’t as dire as some fear- read more on that through here.
