Indie developer The Molasses Flood, known for Drake Hollow and The Flame in the Flood, was acquired by CD Projekt RED in October 2021, and a year later, it was announced that the studio was working on a new Witcher game codenamed Project Sirius, which was described as “an innovative take” on the series. Earlier this month, however, CD Projekt RED announced that it had “established “an impairment allowance with regard to expenses incurred in the scope of development work related to Project Sirius“ and was “formulating a new framework for this project”, seemingly rebooting its production.
In a recent earnings conference, the company’s CFO, Piotr Nielubowicz, offered some new details on the development, what it means for the project, and why the decision was taken. Describing Project Sirius as a unique project that is new to CD Projekt RED as a company “in terms of design”, Nielubowicz said that “to stay in control and keep the right course”, the company decided to re-evaluate it, feeling that “cutting costs” early would be a smarter option than carrying on further in a direction that they were unsure about.
“I’m aware that it’s not great to hear from a company that the project is being re-evaluated,” he said (via VGC. “But at the same time, in order to stay innovative we must experiment and be brave when trying new paths, and to stay in control and keep the right course, especially with a project that is new to us in terms of design, developed by a new studio in our family.
“We need to keep evaluating the situation as we move along. It’s better to cut costs early – and even restart if needed – than to carry on.”
CEO Adam Kiciński also chimed in with similar statements, saying, “Our intention was to cut costs early and give ourselves time for re-assessment. We don’t want to carry on with projects that we are not aligned with. So basically that’s all we’d like to share about Project Sirius for now.”
What that means for the project as a whole remains to be seen, but while it’s clear as of now what stage of production the game is now in following its development apparently having been rebooted or what its scope will be moving forward, one thing that is abundantly clear that one way or another, The Molasses Flood might be starting from scratch with this one.
