It's amazing just how big The Witcher has gotten over the past decade, after spending years as a cult classic in Poland for most of the 90s and 2000s.
CD Projekt RED introduced the world to Andrzej Sapkowski's novels after using them as the source material for its award-winning franchise of the same name. Unfortunately, while The Witcher games themselves are universally loved, especially 2015's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the studio hasn't avoided controversy.
Specifically, CDPR has been the target of much criticism since 2019 after admitting that employees faced"inhumane" levels of crunch in the lead up to the 2015 open-world title's release and doing it again just to release Cyberpunk 2077 in late 2020.
The verdict is still out if CD Projekt RED has redeemed itself from its shortcomings, but the upcoming Witcher project's director is keen on not making the same mistakes.
After confirming that he will serve as the game director of the next The Witcher game on Twitter, Jason Slama unsurprisingly found himself at the receiving end of snide remarks and comments. One user, in particular, stood out, after pointing out that Slama "forgot to mention the sign on bonus of horrible crunch and being treated like a dog.' Slama quickly refused this by saying, "Never on my watch!"
Never on my watch!
— Jason Slama (@SlamaTwoFlags) March 21, 2022
Of course, CDPR hasn't exactly had the best record when it comes to keeping promises. As we've already mentioned, the studio has been caught shooting itself in the foot many times already after saying that it's trying to do something about crunch culture only for former and current employees to step forward to say that things haven't changed. The community gave CDPR the benefit of the doubt for years, so you can't exactly blame gamers for turning their backs on the once-fan-favorite studio.
At the moment, CDPR still hasn't released all the content promised for Cyberpunk 2077, with some only arriving last month - some 14 months after the highly anticipated sci-fi RPG hit store shelves.
CDPR only has itself to blame for the hostile reception to the announcement of The Witcher 4.
The good news is that the Polish studio is owning up to its mistakes and want to make sure that it takes its sweet time working on the new Witcher title. Only time will tell if this is truly the case, but considering that fans are more than willing to wait for years for new games these days after getting lackluster sequels, CDPR has time and public opinion on its side.
In the meantime, the fandom is content with speculating about what the promotional image for the next Witcher title means for the franchise, with CDPR confirming that the medallion isn't from the School of the Wolf or Cat. Instead, the medallion is from the School of the Lynx, a lesser-known Witcher School commonly associated with fan-fiction.
Speaking of The Witcher, fans can also look forward to multiple live-action and animated adaptations from Netflix in the coming years, including Blood Origin, which is scheduled to arrive later this year.
