The Witcher 4 Controversial Feature Hinted at by Developer

CD Projekt Red has hinted at potentially implementing a controversial feature, or at least a controversial feature as far as The Witcher fans are concerned, in The Witcher 4, or whatever the next installment in the series ends up being called. CD Projekt Red has already confirmed that development on the next game in The Witcher series will begin next year. Right now, this all the Polish developer is saying about the game, well, for the most part. During a recent earnings call with investors, CPDR further hinted at the title. 

Speaking to investors, CDPR president Adam Kicinski noted that multiplayer will "gradually" be introduced to both of the company's core series, Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher. Up until this point, the latter has been a strictly narrative-driven single-player experience, but that may change with the next installment. 

"We're planning to add multiplayer functionality in the future to both franchises, including Cyberpunk, gradually," said Kicinski. "We're not revealing which franchise will be the first to receive such functionality, but the first attempt will be something we can learn from, and then we can add more and more – so, step and step, we want to open our single-player experiences to multiplayer, but we want to add such features gradually."

In the past, CDPR has declared it's committed to making single-player RPGs. There's no word of this changing, but it sounds like multiplayer and live-service elements could be introduced to these games and possibly dilute the purity of the single-player experience. 

Until The Witcher 4 is revealed, it's difficult to know how much The Witcher fans should be worried about this. Adding multiplayer and live-service elements to the series will change it, but whether these changes will be major, let alone for the worse, remains to be seen. 

As always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think or, alternatively, hit me up on Twitter @Tyler_Fischer_ to talk all things gaming. Should CD Projekt Red add multiplayer and live-service elements to The Witcher or continue to keep it a single-player-only series?