From the quiet corridors of CD Projekt Red, a new creative seed is being planted. Codenamed Project Hadar, this unnamed initiative is still in the earliest stages of imagination — a team of developers given the rare gift of open-ended exploration, tasked with discovering what a game might become before anyone has decided what it is. In an industry that rarely pauses to breathe, the studio is carving out space for the uncertain, the unproven, and the not-yet-named, even as it carries the weight of some of gaming's most anticipated sequels.
CD Projekt Red Expands 'Project Hadar' Team to 50 Developers
Still in the concept phase, testing different approaches and prototyping gameplay.
Mark
So CD Projekt Red is hiring fifty people for a project nobody knows about. Why announce it at all? Why not just quietly staff up?
Mimi
Because they're a public company. Earnings calls are where they have to tell investors what's happening with their money and their people. Hiding a fifty-person team would be worse than naming it.
Luke
But they're not really telling investors what it is. They're saying it's in concept phase, which means they could pivot or cancel it. That's a real risk they're flagging.
Mark
So Project Hadar could disappear?
Mimi
It could. Or it could become their next major franchise. Right now it's just a bet they're placing.
Luke
The interesting part is what they're NOT doing. They killed the Witcher 1 remake to feed The Witcher 4. That's a statement about priorities.
Mark
They think the future is forward, not backward.
Mimi
Exactly. And they're hedging by building Hadar at the same time. If The Witcher 4 lands well in 2028, they'll have momentum. If it doesn't, they've got something else cooking.
Luke
Though we don't actually know if Hadar is an RPG. That's just what the reporting assumes based on their track record.
Mark
Could it be something else entirely?
Mimi
Theoretically, yes. But CD Projekt Red has never made anything that wasn't an RPG. So the assumption is reasonable, even if it's not confirmed.
Luke
Which means the real story is that we're watching a major studio place multiple bets at once, and we won't know if any of them pay off for years.
Il Polso
- CD Projekt Red has quietly confirmed Project Hadar, a fully unannounced title with a team set to grow from 30 to 50 developers by year's end.
- The project sits in pure concept phase — no locked direction, no final identity, just prototypes and possibilities being tested in real time.
- The studio is simultaneously managing one of its most crowded development slates ever, spanning The Witcher 4, a Cyberpunk sequel, a new Witcher 3 expansion, and a Witcher 3 Remaster launching this month.
- To relieve the pressure, the Witcher 1 remake has been shelved, signaling a deliberate consolidation of resources around the studio's highest-priority projects.
- Project Hadar's genre remains unconfirmed, though CD Projekt Red's RPG DNA makes it the most likely territory for whatever emerges from this experimental phase.
From the quiet corridors of CD Projekt Red, a new creative seed is being planted. Codenamed Project Hadar, this unnamed initiative is still in the earliest stages of imagination — a team of developers given the rare gift of open-ended exploration, tasked with discovering what a game might become before anyone has decided what it is. In an industry that rarely pauses to breathe, the studio is carving out space for the uncertain, the unproven, and the not-yet-named, even as it carries the weight of some of gaming's most anticipated sequels.
CD Projekt Red is quietly nurturing a mystery. During a recent earnings call, vice president of investor relations Karolina Gnas confirmed that a project codenamed Hadar currently employs more than 30 developers, with that number expected to climb to 50 before the year is out. Beyond its existence and its headcount, almost nothing is known.
Gnas described the team as operating in the concept phase — a period of creative discovery where ideas are tested, prototypes are built, and no direction is yet final. It is, in essence, a team given permission to not know what it's making yet. Whether Hadar will follow The Witcher's third-person fantasy roots or Cyberpunk's first-person sci-fi energy remains anyone's guess, though the RPG genre seems the only safe assumption.
The announcement arrives as the studio manages an unusually full plate. The Witcher 3 Remastered launches this month as a free upgrade for existing owners, complete with save file continuity. The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release. A newly announced Witcher 3 expansion called Songs of the Past is in the works. And a Cyberpunk sequel is also underway. To keep focus sharp, the studio has shelved the Witcher 1 remake, redirecting those resources toward its more immediate priorities.
Project Hadar, then, represents something distinct from the rest of the slate — not a sequel, not a remaster, not an expansion, but a third pillar of ambition still taking shape in the dark. It is the kind of project that only exists when a studio believes the future is worth the risk of not yet knowing what it looks like.
CD Projekt Red, the studio behind The Witcher and Cyberpunk franchises, is quietly building out a mystery project. During an earnings call on Wednesday, the company's vice president of investor relations, Karolina Gnas, revealed that an initiative codenamed Project Hadar currently employs more than 30 developers, with plans to expand that roster to 50 by the close of the year. The project remains unannounced to the public, and the studio is keeping details close.
What little is known comes from Gnas herself. The team, she explained, is in the earliest stages of development—still testing different creative directions, exploring ideas, and building prototypes of gameplay systems. Nothing is locked down. Nothing is final. This is the work of discovery, not production. Hadar exists in what the industry calls the concept phase, the period before a game's core identity has fully crystallized.
Guessing at what Hadar might be is an exercise in educated speculation. CD Projekt Red's two flagship franchises sit at opposite ends of the RPG spectrum: The Witcher is a third-person fantasy experience, while Cyberpunk is a first-person sci-fi shooter. The only reasonable assumption is that Hadar will land somewhere within the RPG genre, though which corner remains a mystery. The studio has not offered even a hint.
This expansion comes as CD Projekt Red juggles an unusually crowded development slate. The Witcher 3 Remastered is launching this month, and the studio confirmed that existing owners will receive the upgrade at no cost, with save files carrying forward intact. Beyond that, the studio is working on The Witcher 4, targeted for 2028, alongside a new expansion for The Witcher 3 called Songs of the Past, which was just announced. A Cyberpunk sequel is also in development. The Witcher 1 remake, which had been in active development, has been shelved to free up resources for The Witcher 4.
The decision to pause the Witcher 1 remake reflects where CD Projekt Red's priorities lie. The studio is betting that its future lies in new entries and expansions for its established franchises rather than revisiting its earliest work. By consolidating its teams around The Witcher 4 and the Cyberpunk universe, the studio is making a calculated choice about where to concentrate its creative energy. Project Hadar, meanwhile, represents a third pillar of ambition—something new, something unproven, something that requires the kind of experimental thinking that only a team given room to prototype and fail can provide.
Citazioni salienti
The team is mostly focused on testing different approaches, ideas, and prototyping some gameplay elements. Hadar is still in the concept phase.— Karolina Gnas, CD Projekt Red vice president of investor relations
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