Today CD Projekt hosted its Q1 2023 financial conference call, and the company's executives answered questions by investors and analysts on the business of the developer mostly known for The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077.
Starting with The Witcher franchise (which we learned today sold over 75 million copies of which over 50 million are of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt) We learned during the conference call that 220 developers are now working on the next The Witcher game codenamed Polaris. The team dedicated to the game is still growing.
Speaking of Cyberpunk 2077, the executives declined to answer what precisely will be shown of the Phantom Liberty expansion at Summer Game Fest: Play Days, as it's intended as a "surprise for the fans."
Answering a direct question about a rumor that surfaced yesterday about an alleged acquisition by Sony Interactive Entertainment, chief executive officer Adam Kiciński provided a clear-cut answer:
"CD Projekt is not for sale. We want to remain independent. We have, I believe, an excellent strategy. It's not easy to execute, for sure, but it's very exciting to follow our own path, so it's a pure rumor."
We also hear about Project Sirius by The Molasses Flood, the game has been reevaluated and a "new framework" has been decided earlier this May. As a result, "the composition of the team has changed" mainly on the side of The Molasses Flood itself. This means that the workforce employed on the game has been reduced. On the other hand, some of the developers working on Gwent have been transferred to other projects over the past year, while CD Projekt had to "part ways" with a number of members of the team. The development team will continue to gradually decrease in size over this year.