The Witcher 4, codenamed Polaris, is currently in development at CD Projekt RED. The game is set to kick off a new trilogy of Witcher games. Elsewhere, the developer and publisher is also working on a single-player Cyberpunk 2077 follow-up as its US-based studio.
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With all the recent fuss surrounding Capcom releasing microtransactions for fast-travel and other things for its single-player RPG Dragon’s Dogma II, CDPR has explicitly stated that there’ll be none of that for its games.
As part of an investor chat with CD Projekt Red Chief Financial Officer Piotr Nielubowicz and others, someone asked whether the studio would introduce microtransactions in its future titles. Via outlet Stockwatch.pl (translated by Google), his answer is straightforward. “We do not see a place for microtransactions in the case of single-player games,” Piotr Nielubowicz responded.
Adding that the only situation where the company wouldn’t rule out microtransactions would be for “multiplayer projects.”
Microtransactions are still a controversial topic for gamers, so what makes these statements noteworthy is that they are being told to investors rather than the media. In single-player games, microtransactions are viewed more harshly by media and players, where investors only really care about making money.
With this statement, it’s safe to assume that The Witcher 4 and the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel – as single-player games – are being designed and built as microtransaction-free experiences. As for paid add-ons, our guess is that CD Projekt Red is planning on releasing post-launch expansions or meaty story-driven DLC.
However, microtransactions could find their way into The Witcher universe. CDPR-owned studio The Molasses Flood is currently working on a single-player and multiplayer Witcher universe game codenamed Sirius for a broader audience.