The remake of the original Witcher is making at least one massive departure from its source; it’ll be open world, a feature that didn’t come to the franchise until 2015’s The Witcher 3, which is getting a next gen update on December 14.
Codenamed Canis Majoris, and developed by third party studio Fool’s Theory, the remake will be built from the ground up in Unreal Engine 5, with former CD Projekt Red developers working on the project. The news that the game will be open world came as a part of the publisher CD Projekt’s most recent earnings report.
Both the original Witcher and its sequel, Assassin of Kings, featured large open zones players could explore. However, progressing the story past certain key points would move players to a new zone, closing off the previous area entirely.
On top of Canis Majoris, two other Witcher projects are currently in development: Polaris and Sirius. Sirius has been described as an innovative take on the series that is aimed at both veteran fans and people new to the franchise. Currently in pre-production, it is being developed by Flame in the Flood developer The Molasses Flood and has 60+ people involved in its creation.
Project Polaris is described as a story-driven open-world RPG built on the legacy of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and has more than 150 people working on it at CD Projekt Red. This game will be the start of a new Witcher trilogy that is aiming to be delivered within a 6-year period following the Polaris release.
From fantasy monster slaying to sci-fi monster slaying, Developer Offworld Industries has revealed Starship Troopers: Extermination, a new game based on the cult-classic 1997 sci-fi film.
Extermination will recruit you into the Deep Space Vanguard, an elite Special Forces group within the Mobile Infantry that has been sent to deal with a particularly deadly bug outbreak on the planet of Valaka.
Once on the ground, 12 players will form up into four squads and will begin working on gathering resources, building a base, establishing defenses, and exterminating every bug in sight. Remember, the only good bug is a dead bug.
Three playable classes–Assault, Support, and Defense–will be available from launch and a progression system will allow for new weapons, equipment, and perks for each class to be gradually unlocked.
The game will launch first on PC via Steam early access in 2023.
