The Witcher 4 has entered "the most intensive phase of development", say CD Projekt

Just when you thought you'd played all the RPGs - maxed every last stat, drained the XP of every last creature, tap-danced your way along every branching questline - CD Projekt have announced that The Witcher 4 is in "full-scale production".

"I'm pleased to announce that several weeks ago it moved on to full-scale production," chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz said of the game, currently codenamed Polaris, during the company's latest quarterly earnings presentation to investors (thanks, VGC). "Of all our projects, this one is currently the most far along, and we're starting the most intensive phase of development."

Game director Sebastian Kalemba has also been talking the announcement up on social media. "No stopping now!" he thrilled. "Stay tuned for what's on the other side of the coin!" The post accompanies a photograph of a coin - see this article's header - on which are engraved rays of light above a cliffside and some runes. Do you know what, I bet there's a picture of a Witcher on the other side of that coin! Perhaps a picture of a Witcher accompanying the words "Witcher 4".

The next Witcher game may not be called The Witcher 4, mind you. I attended a sci-fi writing class once in which the tutor grouchily remarked that book publishers get leery about overtly episodic fantasy stories, because "why would I buy Frostblazen Book XII when I haven't bought and read Frostblazen Books I-XI". I imagine video game publishers have similar concerns. It's been a fair old while since The Witcher 3's release - calling it Witcher 4 might scare away players who missed the last game. Perhaps they'll give it an annoying subtitle, instead, or just chicken out and call it "The Witcher", as with Lords Of The Fallen.

As of this March, there were over 400 CD Projekt staff working on Polaris. It'll be the first in a new trilogy of Witcher games. CD Projekt's other current endeavours include a Witcher 1 Remake, developed in collaboration with Fool's Theory, Project Sirius, a Witcher spin-off with multiplayer elements from The Molasses Flood, and Project Orion, the next Cyberpunk game.

What does "full-scale production" mean? It's a blurry category, but basically, it's the longer part of development after the more open-ended pre-production phase when things like character models, environments and combat systems are actually being made and finished. I am very much squinting at the tea leaves, here, but it's probably safe to say that CD Projekt will formally announce the thing and share a few videos and images next year.