CD Projekt's Project Hadar teased as open-world emotional experience in new job listing

CD Projekt has three active projects on the go — The Witcher 4, Cyberpunk 2, and a brand new IP codenamed Project Hadar. A job listing spotted by GamesRadar offers the first real hint at what Hadar actually is: the studio wants an engineering director to help "push the envelope for the next, immersive game in the Hadar world, creating an emotional, open-world experience that will stay with gamers."

That description strongly suggests CD Projekt wants Hadar to become its third major franchise pillar alongside The Witcher and Cyberpunk — and it would be the studio's first fully original IP after nearly 20 years of building games on existing licensed properties. Beyond that, almost nothing is confirmed. Genre, setting, tone, single-player or multiplayer — all unknown. Conceptual work officially kicked off in late 2021, but the project is still described as being in "early pre-development."

The team size puts things in perspective: just 24 people are currently working on Hadar. Compare that to 513 on The Witcher 4, 163 on Cyberpunk 2, and 83 on Sirius, the multiplayer Witcher-universe spinoff. CD Projekt also has an extraordinarily packed roadmap — The Witcher 4, 5, and 6 are all planned within a six-year window, with Cyberpunk 2 somewhere in the mix as well.

Where Hadar fits into that schedule is anyone's guess. Given its tiny team and early development stage, it's almost certainly years away from a release window, let alone an announcement. For now, it's a codename, a job ad, and a lot of open questions.