The Witcher Remake's Open-World Size And Scope Has Split Gamers

Published Jul 31, 2026, 1:45 AM EDT Chris is a Gaming Editor at ScreenRant. He has been a professional writer since 2009, and has written for top TV, comics, movie, and video game outlets like Engadget, Polygon, Destructoid, and more. He brings with him an expertise in every game genre, no matter how niche or mainstream. You may know him as the former Managing/Reviews Editor of Destructoid, where he published hundreds of game reviews across every genre, including MMOs, sports games, and Metroidvanias. Find Chris on Twitter @_SRChris. The Witcher has come a really long way since it began life as a book series. Even counting the 2007 game, the first entry in the franchise, the series has changed a lot in the past 19 years. Now we're four mainline games in, with The Witcher 4 set to debut sometime in 2027. Plus, the TV show is in its fifth season, and there have been several spinoffs that have come out of that universe. In other words, The Witcher is a fully-fledged cash cow, and it's not going away anytime soon. As far as remaking the original game goes, though, you might be waiting a while. Over on Reddit, fans are in an uproar given a recent update for The Witcher franchise [via GamesRadar]. In 2022, The Witcher Remake project was announced. It's hard to believe it even got an announcement, given how little we've heard about it over the past four years, but according to the lead story designer for the original game, Artur Ganszyniec, it might be a while. He explains: "[Making the remake open world]...the pace and scale of the entire project would change immediately. We knew exactly where the player would be." In other words, you'll be able to run through a lot of content that was deliberately placed in the original, which would make the transition a bit more difficult given the game's age. So far, fans are mixed on this approach, with some believing that an open world remake could absolutely work, and others saying the original should be left alone. One user writes: "Yeah, I thought about this before. The catriona plague mechanics is a good way to keep the world siloed into chapters. Making it open world would make it worse. Better to work on just interacting with the world better, like having swimming, jumping, climbing and riding mechanics, which the original game didn't have." Others agree: "I don't need it to be open world. I just want the killer story with modern graphics and better gameplay. Atmosphere and vibes were already fantastic for me." Some fans have a different opinion: "They can expand the levels slightly but stay in the same formula." "Complete fine if it's not open world," another muses. Whatever direction the team decides for The Witcher remake, fans will no doubt have opinions on it. If it does work out as an open world game, it'll be even easier to get new players acclimated to the franchise instead of mostly sticking to The Witcher 2 and 3. The Witcher TV Show(s) The Hexer (Wiedźmin), The Witcher, The Witcher: Blood Origin Video Game(s) The Witcher, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, GWENT: Rogue Mage, GWENT: The Witcher Card Game, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, The Witcher 4 First Film The Hexer (Wiedźmin) First TV Show The Hexer (Wiedźmin) Cast Henry Cavill, Anya Chalotra, Freya Allan, Joey Batey, Liam Hemsworth, MyAnna Buring, Eamon Farren, Royce Pierreson, Mimi Ndiweni, Anna Shaffer Created by Andrzej Sapkowski