CD Projekt, the parent company of CD Projekt Red, has confirmed that it has completed the work on Project Sirius. This was revealed in a regulatory filing by the company. Project Sirius is the new Witcher game that is being developed by The Molasses Flood, a Boston-based developer owned by CD Projekt.
What is Project Sirius?
Project Sirius is a new Witcher game that was announced back in October 2022. The game was announced under the codename Project Sirius and is said to be an innovative take on The Witcher series aimed at veterans and newcomers alike. The game was in pre-production as of October 2022 and had more than 60 people working on it then.
The “new framework”
CD Projekt Red has stated that it has completed the work on Project Sirius to give it a “new framework.” However, the company has not revealed what this new framework entails or why it was necessary to undertake this work in the first place. It is not unusual for game development to undergo changes, so what is more notable is that CD Projekt made these changes public by way of a legal filing due to the financial impact of the situation.
Financial impact of the “new framework”
CD Projekt Red originally reported the value of expenses incurred from implementing the “new framework” as 33.4 million PLN ($7.6 million USD) for 2022 and 9.5 million PLN ($2.2 million USD) for January and February 2023. This comes out to 42.9 million PLN, or $9.7 million USD. In its newest filing dated May 11, CD Projekt said it was making partial changes to that accounting in the amount of 21.5 million PLN ($5.2 million USD) for expenses incurred in 2022, down from the 33.4 million PLN ($7.6 million USD) it originally reported. Additionally, a part of the development expenditures for Project Sirius in the first quarter of 2023 will be written off–the amount is 2.7 million PLN ($650,000 USD).
CD Projekt’s announcement on the value of expenses incurred for the “new framework”
- 33.4 million PLN ($7.6 million USD) for 2022
- 9.5 million PLN ($2.2 million USD) for January and February 2023
- A part of the development expenditures for Project Sirius in the first quarter of 2023 will be written off in the amount of 2.7 million PLN ($650,000 USD)
Partial changes to accounting
CD Projekt’s wording of the original announcement suggested a “complete scrapping” of the existing version of Project Sirius, but the developer never confirmed (or denied) this. However, CD Projekt has made partial changes to the accounting for the development of the new Witcher game. This means that there may be some parts of the original version of Project Sirius that have been kept, while other parts have been changed.
The Molasses Flood
The Molasses Flood is a Boston-based developer owned by CD Projekt. The Molasses Flood previously developed The Flame in the Flood, a survival game featuring original music from Chuck Ragan. The company has been working on Project Sirius since it was announced back in October 2022.
Other games announced by CD Projekt in 2022
CD Projekt announced several other games in October 2022, including a new trilogy of mainline Witcher games from CD Projekt Red itself, as well as a third-party Witcher game codenamed Canis Majoris. The studio also announced a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel and a new IP with the codename Hadar.
Conclusion
CD Projekt confirmed that the work it did on Project Sirius has been completed. The game is being developed by The Molasses Flood, a Boston-based developer owned by CD Projekt. The “new framework” that CD Projekt implemented has not been revealed, and the company has made partial changes to the accounting of the expenses incurred from implementing the changes. While it is not clear if CD Projekt scrapped the existing version of Project Sirius completely, it is clear that the game underwent some changes. Project Sirius was one of several games announced by CD Projekt in October 2022.
