Project Hadar: CD Projekt Red calls new IP its biggest project yet
CD Projekt Red says Project Hadar, the codename for a new IP, is its biggest project yet. The game is not in pre-production yet.
- According to joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski, the project has been in development for several years and its world vision is now in place.
- Hadar is not yet in pre-production and is being developed as a completely new IP.
What happened
CD Projekt Red has shared another update on Project Hadar, the internal codename for a new game. Joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski said the project has been in development for "several good years" and that the studio sees it as its biggest project yet. Reporting on the comment also links it to the scale of earlier CD Projekt Red projects, including Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, but the studio itself mainly describes Hadar as a major internal effort that has been underway for years.
According to Nowakowski, the team now has a coherent vision for the world and the key elements of Hadar. However, the game is not yet in pre-production; for now, the studio is working on small prototypes and testing individual gameplay elements. That means CD Projekt Red is still defining the foundations of the project rather than moving into full production or large-scale content creation.
Hadar is a fully original IP, so it is not based on an existing franchise or license. That distinction matters because CD Projekt Red is best known for established brands like The Witcher and Cyberpunk. The studio has shared very few concrete details about Hadar so far, and this update still leaves the release window, genre and gameplay style unconfirmed. The available information is limited to the development stage, the scope of the project and the fact that the core world has already been established.
Timeline
2022: CD Projekt Red announces Project Hadar as a new internal project and a fully original IP.
2022-2025: According to the later update, the studio spends several years working on the world and core concept of the project, with small prototypes and gameplay tests forming part of early development.
March 2026: Michał Nowakowski says development is moving dynamically and that the foundation of the new IP has been laid; later reporting summarizes this as the point where the world vision became clearer.
2026: CD Projekt Red calls Hadar its biggest project yet and confirms that the game is still not in pre-production.
Background
Project Hadar is one of several major projects CD Projekt Red is working on at the same time. No release window, genre or gameplay style has been confirmed for the game yet. That makes Hadar one of the studio's most mysterious internal projects, especially since it is a new IP rather than a sequel to an existing series.
The studio does say that the core world and the main building blocks are now in place. That lines up with earlier comments from Nowakowski, who said in March that the foundation of the new IP was set and that development was progressing. Later summaries of that update also refer to a completed or advanced "world vision" phase, although the exact wording varies by outlet and translation. The core message remains the same: CD Projekt Red has defined Hadar's direction, but has not yet moved into pre-production.
The available external context suggests that several publications picked up the same update and used different descriptions, such as "biggest undertaking yet", "coherent vision" and "world vision". That variation appears to come mainly from translations and summaries of an interview with Nowakowski, rather than from any real contradiction. The reporting also repeats that the project has been in development for "several years", which matches CD Projekt Red's own wording that Hadar has taken several good years.
For now, it is still unclear when CD Projekt Red first publicly announced Hadar. The available information does say the game has been covered publicly for four years, but it does not give an exact announcement date. The original wording of the March update and the first publication source also remain unclear in the provided material.