CD Projekt Red Explains Its Reluctance to Include Crossovers in The Witcher Series

CD Projekt Red’s iconic franchises, The Witcher and Cyberpunk, are no strangers to exciting collaborations with other games. At BlizzCon, it was revealed that a Geralt-inspired Barbarian skin is on its way to Diablo 4, while outfits from Cyberpunk: Edgerunners will be making their debut in Overwatch next year. However, the reverse isn’t true; for instance, The Witcher 3 Remastered won’t feature any Diablo-themed outfits for Geralt when purchased on Battle.net.

During BlizzCon, I inquired about this decision, and Level Design Lead Miles Tost shared that the absence of crossover content in CD Projekt Red’s titles stems from the studio’s commitment to maintaining content parity across all platforms. However, he mentioned that they are open to reevaluating this approach in the future.

When asked if they had considered adding Diablo-themed elements to The Witcher games, Tost candidly stated, “we haven’t really thought about this yet.” He noted that CD Projekt Red has traditionally favored physical items as platform-exclusive bonuses rather than digital content.

“We really value not having content that is purely exclusive based on where you purchase it,” he explained. “Typically, when we create something exclusive for partners, it’s been physical items, like an exclusive hoodie. For example, Xbox pre-orders for The Witcher 3 included a unique set of cards. It’s crucial for us that if you buy the game, you receive the complete version.”

While CD Projekt Red is okay with a Geralt skin in Diablo 4 being exclusive to a specific platform, they prefer not to restrict any Diablo-themed content to a single storefront for The Witcher 3 Remastered. Tost’s comments about physical bonuses align with previous statements from the company’s CEO regarding The Witcher 4’s physical release in a disc-less format in 2028.

For now, fans can expect to see The Witcher and Cyberpunk characters appearing in games like Diablo 4, Fortnite, and Overwatch, but not the other way around. Tost didn’t completely dismiss the idea of future collaborations, expressing that CD Projekt Red is “always sort of open-minded with figuring out cool ways to collaborate” and may reconsider their stance down the line.

“It’s not that we are set in our ways,” Tost concluded. “We’ll definitely take into account the feedback from these BlizzCon announcements, gauge the responses, and keep an open mind about future possibilities.”