CD Projekt Red has strengthened the writing team behind Project Sirius, its in-development multiplayer game set in the world of The Witcher, with the addition of Baudelaire Welch. Welch, whose previous work includes a senior narrative design role at Larian Studios on Baldur's Gate 3, has joined the studio as a senior writer specialist.
The news is meaningful not because it suddenly reveals what Project Sirius will play like, when it will arrive, or which platforms it will target--those details remain unannounced--but because Welch's background offers a useful indication of the type of narrative expertise now being brought into the project. Multiplayer games can have very different storytelling needs from a single-player RPG, especially when they are rooted in a setting as character-driven and morally complicated as The Witcher.
Welch confirmed the move in a professional update, describing fantasy as the genre closest to their heart and expressing excitement about writing for a studio with such a strong connection to the genre. They also noted that they had already spent their first several months with the team, while making clear that they cannot yet discuss the game itself.
A Writer Closely Associated With Baldur's Gate 3's Dark Urge
Welch is particularly well known to Baldur's Gate 3 players for leading the narrative work behind The Dark Urge, one of the game's Origin character options. The Dark Urge storyline became one of the RPG's most discussed paths because it builds a player character around a disturbing compulsion toward violence, then asks the player to decide what that compulsion means and whether it can be resisted.
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That premise could easily have been limited to shock value. Instead, the Dark Urge path became notable for how it affects role-playing decisions, companion relationships, revelations about the protagonist's past, and the overall tone of a campaign. It gives players a route that can be tragic, horrifying, redemptive, destructive, or some mixture of all four depending on their choices. The storyline's popularity reflects the appeal of giving players meaningful authorship over an uncomfortable character concept rather than prescribing a single emotional outcome.
Welch also contributed to Astarion's romance scenes and to companion questlines throughout Baldur's Gate 3. Those assignments are significant in a game celebrated for the sense that its companions have motivations, conflicts, personal histories, and reactions that continue well beyond their introductory scenes. Strong companion writing is not merely a matter of making characters memorable; it is also about making a player's decisions feel observed and consequential.
That experience has obvious relevance to a Witcher project. The franchise has long been defined by characters with sharply drawn perspectives, difficult pasts, and conflicting loyalties. From its earliest games through The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red has placed political upheaval, monster hunting, family bonds, romance, prejudice, and personal responsibility within stories that often refuse simple answers.
Why Narrative Talent Matters for a Multiplayer Witcher Game
Project Sirius remains largely under wraps, which means it would be premature to assume it will use companion systems, Origin-style protagonists, romance arcs, or any specific feature associated with Larian's RPG. Welch's hiring does not confirm any of those things. It does, however, underline a fundamental challenge facing any multiplayer game using The Witcher name: it needs to preserve the setting's narrative identity while supporting a social, repeatable, and potentially long-running format.
Single-player Witcher games have traditionally been able to focus closely on a defined protagonist and a carefully paced journey. A multiplayer project may need to accommodate multiple players with different goals, varied progression states, and stories designed to be revisited or experienced in changing groups. That does not make rich writing impossible, but it calls for a different approach to structure.
A senior writer with experience in branching consequences and character-focused storytelling could be valuable in building the connective tissue between activities. Even in a game that emphasizes cooperative play or recurring content, players still need reasons to care about the people, places, factions, and conflicts they encounter. The Witcher universe is especially well suited to that kind of writing because monsters are rarely the only problem. A contract can uncover a family dispute. A village's fear can create a greater danger than the creature outside its walls. A choice that looks merciful from one angle can be disastrous from another.
There is also room for multiplayer storytelling that does not simply imitate a single-player campaign. Group decisions, competing priorities, shared discoveries, factional relationships, and the consequences of a party's behavior could all fit the broader themes of the series if handled carefully. Whether Project Sirius pursues any of those possibilities is unknown. Still, the addition of a writer with a record of developing reactive RPG material is an encouraging sign for players hoping the game treats its setting as more than a recognizable fantasy backdrop.
Project Sirius Has Already Had a Difficult Development History
The hiring arrives after a turbulent period for Project Sirius. The game has been in development for several years and underwent a full reboot that was confirmed in 2023. That reset was followed by layoffs the next week, and the project was also affected by another round of layoffs earlier in 2026.
A reboot can mean many things in game development. It may involve changing a project's creative direction, revising its scope, rebuilding production plans, or returning to earlier design questions before a team commits to full development. It is not automatically proof that a game is in trouble, but it does show that the path to release has not been straightforward.
In that context, adding an experienced narrative specialist may be read as one small positive development rather than a broad declaration about the game's condition. CD Projekt Red has not shared a release window, gameplay footage, a formal genre breakdown, or detailed public information about Project Sirius's current design. The most responsible conclusion is simply that the team is continuing to build its staff and that Welch is now part of its writing effort.
It is also worth recognizing that layoffs have a human cost that cannot be reduced to a development milestone. Team changes can affect institutional knowledge, production continuity, and the people whose work helped shape a project. The next public reveal from Project Sirius, whenever it comes, will be far more informative about how the rebooted game is taking shape than any individual hire can be.
Welch Brings Experience Beyond Larian
Before joining CD Projekt Red, Welch's game credits also included work as a game designer on Crusader Kings 3. That is a notably different type of game from Baldur's Gate 3, one built around systemic political drama, dynastic decisions, emergent stories, and player-created chaos. The contrast may be useful: a multiplayer Witcher project could require both authored narrative moments and systems that allow players to produce stories of their own.
Welch has additionally worked with Sam Barlow, the creator of Immortality, and filmmaker Brandon Cronenberg on psychological horror titles. While those projects sit outside traditional high fantasy, they further point to a career interested in atmosphere, character psychology, and unconventional narrative spaces.
That range should not be taken as a roadmap for Project Sirius. There is no basis to claim that the game will become a horror experience, a political simulator, or a direct extension of any prior work. But varied credits can matter in a franchise like The Witcher, where the best stories frequently move between folklore, horror, courtly intrigue, dark comedy, and intimate character drama.
What Comes Next for The Witcher Multiplayer Project
For now, Project Sirius remains one of CD Projekt Red's most mysterious Witcher initiatives. The studio has confirmed the project exists and has navigated its redevelopment, but it has not offered the details that would let players judge its actual ambitions. There is no announced launch date, and no confirmed platform list. Its multiplayer focus alone differentiates it from what many fans expect from a Witcher game, making a clear introduction especially important when the time comes.
Welch's arrival will likely raise interest among players who valued the Dark Urge route, Astarion's scenes, and the companion narratives of Baldur's Gate 3. Those accomplishments demonstrate a capacity for writing characters whose stories can change meaningfully through player choice--an ability that could serve a Witcher game well in almost any format.
Until CD Projekt Red reveals more, the clearest takeaway is modest but promising: Project Sirius is continuing forward, and its team has gained a writer with experience on some of modern RPG gaming's most memorable character-driven material. For a project rebuilding after a difficult development period, that is a development worth watching.
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