Ahead of The Witcher Remake, the Witcher 1's Lead Story Designer Has Just Wrapped up a 26 Episode Dev Commentary
•February 17, 2026
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Why It Matters
The series offers rare insight into the original story construction, informing expectations for the upcoming remake and reinforcing CD Projekt’s transparency with its fanbase.
Key Takeaways
- •26‑episode commentary released over six months
- •Lead story designer Artur Ganszyniec revisits Witcher 1
- •Commentary reveals original script focused on different Witcher
- •Ganszyniec left CD Projekt in 2010, now consultant
- •Insight may hint at remake changes
Pulse Analysis
Artur Ganszyniec’s 26‑episode developer commentary provides a deep dive into the narrative architecture of the original Witcher 1, a title that launched CD Projekt into the RPG spotlight in 2007. Over six months he streamed his playthrough on YouTube, pausing to explain how the story was rebuilt from scratch after earlier scripts proved unusable. By recounting moments such as the River’s encounter with the Order of the Flaming Rose, Ganszyniec not only revisits the game’s core beats but also highlights the creative pivot that placed Geralt of Rivia at the centre of the saga, a decision that reshaped the franchise’s identity.
The timing of the commentary is strategic: CD Projekt has confirmed a full remake of Witcher 1, codenamed Canis Majoris, slated for release later this year. Fans and industry observers are mining Ganszyniec’s recollections for clues about potential narrative adjustments, character redesigns, or restored content that could differentiate the remake from the original. While Ganszyniec himself is no longer with the studio, his insider perspective—combined with endorsements from current narrative director Philipp Weber—adds credibility to speculation that the remake may refine early plot threads, enhance dialogue, or even re‑introduce the originally intended protagonist.
Beyond the Witcher franchise, the series exemplifies a growing trend of developers using long‑form commentary to engage communities and extend a game’s lifecycle. Such retrospectives serve dual purposes: they preserve institutional knowledge for future projects and generate organic marketing buzz ahead of major releases. For CD Projekt, showcasing transparent development history bolsters its reputation for narrative depth while feeding the hype engine that drives pre‑order demand. In an industry where fan trust is increasingly tied to openness, Ganszyniec’s series reinforces the value of archival storytelling as a competitive advantage.
Ahead of The Witcher remake, the Witcher 1's lead story designer has just wrapped up a 26 episode dev commentary
Artur Ganszyniec's spent a rather pleasant half a year revisiting a game he had a hand in shaping
Image credit: CD Projekt
While a lot of the Witchery chatter so far this year has been about an extra Witcher 3 DLC rumoured to be in the works, one of the projects we know for sure CD Projekt have on the go is a remake of the first Witcher game. Ahead of the remake's arrival, a key dev on the 2007 RPG has just finished a developer commentary run through it, which makes for a great way to pass some time between Witchery things.
Over the course of 26 episodes put up on YouTube over the past six months or so, Artur Ganszyniec has worked his way through Gerry from the River's run‑in with the Order of the Flaming Rose. On the way, he's told stories and pulled the curtain back based on his experiences working on the game as lead story designer, as well as taking in the action for the first time in about 20 years.
For example, early on in the first episode, he provides an intro of sorts to his role in making the game by saying the following:
The funny story is that when the game was originally conceived, Geralt of Rivia was not the main character. For the first few years of the production, you were supposed to play another Witcher, not Geralt. But that was before I joined CD Projekt. I joined CD Projekt at the beginning of 2006 and so I had the [opportunity] to take part in the most intensive part of the production, where the final game took shape. So, I was responsible at the end for putting together the new version of the story, because when I came in there were old scripts [which were] not really useful at the moment and we had to craft the story basically from scratch.
Ganszyniec makes clear in the description of each episode that the commentary he's offering is just one person's perspective and might contain misrememberings, since he's just going off how he remembers things as having happened. So, it's well worth also digging up features like this one which offer recollections from other CD Projekt veterans if you want the most complete picture possible as to how the game came together.
Regardless, it's certainly an intriguing watch or listen ahead of the aforementioned remake, which Ganszyniec noted that he hopes is good upon rolling the credits in the latest episode. That's not to say he'll have a hand in it – the developer's LinkedIn profile denotes that he left CD Projekt in 2010 and is currently working as a consulting designer alongside lecturing on game design at the University of Lodz. That said, one of the things that brought his YouTube series to my attention today was Witcher 4 narrative director and CD Projekt veteran Philipp Weber retweeting a post about it which mentioned that Ganszyniec's observations could be worth checking out if you're curious about changes the remake might potentially enact.
If you fancy an RPSy blast from the past about the first Witcher game, which I played through a few years ago and dug despite its time‑worn clunkiness in comparison to its siblings, you can also check out co‑founder Kieron Gillen's review of the enhanced edition for Eurogamer back in the day.
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