An anonymous post regarding The Witcher: Project Sirius goes viral online, in which it is claimed that the game is a "Japanese take" on the series utilizing Unreal Engine 5. Project Sirius is one of six total projects known to be in development at CD Projekt Red, which also includes new Cyberpunk 2077 projects, new Witcher projects like it, and an original IP.
All rumors live or die by their source, and an anonymous post on the internet is as unreliable as they come—especially when it appears to have originated on 4chan. This could easily be fake as a result, but that hasn't stopped it from spreading online. It should be taken with a healthy grain of salt, regardless.
According to this rumor, Project Sirius is currently planned as a one-time thing. After the recent shutdowns of various live-service games, it seems this project is going to be completely single-player and drop the previously reported multiplayer elements, at least according to this rumor. This title will allegedly be comparable to The Witcher: Ronin manga, taking place in an open-world or semi-open-world location inspired by Japan. Finally, the rumor claims an anime adaptation is being considered too, as well as the game hoping to further popularize The Witcher in the east.
Notably, "Sirius" roughly translates to the brightest star in the sky after the sun and is also known as the Dog Star, possibly hinting at The Witcher's School of the Wolf and The Land of the Rising Sun. However, whether that's evidence for this rumor or just a factoid that inspired it cannot be determined. There are some claims in this rumor that are rather dubious though. First off, the poster compares its "one-time thing" approach to FromSoftware's Bloodborne, which just feels like a shot at fans hoping for a sequel. Secondly, prior job listings hinted at this Witcher game having co-op and other multiplayer elements. Saying multiplayer was entirely canned seems unlikely as a result, especially "because" of GaaS games. Though, again, this could just be poor wording and could refer to competitive game modes.
On the other hand, the post is also getting flak for saying it wants to popularize Witcher in the east. Potentially poor wording aside, The Witcher 3 is indeed one of the most popular western RPGs in Japan, the point of conflict, but contextually it does make sense to push on this market because of that fact. Reports indicate The Witcher 3 has sold 50 million copies worldwide, but it wasn't until the end of 2022/start of 2023 that it became the most popular western RPG in Japan—with 1 million copies sold.
Ultimately, this Witcher rumor has more working against it than it does for it, so it remains to be seen if there is any kernel of truth here. While it is likely false, stranger things have certainly happened.
The Witcher: Project Sirius is in development.
Source: NeoGAF