The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red has described the upcoming remake of the series’ first game as a “story-driven, single-player open-world RPG – a modern reimagining of 2007’s The Witcher”.

It’s the first detailed description we’ve had of the remake, and suggests a more from-the-ground-up reworking of the original role-player than previously thought.

Thanks to the success of The Witcher 3, the series is now thought of as a fully open-world franchise. But that was not the case back in the original Witcher game, which featured a number of separate large maps and various smaller areas.

The above description comes from a newly-released report for CD Projekt investors. Speaking in a call alongside its release, the company’s joint CEO Adam Kiciński said the remake project would share technology with the studio’s upcoming new trilogy of Witcher titles, and release after Polaris, the codename for that trilogy’s first entry.

Development work on the remake is being lead by Fool’s Theory, a Polish studio which previously provided development support to Outriders and which includes staff that worked on the original Witcher game.

So, when will we see the remake release? Well, CD Projekt has previously suggested that Polaris is at least three years away – meaning we won’t see The Witcher 1’s reimagining until some time after that.

CD Projekt gave a major update on its release schedule last month, when it confirmed the aforementioned new Witcher trilogy, the Witcher 1 remake, and a project codenamed Sirirus coming from The Flame in the Flood studio The Molasses Flood.

The company is also committed to continuing its Cyberpunk franchise with 2077 expansion Phantom Liberty, before its developers begin work on a full-blown sequel codenamed Orion. A brand new IP, codenamed Hadar, is also in the pipeline.