One of the most influential narrative voices from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s heyday returns to her old place of employment. As seen in an updated industry overview, and now officially confirmed by CD Projekt RED, Polish writer Karolina Stachyra has once again taken up a permanent position as a specialist writer at the development studio after a hiatus of around ten years. In her previous role as a creator at CD Projekt RED, Stachyra was primarily responsible for the “Family Matters” mission series surrounding the Bloody Baron, which is still considered a narrative masterpiece by fans and professional critics and a model for multi-layered mission design in open-world role-playing games. After working for a well-known development studio in Europe, she now joins the core team in Warsaw again.
Karolina Stachyra’s career is closely linked to the global success of The Witcher saga. After serving as story designer on The Witcher 3 and the add-on Hearts of Stone, the author left the studio to pursue a new career path. In recent years, she has been responsible for narrative structure at companies including Techland (Dying Light 2) and Ukrainian developer GSC Game World (STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl).
Stachyra has been working as a consultant at CD Projekt RED since the beginning of the year, before returning permanently as a specialist writer in August 2026. Studio management has yet to answer what specific projects it will oversee in the future, but it’s clear that it will be involved in the development of the next major installment, Polaris (The Witcher 4) or the cyberpunk sequel Orion.
The return comes amid a personnel consolidation phase for the Polish developer. With Stachyra’s rehiring, the number of veterans who worked on the original The Witcher 3 who are still working at CD Projekt RED or have been rehired exceeds 110. Despite the size of the team across multiple locations, workforce continuity is considered a strategic pillar for the company to maintain the narrative quality and specific tone of its own universe.
The staff received a warm welcome from all walks of life. The story of “Bloody Baron” is still considered a landmark in the industry because it dealt with difficult topics such as domestic violence, alcoholism and guilt, without a moral compass, but with tremendous emotional depth. The signing of Stachyra is a signal to fans that CD Projekt RED will continue to rely on uncompromising adult storytelling and multi-layered character painting in its upcoming large-scale projects.
