Project Hadar's Gameplay Revealed in CD Projekt Red Job Listing

Image Credit: CD Projekt Red

CD Projekt Red’s latest job listing has offered new insight into Project Hadar, confirming it's being shaped as an action RPG centered around melee-based combat.

Although the studio has its hands full with multiple major titles in development — including The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 — it’s this entirely original IP, Project Hadar, that is drawing fresh attention.

According to a job listing for a Senior Gameplay Designer, CDPR is specifically seeking candidates with experience in “RPG/Action titles with melee-oriented combat,” providing the first real clue about the project’s gameplay focus.

The listing further states that the successful applicant will work with Unreal Engine 5 and collaborate with a team “building a universe from the ground up.”

Unlike The Witcher and Cyberpunk, which were based on existing works, Project Hadar is CDPR’s first fully in-house IP. It’s not an adaptation — this is new lore, new characters, and an entirely new setting developed from scratch.

CDPR first mentioned Project Hadar in its 2022 financial reports, describing it as a “wholly original IP.” At the time, the team working on it was described as “incredibly tiny,” and by spring 2024, the game was still in early conceptual stages. However, the new hiring effort shows that the studio is now ramping up development, likely expanding the team to push the project forward.

While The Witcher 4 is currently the primary focus, with over 420 employees now involved, and Cyberpunk 2 just entering pre-production with around 96 team members, Project Hadar remains something of a mystery. Still, this small reveal helps paint a clearer picture. If the melee combat emphasis holds true, Project Hadar could lean more toward the third-person combat system familiar to The Witcher series, or it may experiment with a new perspective — possibly even first-person.

While we still don’t know much about Hadar’s world, the melee focus could also hint at a more grounded or fantasy-based setting, perhaps even historical or mythological, though that remains purely speculative for now.

Project Hadar is also being developed using Unreal Engine 5, which aligns with CDPR’s broader shift away from their in-house REDengine. This move was first confirmed with The Witcher 4, and we got an awesome new trailer using this tech at UNREAL fest.

Based on their current roadmap, Project Hadar could still be several years away. However, this small glimpse confirms that development is quietly, but steadily, gaining traction.