NetEase invests in Rebel Wolves, new studio started by The Witcher 3 game director

Rebel Wolves, an independent studio co-founded by The Witcher 3 director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, has secured a strategic investment from Chinese tech giant NetEase. The team is now working on an untitled AAA RPG.

NetEase will become Rebel Wolves’ shareholder and partner. However, the financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, so it is unclear how much money the Chinese company has invested in the Poland-based studio.

Rebel Wolves will remain creatively independent. “Funding provided by NetEase was the last missing piece needed to go full throttle,” CEO Konrad Tomaszkiewicz said, adding that the team “can now focus on what matters most: development.”

He also told Game Developer that with the investment, Rebel Wolves will be able to “scale-up with confidence.” Right now, the studio is working on a “world-class AAA game” and is hiring new people in art, programming, and other disciplines.

What is known about Rebel Wolves’ debut game?

Founded earlier this year, Rebel Wolves is led by Tomaszkiewicz, who previously worked at CD Projekt as the game director of The Witcher 3 and secondary game director of Cyberpunk 2077.

Other team members include design director Daniel Sadowski, narrative director Jakub Szamałek, animation director Tamara Zawada, and art director Bartłomiej Gaweł. They have all worked at CD Projekt RED at some point in their careers.

There are still not many details about Rebel Wolves’ debut game. Built with Unreal Engine 5, it is described as a dark fantasy narrative-driven RPG. The studio also said it wants to “evolve the cRPG genre” with this project.

Tomaszkiewicz also described the game as the “Holy Grail of RPGs”, which will combine an open world with a strong story. He noted that it will be smaller in scope compared to The Witcher 3, but still with a lot of quests and details.

Rebel Wolves is yet to reveal the game’s title, release date, and first gameplay footage.