The Molasses Flood is developing a brand-new game set in The Witcher universe. Codenamed Project Sirius, this new Witcher game is set to be wildly different from all of the other upcoming CD Projekt Red games that are in development – between the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, a new Witcher trilogy, and the incubation of a third IP. So you might be wondering who The Molasses Flood is, and why they've been handed the keys to the universe of some of the best RPGs of the last two generations.
Below you'll find everything you need to know about The Molasses Flood, including details on its previous games, information on when CDPR acquired the Boston-based team, and all the scraps we could find on its mysterious Witcher project.
Who is The Molasses Flood?
The Molasses Flood was founded in 2014 by a small team of industry veterans – with experience working across everything from BioShock and Halo 2 to Guitar Hero and Rock Band. The Boston-based studio is best known for creating two beloved survival and base-building games: The Flame in the Flood (2016) and Drake Hollow (2020), although The Molasses Flood's destiny was altered last year..
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red acquired The Molasses Flood in October 2021. At the time, CDPR president Adam Kiciński said this of the new studio: "We're always on the lookout for teams who make games with heart. The Molasses Flood share our passion for video game development, they’re experienced, quality-oriented, and have great technological insight. I’m convinced they will bring a lot of talent and determination to the Group."
The Molasses Flood's studio head, Forrest Dowling, said of the collaboration: "From the inception of The Molasses Flood, it was our goal to create games that touch and inspire people. When CD Projekt approached us about the possibility of working together, we saw an incredible opportunity to reach a much wider audience through a collaboration with a company we love, creating games in worlds we love."
The Molasses Flood games
The Molasses Flood is responsible for two games. The first is The Flame in the Flood, a roguelike survival adventure game released in 2017 for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The Flame in the Flood was the result of a successful crowdfunding campaign, which saw $251,647 of a $150,000 goal obtained via Kickstarter. In the game, you're tasked with traveling by foot and by raft down a procedurally-generated river, scrounging for resources and crafting tools as you attempt to stay alive.
The second The Molasses Flood game was Drake Hollow; originally designed as a sequel to The Flame in the Flood, it had ultimately spun off into a new IP by the time the 2020 release for PC and Xbox One rolled around. That's because The Molasses Flood invested heavily in its systems and the need to keep others around you alive with the interlinking survival systems.
Why was The Molasses Flood acquired by CDPR?
Following the release of Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red has been working to overhaul the way that it makes games. CDPR wants to avoid a repeat of the past, where it had a six-year gap between the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077, and so it is investing heavily in its future. It's why we've seen the recent creation of CD Projekt Red Vancouver and CD Projekt Red Boston (known collectively as CD Projekt Red North America) to work on Cyberpunk 2077 Orion, while the existing group in Poland gets to work on a new trilogy of The Witcher games.
It's worth noting that The Molasses Flood is separate from the new CD Projekt Red Boston studio. Instead, The Molasses Flood retains its identity and an air of independence as it works on its own game set in the wider Witcher universe, codenamed Project Sirius. And that's why The Molasses Flood was ultimately acquired, to help CDPR grow to match its rising ambitions – multiple projects in development, in parallel with one another – following the success of The Flame in the Flood and Drake Hollow.
The Molasses Flood's Witcher game - Project Sirius
When The Molasses Flood was acquired in 2021, we knew that it would be working on one of CDPR's existing IPs – although it was never made clear whether that would mean The Witcher or Cyberpunk 2077. We now know that The Molasses Flood is working on Project Sirius – "an innovative take on The Witcher universe" which will supposedly tell "an unforgettable story for existing Witcher fans and new audiences".
This is thought to be entirely separate from The Witcher 4 and the ensuing trilogy of games that CDPR is actively developing. Instead, it will "differ from our past productions, offering multiplayer gameplay on top of a single-player experience including a campaign with quests and a story". Given that The Molasses Flood has form with both single-player and co-operative experiences, we're keen to see what the studio is able to deliver. However, we do know that The Witcher Sirius is still in pre-production, so more information might be a little ways away.
