
Witchfire Dev Champions Small Teams, Photogrammetry, and a Nuanced Take on Extraction Shooters
Adrian Chmielarz discusses Witchfire’s nine-year development by a lean The Astronauts team (peaking around 26–27 core staff after starting from ~12), highlighting photogrammetry and Unreal Engine 4 as key tools; he argues small, passionate teams enable fast, honest critique and deep collaboration, cites Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 as a case study in clever shortcuts, and clarifies Witchfire is a hybrid RPG shooter with extraction elements rather than a pure extraction game, with plans to move to Unreal Engine 5 for future projects.


