The Witcher 4 is in development at CD Projekt Red, the studio responsible for The Witcher trilogy and spinoffs like Gwent. Originally developed under the codename Polaris, The Witcher 4 will kick off a “new AAA RPG trilogy” for the Witcher brand, CD Projekt Red says.
Like past Witcher games, The Witcher 4 will be a single-player open-world role-playing game. CD Projekt Red says it aims to create “the most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date.” One of the bigger changes coming in The Witcher 4 is its main protagonist: Ciri will take over for Geralt of Rivia after the conclusion of his story in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
CD Projekt Red confirmed The Witcher 4’s title and Ciri as its star at The Game Awards 2024. Game director Sebastian Kalemba later commented in a news release, “For the longest time we knew that we wanted Ciri to be the protagonist of The Witcher 4; it just felt natural to us and we believe that Ciri deserves it. In this game we want to explore what it means to truly become a witcher by following Ciri on her Path.“
At The Game Awards, CD Projekt Red also released a cinematic trailer for The Witcher 4, teasing the challenges ahead for Ciri and the “dark and grounded” world of its new game.
The first trailer for The Witcher 4 shows Ciri taking on a witcher contract in a village that’s long been terrorized by a monster that demands human sacrifices. The trailer does more than just set the scene; it shows some of Ciri’s new abilities and weapons of war, including a chain and advanced magic powers.
According to CD Projekt Red, The Witcher 4 cinematic reveal trailer illustrates how Ciri will contend “with the prejudices and superstitions of the people she tries to protect, leading her to confront a painful witcher lesson: that monsters come in all forms.”
Based on the events of The Witcher 3 and its many choice-based endings, good and bad, there’s plenty to speculate about the series’ new direction in the wake of Geralt’s story. If you want to read about the possibilities, here’s a peek at where The Witcher might go after Wild Hunt.
CDPR says it’s not just “The Witcher 3 in new clothing”
In March 2024, when the new Witcher game was still in its pre-production phase, CDPR joint CEO Michał Nowakowski said during an earnings Q&A that the developer is “trying to push new boundaries and explore new fields.”
“I guess what I’m saying is that you should not be expecting ‘The Witcher 3 in new clothing’ of sorts,” Nowakowski said. “Of course we’re building on the shoulders of what came before, and on what we’ve learned, but we will be adding new gameplay elements and new mechanics that you have not seen in our previous games. I’d say — doing such things is always a risk; it’s not just repeating what was done before.”
The tech powering The Witcher 4
Image: CD Projekt Red
The Witcher 4’s first trailer was made using pre-rendered footage that was using a custom build of Unreal Engine 5 running on “an unannounced Nvidia GeForce RTX GPU,” CD Projekt Red says. So, yeah, it looks good for a reason — it was made using next-gen graphics technology.
CD Projekt Red claims that The Witcher 4 will be powered by that same Unreal Engine tech, and that the models and assets seen in the trailer are from the game itself.
As previously announced, CD Projekt Red is moving away from using its internal REDengine, the technology that powered The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and will instead use Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5. CD Projekt and Epic announced a “multi-year strategic partnership” in March 2022, and as part of that arrangement, developers from CD Projekt Red are collaborating with Epic “with the primary goal being to help tailor [Unreal Engine] for open-world experiences.”
When does The Witcher 4 come out?
CD Projekt Red hasn’t announced a release date for The Witcher 4. In fact, it hasn’t even provided a release window, so it’s unclear if the game will be out in 2025, 2026, or well beyond that. The Witcher fans should probably expect a lengthy wait, as CD Projekt Red announced in November 2024 that The Witcher 4 had just entered full production.
“I’m proud to confirm that several weeks ago the Polaris team wrapped up preproduction and moved on to full-scale production — the most intensive phase of development,” said joint CEO Michał Nowakowski as part of the company’s financial results. “We are very pleased with our progress on this project, and I wish to thank the team for its dedication.”
The previous game in the franchise, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, entered development in the summer of 2011, but it wasn’t officially announced until two years later. And the final game didn’t ship until May 2015. The studio’s most recent game, Cyberpunk 2077, was first teased back in 2012, and it took a grueling eight years to finally arrive (and in not-so-great shape either).
Suffice it to say, the next Witcher game is likely years away. CD Projekt Red will almost assuredly spend extra time polishing and bug-squashing its follow-up to the Witcher trilogy, because it simply can’t repeat the mistakes it made with Cyberpunk 2077.
What platforms will The Witcher 4 be on?
Image: CD Projekt Red
CD Projekt Red hasn’t officially committed to any platforms yet, but The Witcher 4 will likely be released on PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.
Depending on how long the game is in development, there’s a pretty good chance The Witcher 4 could also come to PlayStation 6 and the next-generation Xbox, which could arrive as early as 2027 or 2028, according to some estimates.
It’s (probably) not an Epic Games Store exclusive
CD Projekt Red and Epic Games are enjoying a “multi-year strategic partnership,” the companies said, but that doesn’t mean that the next Witcher video game will be exclusive to Epic Games’ digital storefront. While Epic has invested many millions into securing Epic Games Store-exclusive games, that sort of arrangement doesn’t appear to be on the cards for the next Witcher. Or, at the very least, CD Projekt wants to downplay the possibility that there’s any sort of exclusivity going on. After all, CD Projekt has its own games storefront, GOG.com, and has enjoyed multiplatform success over the past decade.
