The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been one of the most memorable gaming experiences of the previous generation. The game is due to a next-generation patch soon, but it seems CD Projekt Red has been working on more than tweaking an existing game in the franchise. They have revealed they are already working on a new Witcher game.
Aside from the fact that the new game will run on Unreal Engine 5, nothing has been revealed. The announcement post on Instagram did admit that the new game will be “kicking off a new saga for the franchise and a new technology partnership with Epic Games.”
We don’t have any timeframe or release date for the game, but the studio did share a teaser image featuring a Witcher medallion and the phrase, “a new saga begins.” No word was given if Geralt of Rivia would feature in this new “saga,” and the medallion itself is too obscured by snow to know if it belongs to the School of the Wolf. However, given that this may be a new direction for the franchise, Geralt may not be the protagonist this time around.
The shift to Unreal Engine 5 is also noted as CD Projekt Red had used their proprietary REDengine technology to build their games since The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings.
One of the core aspects of our internal RED 2.0 Transformation is a much stronger focus on technology, and our cooperation with Epic Games is based on this principle. From the outset, we did not consider a typical licensing arrangement; both we and Epic see this as a long-term, fulfilling tech partnership.
CD Projekt Red CTO Paweł Zawodny
He went on to say,
It is vital for CD PROJEKT RED to have the technical direction of our next game decided from the earliest possible phase as; in the past, we spent a lot of resources and energy to evolve and adapt REDengine with every subsequent game release. This cooperation is so exciting, because it will elevate development predictability and efficiency, while simultaneously granting us access to cutting-edge game development tools. I can’t wait for the great games we’re going to create using Unreal Engine 5!
CD Projekt Red CTO Paweł Zawodny
Time Sweeney, the Founder and CEO of Epic Games added,
Epic has been building Unreal Engine 5 to enable teams to create dynamic open worlds at an unprecedented scale and level of fidelity. We are deeply honored by the opportunity to partner with CD PROJEKT RED to push the limits of interactive storytelling and gameplay together, and this effort will benefit the developer community for years to come.
Time Sweeney
The new Witcher game may be treated to all the bells and whistles of Unreal Engine 5, but CD Projekt Red stated that the REDengine is “still being used for the development of the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 expansion.”
After the infamous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, the studio has learned a “huge lesson,” and hopefully, that will result in fewer problems for the launch of the new Witcher game.
CD Projekt Red had confirmed they would be returning to the world of The Witcher and that the return would not be a continuation of Geralt’s story. The team said previously that Geralt’s arc had been completed, but this new press release neither confirms nor denies that this is still the case. The game will take a while before it’s ready for the market, but until then, we have the next-gen update for The Witcher 3 releasing later this year.
About The Witcher 4
The Witcher 4 is a placeholder name for an upcoming game from CD Projekt Red based in The Witcher universe. It has been labeled as a new saga and will most likely not feature Geralt of Rivia as the protagonist.
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