CD Projekt Red has once again affirmed its goal to deliver a new Witcher trilogy — beginning with The Witcher 4 — within a six-year timeframe.
The Witcher 4 is not expected to arrive before 2027, which would place its launch more than six years after the studio’s last full release, 2020’s Cyberpunk 2077. The company’s timetable, however, envisions much shorter gaps thereafter — roughly three years between each installment.
That ambitious roadmap was first outlined in CD Projekt’s 2022 long-term strategy update, which also mentioned a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, multiple Witcher spin-offs, and a new IP. Given how protracted AAA development has become, the pledge is notable: other major studios are taking far longer between flagship releases — Grand Theft Auto VI follows eight years after Red Dead Redemption 2, Naughty Dog hasn’t shipped a new full game since 2020 and its next major project remains some years off, and even once-annual series like Assassin’s Creed have slowed their cadence.
CD Projekt’s co-CEO Michał Nowakowski expressed confidence that migrating development to Unreal Engine 5 will materially accelerate the studio’s workflow. In a recent Q&A, he said the team is pleased with their progress in UE5 and is becoming more proficient with the engine — remarks published in the company’s transcript are available here.
Nowakowski indicated he expects shorter intervals between releases going forward, and reiterated CD Projekt’s intention to release the entire trilogy within a six-year span, which implies compressed development cycles between The Witcher 4, The Witcher 5 and a potential The Witcher 6.
According to the studio, The Witcher 4 moved into full production in late 2024 after an extended pre-production phase. If the project were to ship in late 2027, that would amount to roughly three years of full production — a timeline that could be achievable only if pre-production for subsequent entries runs concurrently with active development on each preceding title.
Of course, investor-facing assurances are often optimistic. Still, it’s striking to see CD Projekt openly propose reversing the trend toward ever-longer AAA cycles. Whether the studio can deliver on that promise remains to be seen.
Source: Polygon
