CDPR applies Cyberpunk 2077 lessons to fix The Witcher 4 bugs on all platforms

CD Projekt RED has restructured its production pipeline for The Witcher 4, ensuring the upcoming RPG runs across multiple platforms simultaneously rather than prioritizing the PC build first.

The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 version 1.0 suffered from widespread technical issues across PC and consoles, which eventually led to the game’s temporary removal from the PlayStation Store. Following that experience, the studio is focusing on all target platforms throughout the production of the next entry in The Witcher franchise.

Speaking with Game Developer, CD Projekt RED Joint CEO Michal Nowakowski stated that current builds of The Witcher 4 already run on PC, Xbox Series X, and PlayStation 5. He did not mention the Xbox Series S:

You come to the studio and boot up The Witcher 4. You can run it on PC, or you can run it on PS5 or Xbox Series X, and the game will work.

Nowakowski explained that the studio previously prioritized maximum graphical fidelity above all else, which naturally turned PC into the lead development platform. That strategy backfired with Cyberpunk 2077 when porting the project to consoles proved significantly harder than anticipated:

The studio worked under the premise that we were striving for the highest possible visual quality. We wanted to push the boundaries of what was achievable in terms of cinematics and so on, and PC was best suited for that. As it turned out, assuming that adapting everything for the current generation of consoles wouldn’t be much trouble was a mistake.

Nowakowski noted that CD Projekt RED used the same PC-first approach on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The team encountered hurdles during that production as well, but they got a bit lucky, which gave them false confidence heading into Cyberpunk 2077.

Under the new pipeline for The Witcher 4, if a build encounters an issue on any target platform, active development halts until engineers fix the problem.

The Witcher 4 is expected to release in 2028. A remaster of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is scheduled to launch on September 29, 2024, while the narrative expansion Songs of the Past is in development for a planned release in 2027.

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