CD Projekt Red confirms new The Witcher trilogy and targets six years of development

CD Projekt Red has once again reaffirmed one of the gaming industry's most ambitious projects: developing a complete trilogy of The Witcher in just six years. The confirmation came during a recent call with investors, where co-CEOs Michal Nowakowski and Adam Kiciński reiterated that the clock for this plan will only start ticking once The Witcher 4 hits the market. If there are no delays, this could be as early as 2027.

The intention to drastically shorten the time between releases responds to an internal strategy that seeks to avoid seven- or eight-year gaps between games, as happened with the studio's previous launches.

Production of The Witcher 4 and the leap to Unreal Engine 5

Large-scale development of The Witcher 4 began in 2023, marking a turning point for the studio: for the first time, they abandoned Red Engine, their proprietary technology, to adopt Unreal Engine 5. According to Nowakowski, the team has spent four years adapting to the new tools and is already seeing significant technical and creative progress.

The choice of Unreal Engine 5 is not only aimed at enhancing graphics and physics, but also at streamlining internal processes. Direct collaboration with Epic Games is allowing the engine to be tailored to the needs of massive open worlds, a hallmark of the franchise. The studio's logic is clear: establish a robust technological foundation in The Witcher 4 so the next two installments can be developed more quickly, with estimated cycles of three years.

Internal reorganization and pressure on teams

To meet this accelerated schedule, CD Projekt Red has reorganized resources and priorities. A concrete example is Fool’s Theory, the studio responsible for the remake of the first The Witcher, also under Unreal Engine 5. Much of its staff was reassigned to reinforce The Witcher 4, leaving the remake in the hands of a smaller group.

In addition, CD Projekt Red is working on an additional, as-yet-unannounced project, which increases the pressure on teams and requires extremely precise planning. While the goal is to maintain the pace of the main trilogy, it is not ruled out that secondary projects may experience delays or require rethinking.

A risky bet in a sector that is developing more slowly

Attempting to launch three large-scale RPGs in six years is a goal that few studios have achieved. The original Mass Effect trilogy was developed in five years, but since then, timelines have stretched considerably. Both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 experienced delays and long production cycles, reflecting the market's growing demands.

After the controversial release of Cyberpunk 2077, the community remains cautious. Although Unreal Engine 5 could streamline processes and provide greater predictability, the complexity of an open-world RPG means that CDPR's plan is seen as a risky bet. Still, the studio is determined to prove that it has learned from its mistakes and that it has a structure capable of sustaining a more dynamic schedule.