After aWitcher-free decade, CDPR still promises three sequels in six years

It's been more than a decade since the acclaimed release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and nearly four years have passed since the announcement of the next chapter in The Witcher video game saga. Despite these lengthy intervals, CD Projekt Red (CDPR) remains committed to delivering three new Witcher titles within a tight six-year timeframe. During a recent earnings call, CDPR's Vice President of Business Development, Michał Nowakowski, highlighted that the studio's switch from its proprietary REDEngine to the widely-adopted Unreal Engine in 2022 would significantly enhance their development pace. The transition is expected to improve both the predictability and efficiency of their production process while granting access to advanced game development tools. This shift comes in the wake of the numerous technical challenges faced by the console versions of Cyberpunk 2077, which CDPR attributed to issues within REDEngine’s in-game streaming system. Nowakowski expressed optimism about the capabilities of Unreal Engine, stating, "We’re happy with how [Unreal Engine] is evolving through the Epic team’s efforts, and how we are learning how to make it work within a huge open-world game, as [The Witcher 4] is meant to be." He confirmed the company's intention to accelerate the release timeline for the new games, stating, "As we had stated before, our plan still is to launch the whole trilogy within a six-year period, so yes, that would mean we would plan to have a shorter development time between TW4 and TW5, between TW5 and TW6, and so on." It's important to note that this six-year timeframe begins with the eventual launch of The Witcher 4, meaning that CDPR plans to roll out two additional sequels in quick succession afterwards. However, the studio has already indicated that The Witcher 4 will not debut in 2026, thus extending the anticipated timeline for all the forthcoming titles in this beloved franchise.