The Witcher: Developer plans 3 games in 6 years
CD Projekt Red wants to release its completely new Witcher trilogy within just six years. However, after the Cyberpunk 2077 debacle, there are doubts about its feasibility. Can the ambitious schedule succeed without any loss of quality?
Ambitious plans for the saga
While the Wicther author reveals that an important element of the computer games is based on a mistake and the switch to Ciri as the main character in The Witcher 4 is described as a “woke”, the next Witcher game is in intensive development. The Polish developer CD Projekt Red has now confirmed at a current financial conference that it is sticking to an extremely ambitious schedule. Accordingly, the next three main games in the series should still be released within a period of just six years. Given the studio’s turbulent publishing history, particularly with regard to the technically disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, industry insiders are eyeing this announcement critically.
Michał Nowakowski, co-CEO of the company, confirmed to investors that The Witcher 4 is now in full production. However, a release in 2026 is ruled out because the marketing campaigns for titles of this size require at least a year’s notice. If the first part of the new saga appears in 2027, the studio would have to complete the two successors by 2033. This would mean a significant shortening of development cycles, which in the past at CD Projekt Red were often five to seven years between major titles.
Industry experts express doubts
The skepticism in the trade press is palpable. As Eurogamer notes, such an endeavor is almost unprecedented in the modern RPG landscape. The last comparable success is BioWare’s Mass Effect trilogy, which was completed over a decade ago and was created at a time when the technical effort was still significantly lower. There is a risk that the games will lose depth in favor of the schedule or appear to be in a technically poor condition. While previous titles were based on the in-house, often cumbersome REDengine, the studio uses Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 5 for the new trilogy.
The developers have been experimenting with the new environment for almost four years. Management now argues that the new technology base will massively accelerate the development of parts five and six. The industry standard should also make it easier to onboard new employees, as many programmers already have experience with the Unreal Engine.
Enormous internal stress
Another critical factor, however, is the internal distribution of resources and the sheer mass of parallel projects. According to current reports, 447 developers are currently working on The Witcher 4 alone. However, that is only part of the huge number of projects that the studio has to manage:
- Project Polaris: The start of the new Witcher trilogy
- Canis Majoris: A remake of the first Witcher part (external)
- Project Sirius: A multiplayer spin-off (external)
- Project Hadar: A Completely New IP (Concept Phase)
- Project Orion: The sequel to Cyberpunk 2077
It remains to be seen whether the synergy effects of Unreal Engine 5 will be enough to avoid the infamous “crunch” phases and shifts that are now common in the industry, as was recently the case with GTA 6. A stable release cycle would be desirable for gamers, but the quality must not suffer due to deadline pressure. The studio walks a fine line between economic efficiency and the artistic standards that made The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt a masterpiece ten years ago.
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