Cyberpunk 2077's Expansion Not Switching Engines To Witcher 4's Unreal 5

CD Projekt Red has announced a wide-ranging technology partnership with Epic Games to use the Unreal Engine 5 for The Witcher 4, but that doesn't mean the Polish studio will abandon its own REDengine anytime soon.

The REDengine, which is CD Projekt Red's proprietary game development software, will continue to be used to develop Cyberpunk 2077's upcoming expansion, the studio said in a news release. CD Projekt Red has used this engine since 2011's The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

As for Cyberpunk 2077's expansion, we know it exists, but that's basically it. CD Projekt Red has not announced when it will be released or what it will focus on, among other key particulars. Cyberpunk 2077's post-launch development roadmap was delayed so the studio could focus on improving the base game, and that effort continues with the launch of update 1.52 today, March 22.

Cyberpunk 2077's massive PS5 and Xbox Series X|S update landed in February, further improving the game and implementing numerous tweaks to take advantage of the new hardware.

CD Projekt Red is also developing a PS5 and Xbox Series X|S version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and it's scheduled for release during Q2, which is April-June.

CD Projekt Red's partnership with Epic is a "multi-year" strategic deal that covers the licensing of Unreal Engine 5, as well as "technical development" of Unreal Engine 5. The deal also covers "potential future versions" of the Unreal Engine. What's more, developers at CD Projekt Red will collaborate with Epic to help fine-tune Unreal Engine 5 for open-world games.

Despite this close collaboration, The Witcher 4--or whatever the game ends up being called--will not be exclusive to the Epic Games Store on PC. The game's director has promised there will be no employee crunch during the development of The Witcher 4.