New Witcher Game In Development, Will Use Unreal Engine 5

CD Projekt Red has announced that a new game in The Witcher series is in development. Unlike previous games, development will move from REDengine to Unreal Engine 5 as part of a multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games. CDPR says that it'll closely collaborate with Epic Games' developers to help tailor the engine for open-world experiences.

At this point, further details on The Witcher--such as a development time frame or release date--are currently unavailable. We also don't yet know if the game will be called The Witcher 4 or something else.

One bit of trivia that can be gleaned from the teaser image, which GamesRadar's Leon Hurley spotted, is that it hints at Witcher protagonist Geralt's former protege Ciri being the star of this new game:

While CDPR isn't ready to share any details on the next Witcher game just yet, the company's chief technology officer Paweł Zawodny did briefly touch on the company shifting to Unreal Engine 5. "It is vital for CD Projekt Red to have the technical direction of our next game decided from the earliest possible phase--as in the past--we spent a lot of resources and energy to evolve and adapt REDengine with every subsequent game release," Zawodny said in a press statement. "This cooperation is so exciting, because it will elevate development predictability and efficiency, while simultaneously granting us access to cutting-edge game development tools."

According to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, the collaboration with CDPR will "push the limits of interactive storytelling and gameplay together" while also benefitting the developer community for years to come. CDPR did note that The Witcher won't be an Epic Games Store exclusive, indicating that it'll be available on other PC storefronts as well when it eventually launches.

The last Witcher game released was The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt in 2015, which earned universal acclaim from both critics and fans. Selling over 28 million copies as of April 2020, the game also had two well-received expansions arrive after launch, with PC sales accounting for over half of the units bought. Since then the franchise has also become a popular series on Netflix that stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, although it has nothing to do with the games and is based on the original novels.

A new standalone version of The Witcher card game Gwent is also reportedly in development and might be released later this year. CDPR's last game was Cyberpunk 2077, which launched in a buggy state back in 2020. Since then, the studio has drastically overhauled the sci-fi game, upgrading it for current-gen Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles with ray tracing, 4K with dynamic scaling, faster loading times, and a host of other technical improvements.