CEO of CD Projekt Red revealed that the fourth installment of the Witcher game will be under development later this year.
The joint CEO of CD Projekt Red, Adam Badowski, revealed to Reuters that the fourth Witcher game might enter full production this year. While CD Projekt Red has not started working on the Witcher 4 into production, codename Polaris, the developer is preparing to work on the eagerly awaited sequel to 2015’s Witcher 3. Badowski has revealed that the studio hopes to have 400 people working on the new Witcher title this year.
Former CEO Adam Kiciński stepped down from the role at the end of 2023, and chief creative officer Adam Badowski and former commercial officer Michal Nowakowski took up the role in the company. Badowski has revealed that CD Projekt Red is trying not to repeat a Cyberpunk 2077 situation with The Witcher 4.
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Witcher 4 to Enter Production Within 2024
The Witcher is one of the most successful video game franchises of all time and spawned a live-action TV show on Netflix. After the success of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red got busy with the development of Cyberpunk 2077 and the post-release situation. The studio announced Polaris in October 2022, and the team is still preparing for the upcoming Witcher title and is expected to start production in 2024.
After speaking to Reuters earlier, Badowski said that production of the new project codenamed ‘Polaris’ will get underway this year. Badowski also revealed that the new Witcher title will be developed using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine instead of the RED engine, which was used for the previous Witcher titles and Cyberpunk 2077.
We’d like to have around 400 people working on the project by the middle of the year. That’s a lot of developers, but we already know from some recent quarterly results that CDPR had around 300 people working on the project last year, so it’s not like staffing up is just starting: this project is already well underway.
Adam Badowski on Reuters
In addition, Badowski said that the company is now exploring the use of AI in development. According to Michal Nowakowski, the studio believes “that AI is something that can help improve certain processes in game production, but not replace people.” CD Projekt did not give an exact release date for the game, but Reuters’ analysts expect the game to arrive in 2026 or 2027.
Besides The Witcher 4, both Badowski and Nowakowski also told Reuters that the studio is preparing to work on a sequel of Cyberpunk later in 2024, with a team of 80 members. It was revealed last November that almost 330 developers working for Cyberpunk will be transitioning to working for the new Witcher project.
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