The Witcher 4 Will Not Release Before 2027, CD Projekt Red Says

The Witcher 4, the next entry in CD Projekt Red's acclaimed action-RPG series, might not release until 2027 at the earliest, the studio said at its earnings call on Tuesday. The Polish developer does not expect the game to be released by the end of next year. The Witcher 4, which will kick off a new saga for the series, received a first-look trailer at The Game Awards 2024, but CD Projekt Red did not confirm supported platforms or a launch timeline for the title.

The Witcher 4 Will Not Arrive Before 2027

According to the studio's latest update, however, it might be a while before we see The Witcher 4 in the wild. CD Projekt Red will not announce the precise release date of the game any time soon.

“All we could share for now, to give more visibility to investors, is that the game will not be launched withing the timeframe of the first target for the incentive program, which ends 31st of December 2026,” CD Projekt CFO Piotr Nielubowicz said in response to a question at the company's FY 2024 earnings conference.

This means that it's unlikely that The Witcher 4 will be released in 2026, and 2027 could be the earliest launch window for the game. In case of changes during the development cycle or potential delays, the RPG may launch even later in 2028, closer to the release of the next-generation consoles from Sony and Microsoft. The two platform owners reportedly plan to launch their next consoles around 2028. A recent report claimed that the next-generation Xbox console could arrive in 2027.

Considering the timeframe, The Witcher 4 could be a cross-gen title, running on both current-gen and next-gen consoles, in addition to PC. The game moved to full-scale production in November 2024.

The Witcher 4 was first announced in March 2022 as Project Polaris. CD Projekt said at the time that the game would be the beginning of a new Witcher saga, launching as the first instalment in a new trilogy. The Witcher 4 is being developed in Epic Games' Unreal Engine 5.

The game will see Ciri take up the mantle of the protagonist, with Geralt of Rivia taking a back seat. “The Witcher 4 is a single-player, open-world RPG from CD Projekt Red. At the start of a new saga, players take on the role of Ciri, a professional monster slayer, and embark on a journey through a brutal dark-fantasy world. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it aims to be the most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date,” the game's description reads on the official website.