CD PROJEKT RED announced that a new Witcher game is in development at the Polish studio on Monday. The new entry will be made in Unreal Engine 5, rather than REDengine, which was used for The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3.
https://t.co/XtbfqscMWr pic.twitter.com/eK6ZIbfLRa
— The Witcher (@witchergame) March 21, 2022
The Witcher continues with a new saga
The most recent entry in The Witcher games, apart from Gwent, is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, released in 2015. The game was widely praised and is largely considered one of the greatest RPGs of all time.
Nothing has been shared yet about the focus of the new game or its timeframe within the franchise’s story — only the words “A New Saga Begins” along with a teaser image were provided. However, the publisher did specify that a new partnership with Epic will drive the technology behind the game.
“CD PROJEKT RED also announced that they will be moving to Unreal Engine 5 as part of the multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games,” publisher CD PROJEKT said in a press release. “This new relationship with Epic covers not only licensing, but technical development of Unreal Engine 5, as well as potential future versions of Unreal Engine, where relevant. Developers from CD PROJEKT RED will collaborate with those from Epic with the primary goal being to help tailor the engine for open-world experiences, beginning with the development of the next game in The Witcher franchise.”
Paweł Zawodny, Chief Technology Officer at CD PROJEKT RED, explained in a statement that their transition to RED 2.0 will be much more focused on technology, and that they partnered with Epic Games for this reason. In the past, the studio was forced to spend a lot of resources on adapting their engine for future releases, and that switching to Unreal Engine 5 will allow them to future proof more easily.
We are not planning on making the game exclusive to one storefront.
— The Witcher (@witchergame) March 21, 2022
Despite the fact that CD PROJEKT RED is partnering with Epic Games, the publisher did confirm in a subsequent Tweet that the new Witcher game won’t be exclusive to one storefront, implying fans will be able to purchase it outside of the Epic Games Store.
CD PROJEKT’s reputation did take a hit when Cyberpunk 2077 released due to the game’s many technical issues and broken promises, damaging trust between players and the publisher. The studio also confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 will continue to use REDengine for the upcoming expansion.
