CD Projekt still plans to release all 3 games in new Ciri-led Witcher Trilogy within 6 years
Blog Andrew Joseph 01 Dec , 2025 0
CD Projekt is sticking with its ambitious plan to release all three video games in the new Ciri-led Witcher trilogy within six years.
Speaking In a recent financial conference callCo-CEO Michał Nowakowski said future The Witcher video games “should be delivered in a shorter timeframe.” This is because CD Projekt has switched to Unreal Engine 5 for complete production, not only The Witcher 4but The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6.
Below is the full text of Nowakovsky’s quote:
“We've been using UE5 in The Witcher 4 for almost four years now, and we're really happy with what we've accomplished. I think you can see some of that firsthand with the tech demo we showed at Unreal Fest a few months ago, and we're also really happy with the results – we've said it before, but I'm always happy to say it again – and we're really happy with how the engine has evolved through the efforts of the Epic team and how we're learning how to make it work in a large open world game, as TW4 was originally intended to be.
“To a certain extent, yes, I do believe that more games should be delivered in less time – as we've said before, our plan is still to launch the entire trilogy in six years, so yes, that means we plan to shorten the development time between TW4 and TW5, between TW5 and TW6, etc.”
It's an ambitious release plan, all the more surprising considering The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was originally released on May 19, 2015 – four years after The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. Based on Nowakowski's comments, CD Projekt plans to release The Witcher 5 three years after The Witcher 4 and The Witcher 6 three years after that, assuming it wants to split each release evenly.
As we've seen, AAA video game development can be a daunting task that takes years to complete. Bethesda is still focused on the 2018 release of The Elder Scrolls 6. Microsoft's new game Fable will be released in 2026. The game was released in 2020, but development started before then. There was also a five-year gap between Sony's releases of Ghost of Tsushima and Ghost of Tsushima.
So CD Projekt's idea of releasing three new Witcher games in six years is certainly ambitious, but it remains to be seen whether this plan ultimately holds up. But assuming that's the case, when can we expect the game to actually launch?
CD Projekt says The Witcher 4 won't launch in 2026, which means it won't be until 2027 at the earliest. According to CD Projekt's latest financial report, 447 people are currently working on The Witcher 4, a slight increase from the number reported at the end of July. Obviously, this is CD Projekt's current focus, and production is in full swing. It is assumed that The Witcher 4 will launch in November 2027. This means The Witcher 5 will launch in 2030 and The Witcher 6 in 2033.
There are multiple wrenches that may end up being thrown into the project. There's no doubt that CD Projekt will have to manage the console transition, which may or may not happen before The Witcher 4 launches. Who knows what the world will look like in a year, let alone four or five? The video game industry, already struggling through what may be the most transformative and disruptive period in its history, could be in a very different place in just a few years. It is impossible to predict many things these days.
Meanwhile, CD Projekt has Cyberpunk 2 It's in the works, although it's later than The Witcher 4. Will Cyberpunk 2 launch between these new Witcher games, or will CD Projekt wait until the new trilogy is released? Let's not forget that CD Projekt is working on a Witcher 1 remake in some way. Will it be introduced in the new trilogy? The Polish company has other projects in various stages of development, as well as non-video game projects involving its intellectual property. In short, there's a lot going on at CD Projekt. Too many.
CD Projekt recently excluded The Witcher 4 from this month's Game Awardsso don’t expect any new trailers there. The last time we saw the game was through an impressive Unreal Engine 5 tech demo in June, which Nowakovsky mentioned in his comments. So don't hold your breath for The Witcher 4, but when it finally launches – assuming everything goes according to CD Projekt's plan – fans may be in for an incredible six years.
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Wesley is IGN News Director. Find him on Twitter: @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at [email protected] or privately at [email protected].