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[LectureMaster]

The Witcher 4 'is nearing a major milestone' and will soon enter full production

CD Projekt said in its new financial report that the next Cyberpunk game is coming along too.

www.pcgamer.com

"The Polaris team, working on the next game in The Witcher saga, made substantial progress, which will soon enable us to wrap up pre-production and take this project to the full production phase.

The breakdown of who's doing what at CD Projekt is virtually unchanged from the previous report—some small upticks in the Witcher spinoff (Sirius) and a new IP (Hadar), but nothing particularly notable—but chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz said in an earnings recap video that a lot has happened over the first half of 2024.

I am curious what does switching to UE5 entail as Black Myth Wukong reportedly delayed for one year due to switching to UE5.

Also, whether CDPR still aims to release the whole new trilogy within 6 years.

 

[MostlyPeaceful]

Won’t be as big of a deal as W3 was in 2015

They can try to replicate that success again but it’s just not gonna happen.

The Witcher 3 came out in a time and place when the industry was starving for a game like that. The best WRPG makers at that time were…Bethesda lol.

 

[pqueue]

See you in 5 years for the first one in spite of their promise (all 3 within 6 years).

 

[Raven117]

Won’t be as big of a deal as W3 was in 2015

They can try to replicate that success again but it’s just not gonna happen.

The Witcher 3 came out in a time and place when the industry was starving for a game like that. The best WRPG makers at that time were…Bethesda lol.

I mean, there haven’t been many games in the last 10 years that are of that style of WRPG…. It could be a big deal.

But still so far away.

 

[ahtlas7]

 

[Dazraell]

See you in 5 years for the first one in spite of their promise (all 3 within 6 years).

I don't think they ever said entire trilogy will be released in 6 years. Even this presentation linked by the OP says that sequels will be released within 6 years following the release of the first game (Polaris). To my understanding that was always the wording they used

 

[Clintizzle]

h e l l | y e a h | b r o t h e r

 

[demigod]

Not good, won't be out until the next gen hits. Should've started production a year after CyberPunk.

 

[M.W.]

Hello 2030 when everything will be streaming.

 

[Melfice7]

aww yes cant wait to see the witcher being brought up to modern standards

 

[saintjules]

Won’t be as big of a deal as W3 was in 2015

They can try to replicate that success again but it’s just not gonna happen.

The Witcher 3 came out in a time and place when the industry was starving for a game like that. The best WRPG makers at that time were…Bethesda lol.

You must be from the future to know info this early lol.

What's the release date of the PS5 Pro please?

 

[Mortisfacio]

CDPR hasn't let me down yet, so I'll be excited to play this eventually in 6+ years.

 

[Ridicululzz]

I've read that Geralt won't be the protag this time around. Wondering if they'll let us create our own character?

 

[duck_sauce]

Sounds great. Im happy to play the game in the fall of 2030.

Good Times!

 

[MostlyPeaceful]

I mean, there haven’t been many games in the last 10 years that are of that style of WRPG…. It could be a big deal.

But still so far away.

I mean, Ubisoft kinda pivoted their flagship franchise and made it in the image of that game.

There’s definitely been a decent dose of influence to come out of The Witcher 3.

You must be from the future to know info this early lol.

What's the release date of the PS5 Pro please?

The Witcher 3 was the biggest gaming story of 2015 and one of the biggest games that defines the last generation. It’s also in the top 10 highest sold games of all time.

I’m not from the future but I’m just making a pretty educated guess that the next installment likely isn’t going to be the “come from nowhere and set the world on fire” phenomenon that The Witcher 3 was.

Could be wrong though.

 

[.Xeno]

Will be interesting to see if they go the prequel route with Vesemir or brand new saga with create character.
Pretty confident it won't be Ciri, think she will have a separate game.

 

[Senua]

CDPR hasn't let me down yet

 

[MagusMajul]

 

[Hrk69]

No Geralt, no play

 

[VanCityGamer]

Some of you guys saying 2028-2030 are way off. It’ll release in 2026 or 2027. For a lot of teams, pre-production is actually the longest part of development.

 

[Diddy X]

I've read that Geralt won't be the protag this time around. Wondering if they'll let us create our own character?

Nah, fuck that shit, bring a good character with great personality and dialogue.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Not good, won't be out until the next gen hits. Should've started production a year after CyberPunk.

They were busy with a small issue.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

I've read that Geralt won't be the protag this time around. Wondering if they'll let us create our own character?

It will be Ciri.

 

[Dazraell]

It will be Ciri.

I've heard some rumors in the past they were initially considering Ciri game after they wrapped up Witcher 3, but after Cyberpunk they pivoted in a new direction and graphic they posted when they announced new Witcher games implied it might be about a new witcher from the Lynx school

 

[tusharngf]

see you in 7 years..

 

[Xtib81]

I'm betting on a Q4 2027 release.

 

[Ozzie666]

Just let it cook until it's ready, avoid the release issues of Cyber Punk. For the love of god.

 

[Hrk69]

It will be Ciri.

Source?

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Hopefully it has more sandbox elements, rather than scripted, cinematic stuff.

But them calling it “story driven rpg” doesn’t strike confidence.

Will probably do a quick run if thats the case.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Source?

My uncle works at CDPR.

Spoiler

No he doesn’t.

 

[Kenpachii]

Probably some new or old witcher that comes at times in contact with gerald and other witchers.

Also 3 games in 6 years, yea i highly highly doubt that.

 

[timothet]

People already are setting themselves up for a disappointment with those 2026-2027 release dates... only 2-3 years of full production? It would be another Cyberpunk situation. Let them cook.

 

[Dazraell]

Probably some new or old witcher that comes at times in contact with gerald and other witchers.

Also 3 games in 6 years, yea i highly highly doubt that.

Well, it depends how they will approach it. The way they're describing it so far kinda implies trilogy may sound similar to FFVII Remake trilogy with each of the games sharing the same tech, resources and features. If this would be a case, creating sequels in 3 years could technically be possible, I guess? This could also explain why pre-production was so long as everything would be developed in a way that it would directly translate to next entries

 

[Puscifer]

Source?

It's been implied for years and plenty of endings in Witcher 3 clearly set her up to take over. Though personally? At this point with the way things are going that would've been cool during the years long hype train for the game but with all the shit going on now they'd be smart to have Geralt be there. Shit, I'd play a series starring Letho

 

[Tsaki]

Over 400 devs in pre-production... Something doesn't add up. And if it's not in full production yet, it's at least 3-4 years away

 

[timothet]

Over 400 devs in pre-production... Something doesn't add up. And if it's not in full production yet, it's at least 3-4 years away

It kinda does add up when you consider the fact they are switching engines from in-house redEngine to UE. Their engineers/programmers are working on custom tooling for UE and their creative staff are working on story/prototypes/concepts and some early assets. AND it's likely they are working on story for the whole trilogy, instead of on-by-one as before.

 

[Roufianos]

What the actual fuck? Cyberpunk released in 2020.

 

[GymWolf]

Fucking ciri being the protagonist lowered my hype considerably tbh.

 

[Johnny Concrete]

They say 3 games are releasing in 6 years following the first release. So not 3 games in 6 years, probably 3 games in 10 years is more likely. Probably still too optimistic, though.

 

[Dazraell]

Fucking ciri being the protagonist lowered my hype considerably tbh.

Ciri most likely won't be a protagonist though. Everything we know so far about the new protagonist is that it won't be Geralt. But when they announced the game they had a graphic with a new medallion that wasn't the same one Ciri was wearing (cat medallion). This implied we may play as a completely new witcher from a school that wasn't featured in books and past games. One of the devs later on also confirmed the animal on this medallion is lynx

 

[GymWolf]

Ciri most likely won't be a protagonist though. Everything we know so far about the new protagonist is that it won't be Geralt. But when they announced the game they had a graphic with a new medallion that wasn't the same one Ciri was wearing (cat medallion). This implied we may play as a completely new witcher from a school that wasn't featured in books and past games. One of the devs later on also confirmed the animal on this medallion is lynx

I hope so.

Like i don't have anything against female protagonists, some of my goty\gotg have female protagonists, but i want to play the fucking witcher as a chad male, not a scrawny 45 kg chick that i don't give 2 fucks about.

 

[nightmare-slain]

I want Ciri to be the playable character but I guess I wouldn’t mind if they went the Cyberpunk route with a semi custom character.

I loved Witcher 3 but it’s so dated to go back to now. I can’t get excited about a game that is years away. Cyberpunk 2 is the game I really want but that’s not even worth thinking about just yet lol.

 

[Dazraell]

I hope so.

Like i don't have anything against female protagonists, some of my goty\gotg have female protagonists, but i want to play the fucking witcher as a male, not a scrawny 45 kg chick that i don't give 2 fucks about.

This is just me speculating but after V in Cyberpunk, I think they will aim for doing a original character who will have predefined name and VO but we will be able to edit their appearance in a character creator. Not sure about their gender as witcher lore didn't had female witchers so far and everything we know from rituals they were doing in Wolf school, female witchers weren't possible. But I guess they can retcon it and state that new school figured out a way for it though, so who knows

 

[Kumomeme]

i just hope this time it will has good combat and animation control.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Fucking ciri being the protagonist lowered my hype considerably tbh.

It's neither. It's gonna be a big mother gusset spin off!

With swords'n shit.

 

[Trilobit]

I've heard some rumors in the past they were initially considering Ciri game after they wrapped up Witcher 3, but after Cyberpunk they pivoted in a new direction and graphic they posted when they announced new Witcher games implied it might be about a new witcher from the Lynx school

What in Cyberpunk made them ditch Ciri? Elaborate pretty please!

I saw that Wild Hunt was on my PS Plus, can you play it without having played the prequels?

 

[Tsaki]

It kinda does add up when you consider the fact they are switching engines from in-house redEngine to UE. Their engineers/programmers are working on custom tooling for UE and their creative staff are working on story/prototypes/concepts and some early assets. AND it's likely they are working on story for the whole trilogy, instead of on-by-one as before.

Engineering and programming, sure, they’d have plenty to do. But what about level designers, combat designers, and character artists? We know that pre-production is typically handled by relatively small teams focused on perfecting the core pillars of the game. Once those are established, they bring in the bulk of the workforce to create content. Having 400 developers working on concepts and prototypes sounds chaotic—like managing two full AAA studios. The silver lining for me

Spoiler

(read: cope)

is that, considering they aim to finish the new trilogy within six years of the first game’s release, they’re hopefully already working on the next two installments—similar to how Square Enix began working on the third part of FF7 even two years before Rebirth was released.

 

[Dazraell]

What in Cyberpunk made them ditch Ciri? Elaborate pretty please!

I saw that Wild Hunt was on my PS Plus, can you play it without having played the prequels?

Oh, I was referring to something else. CDPR always wanted to have multiple development teams working on separate AAA projects. Cyberpunk was always in a very troubled development state (it was announced like in 2012). After they finished Witcher 3 dlcs they decided to have all hands on deck for Cyberpunk, so everyone who wasn't working on Gwent and Gwent-adjecent projects (Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales etc) was assigned to Cyberpunk

From what I heard, they were bouncing with some ideas for a game with Ciri, but next AAA Witcher had to wait until they will finish Cyberpunk. When they decided to come back to The Witcher franchise, they had a lot of new devs with new ideas and apparently these plans evolved into this new trilogy they announced

And no, you don't need to play previous games as story of Wild Hunt is pretty standalone. There is a summary of Witcher 1 and Witcher 2 online if you need it. The third game also has a really cool way of recapping Witcher 2 in-game

 

[timothet]

Engineering and programming, sure, they’d have plenty to do. But what about level designers, combat designers, and character artists? We know that pre-production is typically handled by relatively small teams focused on perfecting the core pillars of the game. Once those are established, they bring in the bulk of the workforce to create content. Having 400 developers working on concepts and prototypes sounds chaotic—like managing two full AAA studios. The silver lining for me

Spoiler

(read: cope)

is that, considering they aim to finish the new trilogy within six years of the first game’s release, they’re hopefully already working on the next two installments—similar to how Square Enix began working on the third part of FF7 even two years before Rebirth was released.

Yeah, that's also my assumption. They are basically now doing most of the pre-prod for the whole trilogy, so they could pretty much instantly go to full-production of second game in the trilogy after Polaris is done and do the same for the third game. That would actually make the whole 3-games-in-6-years viable.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

I saw that Wild Hunt was on my PS Plus, can you play it without having played the prequels?

Nope, not at all. You need to get playing! One of the best games still.