The Witcher 4 by CD Projekt Red has entered pre-production

A new series of the open world RPG is coming, and it will be powered by Unreal Engine 5

Friday 27 May 2022 13:09 BST

Almost no details have been unveiled, apart from this ominous looking cat mask (The Independent)

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CD Projekt Red has officially announced that its next game in the Witcher series has entered pre-production.

“We are very eager to revisit the universe which has shaped our history to such an extent” said Adam Kiciński, president of CD Projekt Red, in a recent blog post.

“We have recently concluded the research phase for the first game, which means that from now on further development expenditures will be capitalized on our balance sheet.” Continued the post.

The developer previously announced its work on a new Witcher game back in March on its Twitter page and website. At the same time it was also confirmed that the new Witcher series will use Unreal Engine 5 rather than the company’s own REDengine, which was used in previous Witcher games as well as Cyberpunk 2077.

If you want to find out more about the next Witcher game, then keep reading the rest of the article below.

When will ‘The Witcher 4’ be released?

The new game was first announced back in March 2022 in a blog post on the developer’s website.

“We’re happy to announce that the next installment in The Witcher series of video games is currently in development, kicking off a new saga for the franchise,” the company said.

The announcement is light on information, but came accompanied by a teaser image of a feline-looking mask fallen in snow, with the tagline “A New Saga Begins”.

CD Projekt Red described the move to the new graphics engine as the “beginning of a multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games ... We’ll closely collaborate with Epic Games’ developers with the primary goal being to help tailor the engine for open-world experiences.”

The open world Witcher series of RPGs first launched in 2007. The most recent entry in the series, The Witcher III: Wild Hunt sold over 30 million copies and is one of the developer’s most successful games to date.

With the news that the game has entered pre-production and the fact that only a single image has been teased, this likely means that the next Witcher game is still a few years away.

But with the news that a next-gen upgrade for The Witcher III: Wild Hunt is scheduled to be released later this year, fans won’t have to wait long to revisit the series.