Talk about the unexpected. While everyone else is anticipating the next-gen release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt RED, fresh off the rebound from Cyberpunk 2077, has announced a new game in the award-winning The Witcher series. This news, which was shared along with the teaser image seen above, marks the start of a new saga in the series.
Along with the new game announcement, CD Projekt RED also announced that they will now be using Unreal Engine 5, as part of the multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games. This is a departure from previous CDPR games which have been using their proprietary REDengine since The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in 2011. This collaboration will also work towards the technical development of Unreal Engine 5, tailoring it for the development of open-world experiences. CTO of CD PROJEKT RED, Paweł Zawodny, states the following about UE5:
One of the core aspects of our internal RED 2.0 Transformation is a much stronger focus on technology, and our cooperation with Epic Games is based on this principle. From the outset, we did not consider a typical licensing arrangement; both we and Epic see this as a long-term, fulfilling tech partnership. It is vital for CD PROJEKT RED to have the technical direction of our next game decided from the earliest possible phase as; in the past, we spent a lot of resources and energy to evolve and adapt REDengine with every subsequent game release. This cooperation is so exciting, because it will elevate development predictability and efficiency, while simultaneously granting us access to cutting-edge game development tools. I can’t wait for the great games we’re going to create using Unreal Engine 5!
While work on Unreal Engine 5 begins for The Witcher, CD Projekt RED has also confirmed that they are still using the REDengine to develop the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 expansions. As for the new saga, there is no development time frame or release date provided, which means that this will likely be a few years off still. Especially considering the criticism CDPR received for the unfinished state in which Cyberpunk 2077 was released.
