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New Witcher Game In Development, Will Use Unreal Engine 5

CD Projekt Red has confirmed that a new Witcher saga is coming.

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CD Projekt Red has announced that a new game in The Witcher series is in development. Unlike previous games, development will move from REDengine to Unreal Engine 5 as part of a multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games. CDPR says that it'll closely collaborate with Epic Games' developers to help tailor the engine for open-world experiences.

At this point, further details on The Witcher--such as a development time frame or release date--are currently unavailable. We also don't yet know if the game will be called The Witcher 4 or something else.

One bit of trivia that can be gleaned from the teaser image, which GamesRadar's Leon Hurley spotted, is that it hints at Witcher protagonist Geralt's former protege Ciri being the star of this new game:

While CDPR isn't ready to share any details on the next Witcher game just yet, the company's chief technology officer Paweł Zawodny did briefly touch on the company shifting to Unreal Engine 5. "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," Zawodny said in a press statement. "This cooperation is so exciting, because it will elevate development predictability and efficiency, while simultaneously granting us access to cutting-edge game development tools."

According to Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney, the collaboration with CDPR will "push the limits of interactive storytelling and gameplay together" while also benefitting the developer community for years to come. CDPR did note that The Witcher won't be an Epic Games Store exclusive, indicating that it'll be available on other PC storefronts as well when it eventually launches.

The last Witcher game released was The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt in 2015, which earned universal acclaim from both critics and fans. Selling over 28 million copies as of April 2020, the game also had two well-received expansions arrive after launch, with PC sales accounting for over half of the units bought. Since then the franchise has also become a popular series on Netflix that stars Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia, although it has nothing to do with the games and is based on the original novels.

A new standalone version of The Witcher card game Gwent is also reportedly in development and might be released later this year. CDPR's last game was Cyberpunk 2077, which launched in a buggy state back in 2020. Since then, the studio has drastically overhauled the sci-fi game, upgrading it for current-gen Xbox Series X and PS5 consoles with ray tracing, 4K with dynamic scaling, faster loading times, and a host of other technical improvements.

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bruta

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make it GOG and EGS exclusive at least for a year, enough to make the steam cultists screech

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illegal_peanut

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@bruta: Honestly, that is why I can’t call people who use steam as a primary app, “PC gamers”. Because they would pick Steam over every single storefront for PC gaming. Even storefronts that are older, and have been doing it longer (and sometimes better) than Steam.

And then they act like religious Zealots if the game isn’t on steams App loader. Like the Microsoft Store, Epic game, EA origin, and U-play exclusives. Treating it almost like a Christian treats Hersey. Like how immature are you? What, did steam suck you off or something?

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Raistlarn

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Edited By Raistlarn

@illegal_peanut: There are storefronts older than steam? I honestly didn't know that. Then again I was mainly a physical type of collector until my old computer croaked.

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Etirus

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@Raistlarn: There are; but they don't exist anymore. Gamespy, you may remember them, was a store front.

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Sepewrath

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@etirus: I remember Gamespy, I wasn't really gaming on PC in its heyday; but I do remember it. However, I don't think it was ever as integrated into PC culture as Steam is now.

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Etirus

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@Sepewrath: Given the chance, it might have but they were put under due to their business model. They were originally the servers for hosting multiplayer lobbies for games, not only on pc but console as well (you may remember some old Medal of Honor games that featured Gamespy in their opening logo; that's because their multiplayer lobbies were hosted on Gamespy). In fact, they WERE intergrated into pc as much as steam was today; even Call of Duty (1) and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault used them!

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Raistlarn

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@etirus: I remember they were integrated with multiplayer, but I didn't remember they had a storefront. Interesting.

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Etirus

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Edited By Etirus

@Raistlarn: Yeah, on pc you had to download their program and all PC games routed to there as multiplayer. Soldier of fortune, Quake 2 and 3 Arena all ran through Gamespy. You could purchase only what games they had offered and iirc they didn't have much. Steam came and blew them out of the water, within about 2 years of steam being in existance almost every game swapped to them for online servers. I THINK they were selling server uses like Ark sells custom servers for their games: ie they charge the company by the person and hours used.

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

@bruta: That seems unnecessary.

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Rolento25

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@bruta: The only one screeching is you at the moment.

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Sound_Demon

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@bruta: Why is it a cultist if I want to open up a single launcher that is the most feature-ful and I'm most comfortable using? Am I a cultist for going to the same general practitioner or shopping at the same grocery store?

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gotrekfabian

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@Sound_Demon: Clicking on a different desktop icon too much? Your PC's storage is too small to handle a few extra mb?

Take a step back and think it through. You, and many others, have been conditioned. If you don't want to use another launcher then simply don't but don't wail like an entitled child when you don't get all games on one company's app either.

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Sindroid

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Hope Geralt gets better controls this time.
I replayed Witcher 3 again recently but could not play it no more.
The controls were atrocious. Complete turn off.

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

@Sindroid: Sounds like it might be Ciri this time. But either way, yeah, the movement in The Witcher 2 and 3 was kinda wonk.

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Miquella

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@mogan: Boring , Ciri isn't even a real Witcher

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

@miquella: Spamming that response doesn’t really help your case.

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videogameninja

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After the success of the Witcher 3 this was a no-brainer and one I think many were expecting at some point.

The Witcher 3 was a monumental game and really put CD Projekt RED on the map in terms of the gaming landscape so I'm sure followers of both the studio and the Witcher franchise will be eagerly awaiting this release.

While I enjoyed my time with the Witcher 3 I would be lying if I said it was a perfect game. Hopefully the team can remedy some of the issues that seemed to plague that release (bugs, lackluster combat system, etc...) on this rendition as CD Projekt RED is now considered one of the "Big" gaming studios out there.

Hopefully the team also learns from some of the issues and setbacks that seemed to plague Cyberpunk on its release so that this next entry into the franchise can arrive without as much negative criticism or controversy.

-WHITE WOLF NINJA APPROVED-

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OldDadGamer

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@videogameninja: remedying problems might be why they went with a known, common engine.

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Thanatos2k

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Guess they couldn't stay away.

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RSM-HQ

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Probably for the best that they give up on Cyber Punk and move onto the franchise they haven't destroyed yet.

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

@RSM-HQ: I'm pretty sure they're still putting out paid DLC for that, and have plans for more big patches. It's not like this new Witcher game is going to be any time soon.

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RSM-HQ

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Edited By RSM-HQ

@mogan: I doubt it will get all the stuff planned like multiplayer, water parks, etc. They may add a few things to make it a more appealing package, but I would not count on CDPR turning CP2077 into the game that was shown in advertising. They need to jump ship asap, and try and get some trust back by working on the IP people still have fondness for.

Sure Cyber Punk is not being treated like an Anthem, but a Mass Effect Andromeda? absolutely. A Sea of Thieves/ No Man's Sky? this is not.

If I was a betting man my guess will be that CDPR will officially drop support for this game before fall 2022.

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deactivated-64a3ced8b46b8

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I'm ready! Ciri as main protagonist would be awesome!

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Miquella

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@thecupidstunts: Boring , Ciri isn't even a real Witcher. No potions, no sign, no mutagen ...

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deactivated-64a3ced8b46b8

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@miquella: She has insanely powerful magic that wasn't fully explored in TW3, and I personally thought she was super fun to play as.

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

@miquella: She’s got loads more magic though, so they might be able to add more depth to the kind of shallow W3 combat by giving her a more expansive set of powers.

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StickEmUp

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Edited By StickEmUp

I’m not going anywhere near this until reviews are out. I realize CD Projekt Red only burned me once, but that was a huge burn. I’m never blindly trusting them again. They straight up lied, when it came to Cyberpunk on consoles.

For those who don’t know, they actually admitted that they intentionally only showed off the PC version, because they were aware of just how broken the console versions were. Even after the big new update for the PS5/Series X, it’s STILL broken. I encountered several game-breaking bugs that required reloading a save.

One of the most annoying bugs was when I finished a race and then during the cutscene (if you want to call it that) where my car drives itself the last few feet to the finish line, another car slammed into me and sent me flying a hundred feet and I had to wait for the person who was riding with me to very slowly walk through the air, back to the finish line, to finish out the quest. Most of those bad bugs started later in the game, but still… CD Projekt Red royally f***ed up.

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mogan

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I could play a new Witcher game as Ciri. Just ... clean up that UI, inventory, and crafting system.

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Zaryia

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Edited By Zaryia

@mogan: Remove the lame detective sense crap, and fix the combat.

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mogan

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@zaryia: I think the Witcher vision and the combat in the third game are both a good starting points to expand on in a fourth game. Witcher visions needs to be used for more than just revealing a path to follow, and combat needs more weapon variety than just the two swords.

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OldDadGamer

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@mogan: that said, name one big game that has a good inventory system. Next one will be the first.

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mogan

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Edited By mogan  Moderator

@olddadgamer: RPG devs need to hire me as an item and inventory editor. 'Does this piece of string serve any meaningful purpose whatsoever? No? Get it out of here!' I'd have cut the number of items in The Witcher 3 (and Cyberpunk) by about 75%.

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OldDadGamer

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@mogan: And 99% of the stuff in Horizon.

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

@olddadgamer: Word.

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Dominicwow

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@mogan: and make sure it actually runs and isn't a fraudulent scam that burns your loyal fan base :)

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deactivated-64c06b51403e7

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I hope they'd stop making games in FPS.

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mogan

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mogan  Moderator

@proceeder: I doubt a Witcher game would be first person. It works for Cyberpunk, but I'd sure hate to jump around in melee Witcher combat with the camera inside my character's head.

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illegal_peanut

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Edited By illegal_peanut

@mogan: They honestly REALLY need to evolve the formula in general. before making a first-person witcher.

They can start by stop using classic Bethesda, Valve, and other old FPS games as reference. Because they’re relics of a by-gone era (It’s like using the first Mario platformer as a proxy for ALL platformers.). And start studying how people of that era actually use their weapons in combat (It’s not hard at all. There are countless YouTube videos and articles everywhere showing it. From how a knight wielded a weapon, how he wrestled, to even how he wielded a spoon.)

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kabloe

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Do not care at all, this company is finished for me, the are scammers and are liars... any game the could come with is doomed for me, cannot trust them anymore and even if the achieve redemption for me they are on my black list of studio to avoid

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kutraz

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This is what they should have announced instead of pushing cyberpunk 2077. Fantastic news!

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hardwenzen

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How am i supposed to be excited about something that won't be available for at least 6 years? Especially after the lies of CP2077? No thanks. Elden Ring is out, and is guaranteed to be a better rpg than anything CDPR could ever make.

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Daidochus

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@hardwenzen: Witcher 3 is the better overall RPG, while Elden Ring is the better Action RPG.

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Dominicwow

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@daidochus: I agree. The writing in witcher 3 sets it apart from Elden Ring in that comparison

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jumalan75

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Edited By jumalan75

@dominicwow: except for that quest helping that guy with the lines for some play…. That made me want to dance with a Novigrad whore

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hardwenzen

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@daidochus said:

@hardwenzen: Witcher 3 is the better overall RPG, while Elden Ring is the better Action RPG.

Disagree. Everything related to an rpg is better done in ER.

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mogan

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@hardwenzen: Who said you needed to be excited? It's news, not marketing.

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Dominicwow

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@mogan: Of course it's marketing. What are you smoking?

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mogan

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@dominicwow: It's a news article saying CDPR announced a game. If this site can't even cover big game announcements without it being called marketing, then I don't know how you expect anybody to cover video game news at all.

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Dominicwow

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@mogan: I'm not saying it as a diss to Gamespot, I'm saying any publicity for CDPR is part of their marketing. Why would they tease a new Witcher game? To build hype and let news outlets take the baton. Der

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hardwenzen

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@mogan said:

@hardwenzen: Who said you needed to be excited? It's news, not marketing.

Stating my opinion on the announcement. That's why the comments section is here for.

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mogan

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Edited By mogan  Moderator

@hardwenzen: Just answering your question.

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OldDadGamer

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@hardwenzen: Well, if it isn't out of years, you'll likely be done with Elden Ring by then, right?

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hardwenzen

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@olddadgamer said:

@hardwenzen: Well, if it isn't out of years, you'll likely be done with Elden Ring by then, right?

Does it really matter? Fromsoft will have the time to release at least two other masterpieces by the time TW4 comes out. And lets not forget; no matter how good TW4 is gonna be, CDPR are incredibly incompetent when it comes to the combat system in their games. Writing, graphics, characters, etc might be all 10/10, but if the combat system is a 4/10 like TW3, the game is completely ruined.

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kabloe

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Edited By kabloe

@hardwenzen: my words exactly!

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