The Witcher 4 Gets Official Update From CD Projekt Red Alongside Release Window

Published Sep 23, 2026, 12:11 PM EDT

Known as 'Cyberpunk 2077's' biggest fan, Angharad is a Welsh games writer who thrives in anything related to digital storytelling. If a video game explores the intricacies and horrors of womanhood, she is there.

Thanks to previous work at GAMINGbible, GameByte, The Loadout, Game Luster, Angharad has built a strong understanding of both the digital world and what fans want from it and is eager to share her thoughts and expertise with readers.

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As the highly anticipated sequel to the beloved The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The Witcher IV has cemented itself as one of the most anticipated video game releases of all time. Developed by CD Projekt RED, it is the first planned installment in a brand-new trilogy, and most importantly, it will see Ciri become our brand-new protagonist, allowing Geralt to finally (hopefully) retire.

Whilst The Witcher IV does not yet have a release date, CD Projekt RED has previously announced that it is planning for a 2028 release. As such, details surrounding the game remain scarce, but thanks to a brief announcement trailer that went live back in 2022, we already know that we are in for a treat.

Now, thanks to a brief update by CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michał Nowakowski, we know now that The Witcher IV will not be created using the in-house REDengine, but rather Unreal Engine 5. However, despite many people believing that the less-than-smooth Cyberpunk 2077 launch was the reason for this switch, Nowakowski claimed that this was not the case.

"It was not the Cyberpunk launch that convinced us to abandon the REDengine and switch completely to Unreal Engine 5 with the future projects," the CEO said on the Deconstructor of Fun podcast. "It was more the moment we got an early scoop of the [The Matrix Awakens] demo that Epic made. We then asked ourselves: 'Is UE5 ready to ship a game like we make?' And that's where we came to the table with the guys from Epic. That's where we made the strategic collaboration."

Whilst this may not be good news for every fan, it does come with a very big silver lining. Now that the studio will not have to build its games from scratch with its own engine, it can now spend more time creating and developing games as a whole. As such, Nowakowski believes that CDPR will be able to sell more stories and launch more games over a shorter period of time. Additionally, the CEO explained that, alongside Epic, the studio is the only one working inside the engine's "black box," so it can customize UE5 to its needs.

CD Projekt Red

In previous interviews, Nowakowski has revealed that The Witcher IV will not look like a "generic Unreal Engine 5 game", but what this means remains to be seen. What we have seen from the current trailers so far, however, proves that we are truly in for a treat when it comes to the next installment in The Witcher franchise.

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