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Development Timeline
June 1, 2026 at 05:54 AM
Removed unconfirmed Unreal Fest 2026 showcase claim (the developer clarified the podcast remark referred to the 2025 demo, not a new 2026 showing)
The Witcher IV has been in development at CD Projekt Red since 2022, with the project going through distinct pre-production and full production phases. The game is being developed on Unreal Engine 5 and is not expected to release before 2027.
Date | Milestone |
|---|---|
March 2022 | CD Projekt Red announces a new Witcher game is in development, accompanied by an image of a lynx-shaped medallion half-buried in snow. The studio confirms it will use Unreal Engine 5. |
October 2022 | The project is revealed as "Project Polaris" and confirmed as the first installment of a new Witcher trilogy (with sequels codenamed internally). |
May 2022 to November 2024 | Pre-production phase. The team grows from approximately 330 to over 400 developers during this period. |
November 2024 | Full production begins. The project transitions from concept and prototype work to building the final game. |
December 12, 2024 | Official reveal at The Game Awards with a nearly six-minute cinematic trailer. Ciri confirmed as the protagonist. Ciara Berkeley revealed as the new voice of Ciri. |
February 2025 | 411 developers assigned to The Witcher IV. |
June 3, 2025 | CD Projekt Red and Epic Games present a 14-minute Unreal Engine 5 tech demo at the State of Unreal 2025. The demo runs on a base PlayStation 5 at 60 FPS with ray tracing. |
July 2025 | Team grows to 444 developers. |
September 2025 | Andrzej Sapkowski publishes "Crossroads of Ravens," a new prequel novel in the Witcher book series. CDPR confirms the game incorporates elements from the novel. |
October 2025 | Approximately 450 developers on the project. |
February 2026 | Team reaches 499 developers, more than half of CDPR's total 933. |
March 2026 | NVIDIA and CDPR present a GDC tech demo showing RTX Mega Geometry foliage technology. The AnsweRED Podcast reveals new gameplay details including the jump button, underwater swimming, and spellcasting while moving. |
2027 or later | Earliest confirmed release window. CFO Piotr Nielubowicz stated the game will not be released before 2027. |
CDPR adopted a console-first development approach for The Witcher IV, running demos and internal reviews on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S from the earliest stages. This is a direct response to the troubled launch of Cyberpunk 2077, which shipped with severe performance issues on last-generation consoles.
Game director Sebastian Kalemba described the production methodology as featuring "mindful definition of production stages and scoping," ensuring that content is coherent across the board at every stage of development.
