The Witcher 4: Everything we know so far

Studio CD Projekt Red has shared an update about the release date for The Witcher 4 and reaffirmed plans for The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6.

The Witcher is a popular video game series based on the series of books by author Andrzej Sapkowski where players take on the role of a professional monster hunter in a medieval setting.

It has since been turned into a hugely popular Netflix series with four seasons of the show released at the time of writing - with a fifth and final one commissioned.

There has not been a full entry into The Witcher video game series since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt back in 2015, even though it did get a next-gen update towards the end of 2022.

Here's everything we know so far about The Witcher 4.

Ciri is the main character in The Witcher 4 / CD Projekt Red

What has been announced about The Witcher 4?

The game was first revealed to be in the works in 2022 and will be the first in what's been described by CD Projekt Red as an AAA RPG trilogy. Michal Nowakowski, joint CEO at the studio, confirmed the game is in the "full development" phase.

A trailer at The Game Awards 2024 revealed Ciri as the main character; Geralt will still feature but not in the main role. Ciri has gone through the famously painful Trial of the Grasses which means she is now a hugely powerful warrior.

That trailer showed her trying to save a woman from a tribe who was chosen to be a sacrifice to a monster which Ciri, who is now a Witcher herself, takes down before returning to the tribe to see the woman has been killed anyway. Ciara Berkeley has been recast as her actor.

In an interview with IGN, game director Sebastian Kalemba revealed the choices players make in the game will have much more weighting and there will be scope to develop Ciri in a number of different ways.

In an interview with Gamespot, Kalemba added Gwent will be a part of the world and there will be romance. In the same interview, executive producer Malgorzata Mitrega said that trailer is set in an "isolated village" in the "north" and shows "side content for the game".

She added Ciri is more agile, can do more magic, there are loads of new tools such as the chain seen in the trailer and there will be loads of new monsters.

At Epic Games' State of Unreal event in June, a tech demo followed the main protagonist Ciri in the middle of a monster contract and showed some of the technology from Unreal Engine 5.

She made her way through rugged mountains along with her horse Kelpie making her way to lively port town Valdrest through rugged mountains and dense forests.

CD Projekt Red confirmed the tech demo did not show actual gameplay from the game itself though.

More and more developers continue to be put onto The Witcher 4 as development progresses.

The Witcher 4 is set in the previously unexplored Kovir / CD Projekt Red

Where is The Witcher 4 set?

The Witcher 4 is set in the previously unexplored region of Kovir.

Valdrest is confirmed to be one of the locations and is a port town. In the tech demo, it looked incredibly dense; Ciri pushes past people to get through them in a town that's bustling with life.

The world is incredibly responsive with character actions directly affecting what happens and these can even set off chain reactions.

When is The Witcher 4 release date?

CD Projekt Red recently hosted a quarterly earnings call, giving shareholders and stakeholders an update on the performance of the studio, including its financials and what it's working on.

Nowakowski, joint CEO, said: "The only thing we're commenting is that we're not launching [The Witcher 4] in 2026. There's nothing out of the ordinary, I'd say, in that area happening with The Witcher 4 - it's just full-scale production proceeding at its pace, as per our internal plans."

The Witcher 4 is planned to be the opening game of a new trilogy and Nowakowski was asked if the games that follow The Witcher 4 "can be delivered on a shorter and more predictable cadence".

"I do believe that further games should be delivered in a shorter period of time," Nowakowski responded. "As we had stated before, our plan still is to launch the whole trilogy within a six-year period, so yes, that would mean we would plan to have a shorter development time between The Witcher 4 and The Witcher 5, between The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6 and so on."

What can I play The Witcher 4 on?

CD Projekt Red confirmed the game will release on PlayStation, Xbox and PC - with no mention of Nintendo.

The tech demo saw the game running on a base PS5 at 60 fps so it seems likely the game will release on the current generation of consoles. It's unlikely to release on the previous generation and it's not known if it's planned to release on the new generation of hardware either.

What game engine does The Witcher 4 have?

The Witcher 4 is being developed by CD Projekt Red in Unreal Engine 5.

Is Geralt in The Witcher 4?

Geralt will be in The Witcher 4 but the extent of his role is not yet known. Doug Cockle will play the role of Geralt once again.

Is Gwent in The Witcher 4?

The popular card game Gwent will be returning in some way, Kalemba confirmed. In the tech demo, a punter was seen being thrown out of a bar in Valdrest for cheating at the game.