news · gaming

The Witcher 4 Is Targeting a 2028 Release Window, CD Projekt Red Confirms

CD Projekt Red is targeting 2028 for The Witcher 4, with more than 500 developers working on Ciri's next open-world RPG.

By Bamo Anwar3 min read
Filed underGaming·The Witcher
Ciri, protagonist of The Witcher 4, in an official cinematic-reveal image
Ciri in an official The Witcher 4 cinematic-reveal image.CD PROJEKT RED

CD Projekt Red has put a target year on The Witcher 4. In its September 2, 2026 H1-results update, the company announced a planned release window for 2028 for its next mainline Witcher RPG.

That wording matters. CD Projekt Red has not announced an exact release date, and 2028 is a target rather than a locked launch. Still, it is the clearest timing guidance the studio has given for the game so far.

The update also makes one thing clear: this is already a massive production. Company disclosures around the results put the team at more than 500 developers as CD Projekt Red builds what it hopes will be its most ambitious Witcher game yet.

Ciri Is at the Center of the New Witcher Saga

The Witcher 4 begins a new saga with Ciri as its protagonist, a shift CD Projekt Red formally revealed alongside the game’s cinematic trailer at The Game Awards 2024.

The studio describes the project as a single-player, open-world RPG in which players take on the role of Ciri as a professional monster slayer. It is being developed with Unreal Engine 5, replacing the proprietary REDengine technology used for earlier CD Projekt Red games.

That transition has already produced one of the most substantial public looks at the technology behind the project. At State of Unreal 2025, CD Projekt Red and Epic Games presented a Witcher 4 tech demo set in Kovir, following Ciri and her horse Kelpie through the region and into the port town of Valdrest.

CD Projekt Red was careful about what that presentation represented. It was a technology demonstration, not finished Witcher 4 gameplay, designed to showcase the Unreal Engine 5 tools being developed for the game’s open world.

The Witcher 4 Won’t Be at Gamescom 2026

Anyone hoping the 2028 announcement means a new Witcher 4 trailer is about to drop at Gamescom should temper expectations. CD Projekt Red says The Witcher 4 itself will not be shown at the event.

Instead, the company’s current Witcher spotlight is on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past, the newly announced third expansion for the 2015 RPG.

Songs of the Past is being co-developed by CD Projekt Red and Fool’s Theory and is scheduled for 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. It puts players back in control of Geralt of Rivia for a new adventure, with CD Projekt Red using Gamescom to reveal more about the expansion.

That creates an unusually busy stretch for the franchise if the current schedule holds: a new Witcher 3 expansion in 2027 followed by the targeted arrival of The Witcher 4 in 2028.

The 2028 Window Is a Target, Not a Promise

The most important takeaway is also the simplest: The Witcher 4 is currently targeting 2028, but it does not have a fixed release date.

CD Projekt Red has previously said that The Witcher 4 will launch a new trilogy and that it intends to deliver the full trilogy within a six-year period beginning with the first game’s release. That remains an ambitious long-term plan rather than a calendar of guaranteed dates.

For now, 2028 gives fans the first meaningful year to circle — lightly — on the calendar. With more than 500 developers working on the project, Ciri leading the new saga and CD Projekt Red continuing its Unreal Engine 5 partnership with Epic, The Witcher 4 is taking shape. It just isn’t coming soon.

Sources

Report a correction

Make Red Reactions a preferred source

Choose Red Reactions as a preferred source in Google Search.

Related coverage

NextThe Witcher 3 Remastered Is Available Now — What Changed and How the Free Upgrade Works

About the author

Bamo Anwar

Anime & Gaming Writer

Bamo Anwar covers anime and gaming for Red Reactions. His work ranges from release news and detailed trailer breakdowns to beginner guides, watch orders and explainers designed to make large franchises and game systems easier to enter.

Coverage: Anime · Gaming · Beginner Guides · Watch Orders · Explainers

More from Bamo Anwar