The Witcher 4 Dev Comments On Game's Possible Release, Which Isn't Planned For 2026

Following the official reveal of The Witcher 4, the forthcoming entry in the popular fantasy RPG series The Witcher, at The Game Awards 2024, developer CD Projekt RED has revealed some early gameplay details about their upcoming release through a handful of interviews. This included gameplay details such as the game's map size and the potential return of a fan-favorite minigame, Gwent; however, there is no confirmation on when the game is expected to be released.

CD Projekt RED held their recent earnings presentation for the 2024 fiscal year in which details "on the production front" during the first half of the fiscal year were revealed. The developer's Boston studio is busy "laying the groundwork" for the next Cyberpunk game, "Project Orion," according to Chief Financial Officer Piotr Nielubowicz while the game and its expansion, Phantom Liberty, have reached new "sales milestones" selling 30 million copies for the base game and eight million copies for the DLC as of November 2024.

CDPR's Joint CEO Michał Nowakowski revealed that The Witcher 4 had entered a "full-scale production phase" in November 2024, and Nielubowicz iterated that the Polaris team has "made substantial progress" on its development during the pre-production phase. During the aforementioned earnings presentation, Nielubowicz presented an overview of their "consolidated net profit goals of the motivational programs" and how they intend to achieve their goals for the fiscal year. 

One comment that stood out was when Nielubowicz commented, stating, "Even though we do not plan to release The Witcher 4 by the end of 2026, we are still driven by this financial goal," which this "financial goal" he spoke of refers to the studio's "incentive program." Nielubowicz responded to a question regarding the possible release window for The Witcher 4 during the Q&A session at the end of the presentation, to which he replied, "We are not going to announce the precise launch date for the game yet."

"All we could share now to give more visibility to investors is that the game will not be launched within the time frame of the first target for the incentive program, which ends December 31, 2026." While a 2026 release window may be a little too ambitious for the team to reach, being much smarter regarding when they plan to release The Witcher 4, possibly in 2027, may be the best feasible outcome, especially if they wish to avoid making the same mistake with Cyberpunk 2077's launch in 2020.