CD Projekt confirms new The Witcher game in development

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt has confirmed it has begun development on the next game in The Witcher series.

"We're happy to announce that the next instalment in The Witcher series of video games is currently in development, kicking off a new saga for the franchise," CD Projekt said today.

The game will see the series move to Unreal Engine 5 and mark the start of a new "strategic partnership" with Epic Games. Geralt in Fortnite when?

"This is an exciting moment as we're moving from REDengine to Unreal Engine 5, beginning a multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games," CD Projekt continued.

"It covers not only licensing, but technical development of Unreal Engine 5, as well as potential future versions of Unreal Engine, where relevant. We'll closely collaborate with Epic Games' developers with the primary goal being to help tailor the engine for open-world experiences.

"At this point, no further details regarding the game - such as a development time frame or release date - are available. REDengine, the technology which powers Cyberpunk 2077, is still being used for the development of the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 expansion."

Today does bring one other nugget, however - a lone promotional image of a new medallion lying in the snow:

Finally, CD Projekt has now confirmed its Epic Games partnership does not mean the new Witcher game will be exclusive on PC to the Epic Games Store.

We are not planning on making the game exclusive to one storefront.

The announcement of a new game in the hugely-popular The Witcher series is welcome - but not much of a surprise. CD Projekt has discussed the fact it is now a multi-project developer, with fresh things on the way for both Cyberpunk and The Witcher universes.

The Witcher remains as popular as ever, with spin-offs such as this year's standalone Gwent spin-off on the way, as well as the Netflix show and its own spin-off Blood Origin.

But there are undoubtedly now questions for CD Projekt to answer on this game's development, following the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 and only the vaguest of suggestions for how that game may continue to evolve over time. (Today's announcement notes that an expansion for the game is still coming.)

This year's long-awaited and belated PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions of Cyberpunk 2077 finally released last month, but despite their generally positive reception, the move from REDengine to the widely-used Unreal Engine is a clear sign CD Projekt wants to avoid a repeat of that game's original launch - while also now refocusing fan attention on the future.

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