The Witcher 4, 5, and 6 CDPR’s Bold 6-Year Plan Explained

jamesschierer

CD Projekt Red has revealed that The Witcher 4, 5, and 6 will release over a six-year period. In this video, we break down what this means for the franchise, explore the ambitious development plan, and discuss how the trilogy could change the future of AAA RPGs

Transcript

00:00CD Projekt Red has officially announced that something even a few years ago would have sounded almost impossible.

00:07The Witcher 4, 5, and 6, a complete new Witcher trilogy, will all release within a six-year period.

00:14This is the most ambitious roadmap in the history of the franchise,

00:18and considering how long fans have waited between major Witcher releases, it almost feels surreal.

00:24But this announcement isn't just CD Projekt Red hyping up the future.

00:28It represents a massive shift in how the studio plans to create games, manage development teams, and approach long-term storytelling.

00:37Today we're breaking down exactly what this means, why it's such a bold strategy,

00:42and how the six-year trilogy plan could fundamentally change the future of AAA RPGs.

00:50To understand why this announcement is such a big deal, you have to look at CD Projekt Red's history.

00:55The company is famous for creating huge, immersive RPGs that take time, a lot of time, to develop.

01:04The Witcher 3 itself took over three and a half years to build after The Witcher 2,

01:09and that's not even counting expansions like Blood and Wine, which felt like full games in their own right.

01:15Then came Cyberpunk 2077, a project that stretched across nearly seven years of development,

01:21multiple delays, several overhauls, and a controversial launch that took years of patches and updates to fully stabilize.

01:30In short, CD Projekt Red has never been known for moving quickly.

01:35They've been known for swinging big.

01:36This is what makes the idea of releasing three new Witcher games in a six-year window so extraordinary.

01:44If The Witcher 4 launches, say, in 2027, that means The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6 would also have to come out before 2033.

01:53That's roughly one Witcher game every two to three years,

01:57a development cycle that sounds more like an annualized franchise than the studio that made one of the most carefully crafted RPGs of all time.

02:06But CD Projekt Red insists that this is their plan,

02:10and they claim it's not just possible, but fully structured into their new production approach.

02:15To pull this off, CD Projekt Red is relying on a completely different pipeline than the one they used for earlier Witcher titles.

02:25Instead of building an engine from scratch, which is what they did for Cyberpunk,

02:30they're now using Unreal Engine 5 across all their future projects.

02:35This means tools, assets, and systems can be shared between teams, dramatically speeding up production.

02:42They also have multiple studios now focused on the franchise.

02:46Witcher 4, or Polaris, is being built by the main Warsaw team,

02:51while the Vancouver and Boston teams contribute support.

02:54By the time Witcher 4 ships, CD Projekt Red says the tech will be stable enough

02:59that building Witcher 5 will no longer require starting from zero.

03:04It will be more like picking up a complete blueprint and expanding on it.

03:08And because the three games in this trilogy are planned together,

03:12the team doesn't need to reinvent the wheel each time.

03:15They know where the story is going, how the world evolves,

03:19and what systems they intend to carry forward.

03:22The strategy might sound familiar, especially if you look at the industries or even smaller studios.

03:28In the indie scene, for example, developers often reuse assets, animations, and engines for sequels

03:35to speed up production and reduce cost.

03:38When an indie horror game sells over 100,000 copies, like Tormented Souls 2 recently did,

03:44it's a major achievement because the budgets for those games are so small.

03:48100,000 copies can literally fund the next project.

03:53Mainstream players might shrug at that number,

03:56but in the indie world, it's the equivalent of breaking even and turning a profit instantly.

04:01Developers in that scene often leverage their success to build sequels more quickly

04:06and refine their ideas across multiple games.

04:10CD Projekt Red is essentially doing the AAA version of that approach.

04:15They're creating a foundation with Witcher 4,

04:18new systems, new assets, new combat behavior,

04:22new enemy AI, new world-building tech,

04:25and then using that foundation to make the next two games faster.

04:29Instead of reinventing the entire franchise every time,

04:33the team will be able to refine, polish,

04:36and expand the core of Witcher 4 into Witcher 5 and Witcher 6.

04:41It is a smarter, more sustainable pipeline,

04:44and honestly, it's something the AAA industry has needed for a long time.

04:50But what does that mean for the games themselves?

04:52First, the trilogy format immediately suggests that CD Projekt Red wants a highly connected story.

04:59Something sweeping.

05:01Something planned from beginning to end.

05:03Something more cohesive than previous Witcher entries.

05:06If you think about how Mass Effect built decisions and consequences across three games,

05:11or how the old Dragon Age trilogy tried to establish a consistent fantasy world over time,

05:17that's the kind of approach CD Projekt Red seems to be aiming for.

05:21Instead of each Witcher game feeling like a standalone experience,

05:25we may be looking at a story that evolves with each entry,

05:29with characters, factions, and world states carrying forward from one installment to the next.

05:36There's also the question of who the protagonist will be.

05:40CD Projekt Red has confirmed that Geralt's story is finished,

05:44and Witcher 4 will begin a new saga with a new Witcher.

05:47This is a massive shift for the franchise because Geralt has been synonymous with the brand for almost 20 years.

05:55With a new lead comes an opportunity to take the story and the world in completely different directions.

06:01Will we follow a Witcher from a different school,

06:04like the school of the cat, the bear, or even an original creation made specifically for the saga?

06:09Will the tone shift to a darker, grittier style, more reminiscent of the original Witcher game?

06:15Or will the trilogy lean into the grand epic scale The Witcher 3 is known for?

06:21And then there is the world itself.

06:23With Unreal Engine 5, CD Projekt Red can build an open world that feels alive in ways the old Red Engine simply couldn't handle.

06:31Imagine forests where every tree responds to physics, swamps filled with dynamic fog,

06:38or castle interiors lit entirely with real-time global illumination.

06:42The scale and density of the world could evolve with each installment,

06:47giving players a reason to revisit familiar regions and see how they've changed over the years.

06:53This kind of world progression is something fans have wanted for a long time,

06:57and with a trilogy releasing so closely together, it becomes much more feasible.

07:04Of course, announcing a six-year release plan doesn't automatically guarantee success.

07:09CD Projekt Red is coming off the rocky launch of Cyberpunk 2077,

07:14and they've spent years rebuilding their reputation.

07:17The Phantom Liberty expansion proved they could still deliver incredible storytelling and world-building,

07:24but the pressure is higher now than ever.

07:26Fans expect quality, depth, and polish, and they won't accept cut corners.

07:32The studio needs to balance speed with care,

07:35especially considering how many players have been burned by the Cyberpunk launch.

07:40But at the same time, the studio has learned hard lessons from that experience.

07:45They're invested heavily in hiring new leadership,

07:48expanding their engineering teams,

07:50and restructuring production pipelines to ensure smoother development.

07:54This six-year Witcher plan isn't just about making games quickly.

07:59It's about making games efficiently,

08:01using modern tools, consistent framework, and shared tech.

08:05If CD Projekt Red can pull this off,

08:08it could be a turning point not just for the Witcher franchise,

08:11but for AAA game development as a whole.

08:14And this raises the question,

08:17what does this mean for RPG fans?

08:19Well, it means we won't have to wait nearly a decade between Witcher releases anymore.

08:24It means we're getting a continuous stream of stories,

08:27expansions, world-building, and character arcs that evolve in real time.

08:32It means that if Witcher 4 introduces a new Witcher school or a new region of the continent,

08:37those ideas could be explored more deeply across Witcher 5 and Witcher 6

08:42instead of being abandoned in a single game.

08:44And it means that players who fell in love with this world years ago

08:48will have reasons to stay invested for at least the next decade.

08:53Now for the fun part.

08:55What could actually be in these games?

08:57There's a lot of speculation floating around,

08:59but one of the strongest possibilities is that CD Projekt Red

09:03will explore new regions we haven't seen before in the game.

09:06The continent is massive,

09:08and the books reference lands and cultures far beyond the areas we've already visited.

09:13A brand new Witcher could be part of a new order

09:16that rebuilds after the events of Witcher 3,

09:19potentially dealing with the political fallout of Nilfgaard,

09:23the Northern Kingdoms,

09:25and the lingering threat of the Wild Hunt's influence on the world.

09:28Characters like Ciri could reappear,

09:31not as protagonists,

09:32but as guides,

09:34mentors,

09:34or powerful political figures

09:36whose choices influence the direction of the trilogy.

09:40Or CD Projekt Red may choose to distance themselves

09:42from familiar characters entirely

09:44and build a self-contained saga that stands on its own.

09:49Whatever direction they take,

09:51the key is that CD Projekt Red isn't just making one Witcher game.

09:55They're building a multi-game epic

09:57with shared DNA,

09:59shared tools,

10:00and shared creative vision.

10:02And that makes the six-year plan

10:03one of the most fascinating industry stories right now.

10:06It's ambitious,

10:08it's bold,

10:09it's risky,

10:09and it's going to shape the future of how AAA RPGs get made.

10:13At the end of the day,

10:15CD Projekt Red's six-year Witcher trilogy plan

10:18is a roadmap packed with both potential and pressure

10:21if they can maintain quality

10:23while delivering games on a faster timeline,

10:26they could redefine what modern RPG development looks like.

10:30If they stumble,

10:31it could reinstate the doubt that surfaced after Cyberpunk.

10:34But with Unreal Engine 5,

10:36a rebuilt development pipeline,

10:38and multiple teams working in parallel,

10:41this might be the most carefully engineered plan

10:43the studio has ever attempted.

10:46So the big question is,

10:48what do you think?

10:49Are you excited for a Witcher trilogy

10:51that arrives quickly one game after the next?

10:54Or are you worried that rushing the series

10:56could affect the quality fans expect?

10:58Let me know down in the comments.

11:00And if you enjoyed this deep dive,

11:03make sure to hit the like button,

11:05subscribe,

11:06and ring the notification bell

11:07for more in-depth gaming commentary.

11:10And as always,

11:12game on!

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