CD Projekt Red has finally put a release window on The Witcher 4, and fans still have a fairly long wait ahead. The studio is now targeting 2028 for the next mainline entry in the series.
Joint CEO Michał Nowakowski confirmed the window in a video shared through The Witcher‘s official social accounts ahead of Gamescom. CD Projekt Red is not ready to announce an exact date, and The Witcher 4 will not appear at Gamescom this year.
More than 500 developers are currently working on the game, which Nowakowski described as the studio’s biggest and most ambitious project so far. The Witcher 4 will begin a new saga with Ciri in the lead role, following her reveal as the protagonist at The Game Awards in 2024.
Geralt has one more adventure coming in 2027
Fans will not have to wait until 2028 to return to The Witcher universe. The Witcher 3 is getting Songs of the Past, a new expansion scheduled for 2027. CD Projekt Red plans to show more of it at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25 and at its booth during the show. Songs of the Past arrives more than a decade after The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launched in 2015. An exact 2027 release date has not been announced.
CD Projekt Red has already shown some of the technology behind The Witcher 4 through its Unreal Engine 5 demonstration, including dense crowds, improved foliage rendering, ray tracing, and a 60 fps target on a base PS5.
The 2028 timing could make a PlayStation disc release a long shot
The 2028 window also lands The Witcher 4 right in the middle of one of the biggest controversies in console gaming right now. Sony has confirmed that it will stop producing physical game discs for new PlayStation releases starting in January 2028, despite significant backlash from players who value physical ownership, resale, and long-term access.
CD Projekt Red has not said whether The Witcher 4 will receive a physical release or confirmed its final platform lineup. However, if it arrives on PlayStation in 2028 as planned, a disc version currently looks like a long shot under Sony’s policy.
There is at least some good news for the PC crowd. GOG has confirmed that future CD Projekt Red games will continue to launch on the storefront, which means The Witcher 4 should also get a DRM-free release. GOG allows players to download offline installers and does not require its Galaxy launcher to keep games running. The storefront also has a strong focus on game preservation, giving players more control over the games they buy and how they access them over time.
