The Witcher 4: what we know about the "new saga"

The Witcher 4 has been officially confirmed, and although we're quite excited, we certainly aren't surprised. There have been no shortage of rumors about another Witcher game by CD Projekt Red, and the studio has commented on the possibility multiple times. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the greatest RPGs of all time, so an eventual sequel has always made sense. Now that we know it's definitely in the works, we’ve gathered everything we know for sure about the next Witcher game, along with some educated speculation about which characters could return and what kind of story it might tell.

CD Projekt Red's latest big RPG, Cyberpunk 2077 has been out now for some time and seems like it might be occupying the studio's attention for awhile yet. The rocky launch was plagued with bugs, leading CDPR to work through a 2021 roadmap for fixes. The company is also still working on DLCs for Cyberpunk.

That said, CD Prokect Red has said that it plans to work on two major games simultaneously, which we now know definitely includes a new Witcher game, and likely continued work on Cyberpunk 2077. Here's what we know about The Witcher 4 so far.

The Witcher 4 release date

Will The Witcher 4 be an Epic Games Store exclusive?

Nope, or at least CDPR says that it is "not planning on making the game exclusive to one storefront."

That seems like a really odd thing for the studio to clarify, but when it first announced The Witcher 4, CDPR also announced that the new Witcher game would be made with Unreal Engine 5 instead of the studio's propriety REDengine that it's used since The Witcher 2. 

CD Projekt does also own the GOG storefront, so it would be very odd if The Witcher 4 weren't available there.

The Witcher 4 story and characters

Clues and rumors about The Witcher 4's story

So far, the initial teaser image for the next Witcher game is the biggest hint we have to work with. The pendant above doesn't look like it belongs to the Cat School of witchers. It looks more like a Lynx with those pointed ears.

For now, any actual lore about the Lynx school is unclear. The Witcher Fanon Wiki of fan-created lore has a page dedicated to the formation of the Lynx School, but so far as we can tell there hasn't been official mention of the Lynx School in the Witcher novels or games. 

One definite reference to a Lynx is the item codes for the Cat School gear in The Witcher 3. To spawn in different Cat school weapons and armor pieces, you'll use item codes named "Lynx", like how the Ursine gear is referred to in item codes as "Bear".

Beyond that, we mostly just know for sure that the witcher pendant in the teaser isn't for the wolf school that Geralt was a part of. Since before the release of The Witcher 3, CDPR has been open about the fact that Geralt wouldn’t return as the protagonist of whatever comes next in the series. "With the third installment, we should wrap it up and conclude a lot of threads," CDPR's CEO Marcin Iwiński told Polygon in 2013. "We are not killing the world and walking away from it, but we will definitely want to make this game the finale in a big way."

In the same interview, executive producer John Mamais hinted that Geralt could return with a smaller role or as a cameo. "We might even include Geralt in later games potentially," Mamais said. "We just need to talk about it and figure out what we're going to do next." Geralt is a very flexible character. His long lifetime (he's over 90 in The Witcher 3) means that he could pop up in stories told long before or after the events of CDPR’s trilogy.

Will Ciri be in The Witcher 4?

There's certainly a chance. Based on which Witcher 3 ending you chose, there are definite possibilities to continue Ciri's story. In what's considered the best ending for the game, Ciri and Geralt spend time together on the witcher path after Geralt gifts her a silver sword of her own.

In other Ciri story evidence, CD Projekt Red talked with PC Gamer back in 2019 about adapting her character from the books. As for parts of her story that didn't make it into The Witcher 3, they said "Maybe it’s something we’ll get to revisit in the future."

It probably won’t be called The Witcher 4

Whatever form the next big Witcher game takes, it probably won’t have a 4 on it. CDPR co-founder Marcin Iwinski has made it clear that the studio sees the first three games as a standalone trilogy. "The Witcher was designed as a trilogy and a trilogy cannot have a fourth part, can it?" he said in a 2017 investor call.

The clarification might sound trivial, but it’s more about setting the right expectations for what comes next. Not only will a theoretical next Witcher not star Geralt, but it might be different in more fundamental ways than we’re assuming. It could take place on a different continent, be in a very different time, or maybe not even be about a witcher. The game could step away from witchers themselves and explore sorceresses or vampires. It’s a rich world to draw inspiration from. I’m partial to the diverse, wandering lifestyle of Witchers, but I’m also open to something different.

The Witcher 4 development

The Witcher 4 is being made with Unreal Engine 5

Alongside confirmation of The Witcher 4's development, CDPR also explained that it had partnered with Epic Games to use its development engine for the next game.

CDPR says that its partnership with Epic "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."

"It is vital for CD Projekt Red to have the technical direction of our next game decided from the earliest possible phase as in the past, we spent a lot of resources and energy to evolve and adapt REDengine with every subsequent game release," CD Projekt Red CTO Paweł Zawodny said.

CDPR acquired Molasses Flood to work on something

In October 2021 we got news of CD Projekt acquiring studio Molasses Flood (responsible for Flame in the Flood) to work "in close cooperation" with developer CD Projekt Red on an "ambitious project" based on one of CDPR's existing properties. CDPR also confirmed that Molasses Flood won't be working on Cyberpunk 2077, and since there are only two choices with CDPR, that leaves The Witcher.

CDPR has not actually confirmed what Molasses is working on, however, so we'll have to wait and see.

CD Projekt signed a new deal with Witcher creator Andrzej Sapkowski in 2019

CD Projekt famously got the rights to make Witcher games for a flat up-front fee, which novelist Andrzej Sapkowski wasn't thrilled about after the games became enormously popular. Since 2018 the two parties have been negotiating a new deal, and in December 2019 they finally reached it. The new agreement "solidifies and reinforces the company’s relationship with Mr. Andrzej Sapkowski—author of The Witcher saga."

The most interesting quote, however, is this one: "The agreement confers new rights upon the Company and reaffirms its existing title to 'The Witcher' intellectual property in developing video games, graphic novels, board games and merchandise."

That doesn't spell out that new videogames are on the way, but it's a sure sign that CD Projekt has a long-term interest in The Witcher.