Unreal Engine 5 will power the New Witcher Saga, marking the start of an all-new era for the series and new cooperation between CD Projekt RED and Epic Games.
It is the first time since the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2012 that CD Projekt RED has confirmed the development of a new Witcher game. This announcement marks the first time since the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2012 that CD Projekt RED has confirmed the development of a new Witcher game.
The phrase “A New Saga Begins” appears under a medallion in the teaser artwork for the next game. After this first announcement of a new Witcher story, no other information was given, such as a release date or production time range.
As part of their multi-year strategic cooperation with Epic Games, CD Projekt RED has recently revealed that they would be switching to Unreal Engine 5. REDengine technology developed by CD Projekt RED has been utilized since the release of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in 2011. For the sake of Unreal Engine 5, as well as any prospective future versions of the engine, this new connection with Epic includes not simply licensing, but technical development as well. CD Projekt RED and Epic will cooperate on the creation of the next Witcher game, with the main objective of enhancing the engine for open-world experiences.
Pawe Zawodny, CTO of CD Projekt RED, commented on the utilization of Unreal Engine 5 for this and future games:
“One of the core aspects of our internal RED 2.0 Transformation is a much stronger focus on technology, and our cooperation with Epic Games is based on this principle. From the outset, we did not consider a typical licensing arrangement; both we and Epic see this as a long-term, fulfilling tech partnership. 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. This cooperation is so exciting because it will elevate development predictability and efficiency, while simultaneously granting us access to cutting-edge game development tools. I can’t wait for the great games we’re going to create using Unreal Engine 5!”
The CEO of Epic Games, Tim Sweeney, made a statement on the partnership:
“Epic has been building Unreal Engine 5 to enable teams to create dynamic open worlds at an unprecedented scale and level of fidelity. We are deeply honored by the opportunity to partner with CD Projekt RED to push the limits of interactive storytelling and gameplay together, and this effort will benefit the developer community for years to come.”
CD Projekt RED has confirmed that REDengine, the technology that drives Cyberpunk 2077, is still being employed in the development of the future Cyberpunk 2077 expansion. No further detail is to be found on the New Witcher Saga yet, but we’ll surely keep you posted whenever there is any. CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is already considered among the greatest RPG games ever. So the new announcement has made the fans of this series excited.
