Developer CD Projekt Red created one of the games of the decade in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, a title that many believe to be one of the greatest RPGs ever created and has since helped make the franchise popular enough for a live-action Netflix series - prompting many to wonder when The Witcher 4 would be coming, if it is being made at all. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt released in mid-2015 and was then ed with two paid expansions in Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine that provided dozens of hours of extra content, but the latter add-on put a neat little bow on Geralt's journey and made it seem pretty difficult to continue his story further down the road.
If there will be a The Witcher 4, then, CD Projekt Red will likely need to make some pretty drastic design changes that begin with the protagonist and trickle down from there. With that said, it isn't like the developer has been reluctant to revisit the franchise since The Witcher 3. The company released a standalone GWENT title based on the popular card game from The Witcher 3 that has since managed to earn itself a niche position within the genre, and Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales blended strategy and Gwent together to tell a story set within the same narrative conceit as Geralt's journey in the games.
With the Netflix's The Witcher adaptation drawing even more eyeballs to the universe it's set in, it's a good time for CD Projekt Red to begin thinking about what the IP's future looks like in video game form.
The Witcher 4 Isn't Happening Right Now
CD Projekt Red still has time to considers itself a two IP developer - Cyberpunk has been tagged as a lucrative prospect that will get future iterations, and The Witcher has already proven itself as a hot commodity. Given that designation, it only makes sense that CD Projekt Red will eventually create The Witcher 4, as it can't keep making spin-offs centered around Gwent forever.
The Witcher 4 Release Date Info
Assuming that The Witcher 4 wouldn't enter development until Cyberpunk 2077 releases in 2020, it seems highly likely the game would be a next-gen title for the Xbox Series X and PS5 (alongside a suspected PC release, given the prolific stature of the franchise there). The turnaround from when Cyberpunk 2077 entered development to when it will be released is murky - it was started at some point towards the end of The Witcher 3's development, and had a small team working on it before things ramped up - but the rough historical precedent would suggest something like five years. That's obviously dependent on how much CD Projekt Red has grown since then, how developing for new technology goes, and many other factors, but those hoping for The Witcher 4 soon should temper expectations significantly - given the amount of polish CD Projekt Red tends to put on each of its flagship games, it'll be a long ways off yet.
The Witcher 4 Story Details
The biggest question fans have about The Witcher 4 is what will happen in its story. Geralt's story wrapped up pretty nicely in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's Blood & Wine expansion, so it would seem CD Projekt Red needs to find a new protagonist to carry on the story. Luckily, there's one tailor-made to inherit Geralt's adventures while adding new dynamic combat to the series as well - Ciri.
Ciri is actually playable in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt occasionally already, where her ability to teleport between locations makes her incredibly fun. The Witcher 4 story could easily follow her exploits as, in one of the endings of The Witcher 3, she inherits Geralt's mantle as a witcher. Someone needs to succeed Geralt in his monster-slaying duties, and there would be few more qualified people than Ciri. It also opens up CD Projekt Red's options for narrative locales, since Ciri can also leap between worlds, something that could let the developer explore a universe-wide story that takes place over several games.
