CD Projekt Red Sets The Witcher 4 For a 2028 Release Window

CD Projekt Red has set a 2028 release window for The Witcher 4, co-CEO Michal Nowakowski said in a video released ahead of Gamescom 2026 on August 24. Nowakowski described the game as the studio's 'biggest, boldest and most ambitious' to date, with more than 500 developers working on the RPG starring Ciri, in development in collaboration with Epic Games on Unreal Engine 5.

What Was Said

'Our team here at CD Projekt Red HQ is hard at work on a brand new saga, one with Ciri at the helm,' Nowakowski said. 'The Witcher 4 features a huge and immersive open world, intense and action-packed gameplay, and a deep, impactful story that we hope will stay with you for a long time.' The 2028 window is the most concrete timing the studio has provided since the game was announced at The Game Awards in 2024. CD Projekt has repeatedly said the title is in full production alongside other projects, but declined to share an exact date.

What the Studio Has Shown

In June 2025, CD Projekt debuted a tech demo it said was representative of what The Witcher 4 will look like on a base PS5 console, but did not show the game itself. When discussion online conflated the demo with first gameplay, CD Projekt issued a statement calling it 'a tech demo, and a first look at the cutting-edge technology powering The Witcher 4 — but not The Witcher 4 itself,' adding that it showcases the studio's work with Epic to push open-world design 'further than ever before.' The studio did not show The Witcher 4 at Gamescom 2026 itself, opting instead to reaffirm the title's presence at future events.

Industry Context

The Witcher 4 news lands against a turbulent employment backdrop that Tencent Games' Amir Satvat detailed in his Gamescom dev keynote on August 24. Satvat cited aggregate industry estimates showing 750,000 direct and indirect game-industry jobs globally, of which only about 5,000 net new roles were added between 2022 and 2026, less than 1% growth over four years. Of 115 layoff cases recorded in 2026, more than two-thirds occurred at North American-headquartered companies, and North American headcount shrank by 15%, with 25,000 jobs disappearing, Satvat said, citing Games Industry Coffee Chat data.

What to Watch Through Year-End

Three checkpoints follow. The next set of AAA releases scheduled for late 2026 — including Phantom Blade Zero pre-orders, Wardogs pre-orders, and Mortal Shell 2's debut — will indicate whether the 19% year-over-year rise in H1 Steam releases translates to a recovery in premium revenue, which Satvat said declined 5% to $5 billion in H1 2026. CD Projekt's first Witcher 4 gameplay reveal, expected in 2027, will reveal whether the 2028 target slips or holds. And Roblox's new creator-tools push, announced August 24 with Experiments A/B testing and analytics segmentation, is part of a broader platform-level response to declining DAU counts, down from a peak of 152 million in 2025 to 123 million today.