CD Projekt Red to release a trilogy of The Witcher games in a short timeframe

A new trilogy of The Witcher games will be released within a “six-year period”

CD Project Red’s CEO, CEO Michał Nowakowski, has unveiled the studio’s plan to release three new The Witcher games within a remarkably short timeframe. The studio plans to launch a “whole trilogy in a six-year period”. How? CD Project Red expects its development time to shorten as it moves from game to game.

If CD Project Red keeps to this timeline, gamers should expect The Witcher 5 three years after The Witcher 4, and The Witcher 6 three years after that.

Following the release of Cyberpunk 2077, CD Project Red has moved from its in-house Red Engine to Unreal Engine 5. It has taken time for CD Projekt Red to familiarise itself with Unreal Engine 5. The Witcher 4 is the company’s first major project built on the engine, and it has been in development for almost 4 years. Earlier this year, CD Projekt Red showcased an impressive tech demo using the engine at Unreal Fest 2025.

Nowakowski has confirmed that The Witcher 4 is “not launching in 2026…” This means that the game’s earliest possible release date is in 2027. If that happens, The Witcher 5 could be released in 2030, and The Witcher 6 could be released in 2033.

Can CD Projekt Red succeed?

If CD Projekt Red can stick to its current timeline, it will reverse a major trend within the games industry. Today, new games take a long time to develop, including sequels. Development times have ballooned over the past decade. For example, the original Mass Effect trilogy was released within 5 years. God of War Ragnarok was released 4.5 years after 2018’s God of War. If CD Projekt Red can release a trilogy of The Witcher games within six years, it will show everyone that AAA game development doesn’t need to be slow.

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