Last updated: 5 September 2026

The Witcher 4 Release Date & Development — 2028 Window Confirmed

There's no shortage of rumors about when The Witcher 4 will actually arrive, but CD Projekt Red's own statements are more consistent than the noise around them suggests. Here's a timeline of what the studio has actually said, sourced from its own earnings calls, public appearances, and official video messages rather than aggregator guesswork.

01The Official Line: Targeting a 2028 Release Window

CD Projekt Red confirmed on August 25, 2026 that The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release window. Co-CEO Michal Nowakowski delivered the news directly to fans in a video message posted to the game's official X and Bluesky accounts, one day ahead of Gamescom 2026's Opening Night Live. His exact words: "The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release window."

• 2028 is a target window, not a locked date — Nowakowski was explicit that the studio isn't ready to share an exact month, quarter, or day yet.
• CD Projekt Red will not be showing The Witcher 4 at Gamescom 2026; the studio's presence there instead focuses on The Witcher 3's "Songs of the Past" expansion.
• Nowakowski acknowledged the wait, saying "I know it's a bit of a wait, and you'd love to play it sooner," and asked fans to "let the team cook," adding that "it will be worth the wait."
• Any specific month, quarter, or day circulating on social media or aggregator sites remains unconfirmed unless CD Projekt Red says so directly.

02How the Guidance Evolved From "Not Before 2027"

Before the August 2026 video, CD Projekt Red's only public guidance was that The Witcher 4 would not launch before 2027 — a floor, not a target, repeated by studio leadership at multiple earnings calls, most recently the Q1 2026 call in late May 2026.

• That "not before 2027" phrasing never promised a 2027 launch — it only ruled out anything earlier. The August 2026 announcement is the first time CDPR has named an actual target window.
• The move from "2027 at the earliest" to "targeting 2028" isn't a delay from a previously promised date in the usual sense — it's the studio giving a real target for the first time, rather than walking back an announced release.
• Treat the old "not before 2027" phrasing as historical context for how the estimate developed, not as current guidance — CD Projekt Red's August 2026 statement supersedes it.

03A Timeline of What's Actually Been Confirmed

• 2022: CD Projekt Red confirms it is working on a new Witcher saga using Unreal Engine 5, under the internal codename Project Polaris, as part of a multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games.
• November 2024: Full production on The Witcher 4 begins, following an extended pre-production phase.
• December 2024: CD Projekt Red publicly reveals The Witcher 4 with a cinematic announcement trailer at The Game Awards, confirming Ciri as protagonist.
• June 2025 (State of Unreal / Unreal Fest 2025, Orlando): CDPR presents the first Witcher 4 Unreal Engine 5 tech demo in Orlando, following Ciri on a monster contract through the Kovir region and port town of Valdrest. CDPR described it as a separate tech build rather than content from the actual game.
• Q3 2025 earnings call: CDPR's CFO reiterates the game will not launch before 2027 — guidance later superseded by the August 2026 window announcement.
• February–April 2026: The development team grows from 499 to 513 people, according to CDPR's own staffing disclosures.
• Late May 2026 (Q1 2026 earnings call): Co-CEO Michal Nowakowski confirms CDPR's plan to release all three trilogy games within roughly six years, and says not to expect large paid expansions for The Witcher 4. The "not before 2027" guidance is repeated one more time here.
• June 16–18, 2026 (Unreal Fest 2026, Chicago): CD Projekt Red presents new footage at Unreal Fest 2026 in Chicago. Check CD Projekt Red's official channels for the full rundown of what was shown.
• August 25, 2026 (ahead of Gamescom 2026): Nowakowski posts a video message confirming CDPR is now targeting a 2028 release window — the first time the studio has named an actual target rather than just a floor — while confirming The Witcher 4 won't be shown at Gamescom 2026.

04Why It's Taking a While — The Six-Year Trilogy Plan

CDPR's leadership has framed The Witcher 4's development timeline around something bigger than just this one game: the studio wants to ship all three games in the new Witcher trilogy within about six years of each other, a much faster cadence than its usual multi-year gaps between major releases.

• Part of the reasoning given is that Unreal Engine 5's tooling, plus reusable systems and assets built for the first game, should make the second and third entries faster to produce.
• This pacing goal is also the studio's stated reason for not planning large paid expansions on the scale of The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine or Hearts of Stone for The Witcher 4 — that kind of multi-year DLC support doesn't fit a six-year, three-game release plan. Smaller, free post-launch content has not been ruled out.
• In practical terms, this suggests CDPR is treating The Witcher 4 more like the opening chapter of a longer story than a single stand-alone epic meant to be supported for years afterward.

05The Unreal Fest 2026 Showing

CD Projekt Red appeared at Unreal Fest 2026, held June 16–18 in Chicago, marking the game's second major public showing after the June 2025 State of Unreal tech demo. For a full breakdown of what was shown, check CD Projekt Red's official channels and reputable outlets — the studio publishes footage and statements directly rather than relying on aggregators.

06How to Track Future Updates Yourself

• CD Projekt Red's quarterly earnings calls have historically been where the studio gives its clearest, most cautious guidance on timing — but the August 2026 window confirmation arrived instead as a direct video message on the game's own social accounts, so it's worth watching those channels too, not just earnings calls.
• Major engine-focused showcases (like State of Unreal or Unreal Fest) are where CDPR has shown technical or visual material in the past.
• Treat any release date, PC spec list, or platform detail that isn't directly attributed to CD Projekt Red as unconfirmed, no matter how confident the source sounds.