The Witcher 4 release date speculation, platforms, story and trailers

There has been a flurry of activity surrounding developers CD Projekt Red (CDPR) recently, and the hubbub has got fans excited for a potential The Witcher 4 release date, and to add fuel to the fire, we've tried our hand at some Witcher 4 release date speculation, as well as what we know about platforms, gameplay, story and we've also got a couple of trailers for you!

Formerly known as 'Project Polaris', The Witcher 4 was unveiled to the world during The Game Awards 2024, confirming Ciri as the protagonist, Geralt's adoptive daughter.

But not only is CDPR working on The Witcher 4, but they also have a Witcher 1 remake and Cyberpunk 2 in the oven, and that's not even to mention The Witcher season 4.

There's certainly a lot to get through, so read on for some Witcher 4 release date speculation!

The Witcher 4 release date speculation

The Witcher 4 won't release until at least 2027.

This comes straight from CDPR's latest earnings call, where Joint Chief Executive Officer Michał Nowakowski said that while they're "not disclosing any details regarding the target release date", The Witcher 4 is "not launching
in 2026".

This then puts 2027 as our earliest chance of seeing a Witcher 4 release, but it doesn't rule out 2028 or beyond either.

That's because while the first cinematic trailer and Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo we've seen looked fantastic, the process of the game itself will likely be a very different story - since the developer has more than learnt its lesson from Cyberpunk 2077 the detriment of releasing a game too early.

However, CDPR has doubled down that they intend "to launch the whole trilogy within a six-year period," meaning that there would be a "development time between TW4 and TW5... and TW6," owing to the fact that much of the technology base would be in place.

But as for the likelihood of hitting that 2027 date, since May 2022, the game has been in pre-production - the process of laying out the game's foundations technologically and narratively. While this step is very intensive in its own right, full-scale production - which The Witcher 4 entered in November 2024 - is by far the longest stage, taking anywhere between one to four years, or even longer depending on the scope of the project.

What's more, combined with the massive undertaking of developing a huge open-world RPG on a different engine than what they've used before, those aforementioned lessons CDPR learned from the release of Cyberpunk 2077 led to them making significant structural changes in their production - making sure development stages and designs better defined and more cohesive respectively.

In addition, CD Projekt Red is no stranger to long lead times for games after the first trailers have dropped. Again taking Cyberpunk 2077 for example, the 2020 dystopian sci-fi RPG took another two and a half years to come out after its first full trailer was dropped at E3 2018. Then again, establishing whole worlds that size for brand-new IPs can take an extremely long time.

Then again, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, released in May 2015, had its first trailer revealed in June 2013. That's nowhere near as long a wait, but even if CDPR's improved the production pipeline, it wouldn't come as any surprise if we ended up hearing The Witcher 4 wouldn't come out until late 2027 or even early 2028 instead.

What platforms will The Witcher 4 be on?

Although CD Projekt Red has yet to confirm platforms, it seems certain that The Witcher 4 will launch on PS5, PC and Xbox Series X/S.

As for the Nintendo Switch 2, even though it is a current-gen system, the jury is out on whether The Witcher 4 could run on it. CDPR are collaborating with Epic Games to wrangle Unreal Engine into better shape, and the tech demo they put out was running at 60FPS on a base PlayStation 5, so not all hope is lost.

Don't expect it on PS4, Xbox One and original Nintendo Switch systems, though, given the massive technical limits of the ageing hardware.

Nevertheless, we'll update this article as soon as we know more.

Read more on The Witcher games:

• How to download The Witcher 3 next-gen update
• The Witcher 3 trophies - the full list of achievements
• The Witcher remake - when's it coming?

Can I pre-order The Witcher 4?

There's no way to pre-order The Witcher 4 just yet, with the game not having any product pages at online retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy or GAME at the time of writing.

You could always buy The Witcher 3 from Amazon if you haven't played it already, of course, or if you just fancy giving it another play-through before the sequel arrives in stores.

The Witcher 4 gameplay and story details

The Witcher 4 stars Ciri, not Geralt, as its playable protagonist.

In the game, Ciri is taking on her own journey to become a professional monster slayer, being a fully-qualified Witcher; she's seemingly gone through the Trial of Grasses - the painful trials of a low survival rate involving potions that alter the nervous system and mutate the body with new abilities, as Geralt went through, shown by the signature cat-like eyes.

Little else is known about the game as of now, but what we already know is enough to build the hype.

Over on the official Witcher website, CD Projekt Red revealed a little bit more as to what sort of journey you're in for in general:

"The Witcher 4 is a single-player, open-world RPG. At the start of a new saga, players take on the role of Ciri, a professional monster slayer, and embark on a journey through a brutal dark-fantasy world," says the developer.

"Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it aims to be the most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date."

In the game's first official trailer, we see Ciri fighting a seriously creepy monster to save the sacrifice of a young woman. It's like something out of a folk horror movie, and we can't wait to learn more.

We see Ciri struggle in the fight until she swigs from a flask which gives her Witcher-y powers. It's a very fitting moment since it's one of the signature tropes we'd seen from the past Witcher games and trailers featuring Geralt when fighting horrific beasts.

Unfortunately, we're yet to see any gameplay, but we can expect some elements from those in the trailer, like the chain around Ciri's wrist, to make it into the actual game.

In June 2025, CD Projekt Red showcased the game in an Unreal Engine tech demo following the studio's move to the engine.

While the demo itself garnered a huge amount of praise from fans, especially once it was revealed that it was apparently captured on a base PS5 console, it does not show gameplay capture, so is by no means representative of how the game will actually look.

Either way, it's still worth checking out!

Is there a The Witcher 4 trailer?

Yes, there is a The Witcher 4 trailer, which debuted at The Game Awards in December 2024.

The six-minute-long cinematic reveal trailer has it all. Intrigue, creepy monsters, folk horror and Ciri, who is the star this time instead of Geralt.

It's definitely worth a watch:

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