The Witcher 3 was an outstanding game, expansive and intimate. It presented a rich world, buoyed by a story that was at turns gripping and warmly funny. Above all, its characters were painted with an emotional depth often lacking in mainstream media, let alone video games.
So. Will we get a Witcher 4? Perhaps. The last entry in the series was very much pitched as an end to the three-game story arc, but developers CD Projekt Red have said they may return to the world of The Witcher in the future – just not anytime soon.
Speaking to PCGamesN, studio co-founder Marcin Iwiński said CD Projekt Red aren’t leaving the world of the Witcher altogether, but that “it’s time for Cyberpunk 2077”.
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“We’ve devoted a big part of our lives to The Witcher and it means a lot to us, so we’re definitely not abandoning this universe,” Iwiński says. “If you miss your favourite characters—give GWENT a go. If you’re a fan of storytelling, there’s Thronebreaker coming out in the near future. However, in terms of big RPGs, it’s time for Cyberpunk 2077.”
With Cyberpunk 2077 in the works, there’s more than enough on the Polish studio’s plate for the next few years. Beyond that, the doors are certainly open for a new Witcher game. Below you’ll find a roundup of everything we know so far about that potential sequel.
The Witcher 4: Release date
In 2016, CD Projekt RED’s co-founder Marcin Iwinski told Eurogamer “there won’t be any [new] Witcher any time soon”, if at all. Indeed, the studio has been clear about The Witcher 3 DLC Blood and Wine being the final slice of Geralt, at least for the foreseeable future.
With Cyberpunk 2077 taking up the developers’ energies, and no definite release date for that sprawling adventure in sight, it’s very unlikely we’ll see sign of The Witcher 4 before 2020. During a CD Projekt RED investor call last year, Iwinski said his studio would think about a new Witcher game “at some point” but tapered this by saying the series “deserves some rest”.
Another investor call noted plans to release two blockbuster RPGs before 2021. It was later clarified that the first of these would be Cyberpunk 2077, meaning the second could very well be another Witcher game – although it could also be another IP altogether.
CD Projekt RED could decide it’s done enough with Witcherverse altogether. Who wouldn’t want a cyberpunk palate cleanse after back-to-back games set in a medieval fantasyland? It’s worth noting, however, that The Witcher is getting a Netflix TV series, which may ignite a whole new level of interest in the fantasy books of Andrzej Sapkowski. If that happens, CD Projekt RED could be tempted back to making another game.
The Witcher 4: Story
***The Witcher 3 spoilers below***
The Blood and Wine DLC – set after the main story – tied Geralt’s story up nicely, but doesn’t necessarily need to be the final outing for our white-haired mutant. There were a number of different endings, but there’s certainly scope for Geralt’s adventures to continue into another game should CD Projekt RED wish to go down that route. Whether they’d want to is another question. He isn’t getting any younger, and a sequel would presumably need quite a bit of temporal distance between The Witcher 3 to give it its own identity.
If Geralt is too old for a sequel, his adopted daughter Ciri seems like the most obvious choice for a new protagonist. She was already playable in The Witcher 3, and her story is central to the whole series. Depending on how your version of The Witcher 3 ended, Ciri could be dead, a trainee witcher, or empress of Nilfgaard. Putting the first aside, the other two could be intriguing starting points for a new game.
Or CD Projekt RED could decide to start a new arc altogether, marking a more drastic break from current characters. There’s more than enough story strands in Sapkowski’s novels to be taken up and carried to strange new places. A new game could, for example, be set in 1,500-year old Conjunction of the Spheres cataclysm, which brought all the ghosts and ghoulies into the world. Or it could be in the future. Or how about a whole new game where you play as Geralt’s teleporting horse, Roach? How about Ciri in Seattle? Geralt on ice?
Anyway, we’ll update this page if we hear any more about The Witcher 4: Nilfgaard Boogaloo.
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