CD Projekt RED (CDPR) plans to leverage the capabilities of the new hardware launched since The Witcher 3 for the next game.

The development team for The Witcher 4 aims to take full advantage of the generational shift that has occurred since The Witcher 3 was released. With the tech demo presented at this year’s Unreal Fest, the team has demonstrated its commitment to delivering a true next-gen experience from the outset. In an interview with GamesRadar, Jan Hermanowicz, head of engineering development at CDPR, said the studio has adapted to the generational shift in hardware, engines, and technology since the release of the third installment in the series. The studio wants to take full advantage of this change to deliver a next-generation experience.

This ambition was evident from the beginning, as seen in the village of Valdrest in the Witcher 4 tech demo. The village contained over 300 non-player characters (NPCs), a massive density of characters comparable to the largest town in The Witcher 3, Novigrad. This is clear evidence of how serious CDPR is about moving on from the previous installment in the series. According to Hermanowicz, the city, which players can explore while searching for Geralt and Ciri, served as the basis for Valdrest’s NPC density. The team spent a lot of time looking through footage of Novigrad to see what they had done in the past and what couldn’t be implemented back then. The studio is certainly not approaching the project blindly, but rather building on what they’ve done before.

Although it’s just a tech demo and may not fully represent the final game, the first demo of The Witcher 4 was impressive. Not only did the village of Valdrest look alive, but the demo also ran at 60 FPS with ray tracing on the base PlayStation 5. The demo ran at 60 frames per second (FPS) with ray tracing on the standard PlayStation 5. Given the studio’s approach to this game, there’s no doubt that the release will not be delayed like Cyberpunk 2077 was for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. However, Xbox Series S owners may not be able to enjoy the game as much as those with a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X because running the game at 60 FPS on the smaller Xbox will be extremely challenging.

In any case, The Witcher 4 will likely not be released before the end of 2026.

Source: WCCFTech, GamesRadar