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

Even though the full release is likely years away, we've got a good number of interesting tidbits to go on while we're waiting. For example, the below trailer showed us the first cinematic insight into Ciri's rise as a fully-fledged monster slayer, and we now know the game itself has been built using Unreal Engine 5 - moving away from the developer's own REDengine.

If you're hungry for more content inspired by Andrzej Sapkowski's books, The Witcher season 4 by Netflix will likely be out before this latest game. However, if it's just CD Projekt Red's interpretation you enjoy outside of the books, here is everything we know so far about Ciri's first sole gaming adventure.

The Witcher 4 release date speculation

We don't have a Witcher 4 release date just yet, but we believe it won't come out until at least late 2026. That's because while the first cinematic trailer we've got looks 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.

Since May 2022, the game was 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 mid-to-late 2027 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.

Don't expect it on PS4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch systems, though, given the massive technical limits of the ageing hardware. The Switch successor, aka The Nintendo Switch 2, on the other hand, you never know, but that will depend on its technical capabilities.

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 & 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.

When we do learn more about The Witcher 4, we'll be sure to update this page with new details.

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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