CD Projekt Red has officially given full-scale production to “Project Polaris”, the next mainline entry in The Witcher saga, thereby ending a long preproduction phase. After years of groundwork and engine migration, the studio’s enormous team of developers can now focus on creating the core assets and systems for what is generally known as The Witcher 4. These past years have been transformative for the Polish developer as it worked on an overhaul of its internal pipelines after the turbulent launch of Cyberpunk 2077.
One of the most important technical departures for this new trilogy is the decision to drop the proprietary REDengine in favor of Unreal Engine 5. This partnership with Epic Games should in theory allow for a smoother and more predictable pipeline, as well as gain access to cutting-edge lighting and physics tools that were previously extremely hard to look after in-house. Some long-time fans may hold fears for the loss of what they consider to be a specific “feel” of the traditional games, but the studio insists that with this move their artists can concentrate on the world-building instead of fighting with underlying code. The end goal remains one continuous experience in an open world that stretches far beyond the technical limits that were imposed on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Narratively, CD Projekt Red has kept its lips tightly sealed, but a new Witcher school medallion resembling that of a lynx indicates a shift away from Geralt of Rivia’s central storyline. Although Geralt could possibly appear in a supporting role, it is clear that the new protagonist and a new chapter in the history of the Continent are at the forefront. This “Polaris” project is meant to begin a new trilogy, with the studio hoping to set up a more regular release timetable once the technology platform for the first game is in place.
Though in full production, a few years will pass before any possible release date. These big-budget high-fidelity RPGs require at least three to four years after their full production gets a chance to be on with a brand new game, so a launch can either happen in the late 2020s. For now, the latest update assures that the gears have finally begun turning at maximum capacity, bringing the next generation of monster hunting ever closer to the present reality.
