CD PROJEKT RED announced today that the next entry in the video game series The Witcher is presently under development using Unreal Engine 5, launching a new saga for the franchise and a new technical relationship with Epic Games.

Today's announcement is the first official confirmation of a new Witcher game since the release of CD PROJEKT RED's previous single-player, AAA role-playing game in the franchise, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which won a total of 250 Game of the Year awards and was later expanded upon with the Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine add-ons.

The new game's teaser picture displays a medallion with the tagline A New Saga Begins. Apart from this early confirmation of a new tale in The Witcher series, no more information was revealed, such as a production timeline or release date.

Additionally, CD PROJEKT RED announced their migration to Unreal Engine 5 as part of their multi-year strategic relationship with Epic Games. Since the release of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in 2011, CD PROJEKT RED has built their games using their proprietary REDengine technology. This new agreement with Epic includes not just licensing, but also technical development of Unreal Engine 5 and, when applicable, future versions of Unreal Engine. CD PROJEKT RED developers will engage with Epic on the engine's open-world capabilities, commencing with the production of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Regarding the usage of Unreal Engine 5 for this and future games, Pawe Zawodny, CTO of CD PROJEKT RED, stated:

ne of the core aspects of our internal RED 2.0 Transformation is a much stronger focus on technology, and our cooperation with Epic Games is based on this principle. From the outset, we did not consider a typical licensing arrangement; both we and Epic see this as a long-term, fulfilling tech partnership. It is vital for CD PROJEKT RED to have the technical direction of our next game decided from the earliest possible phase as; in the past, we spent a lot of resources and energy to evolve and adapt REDengine with every subsequent game release. This cooperation is so exciting, because it will elevate development predictability and efficiency, while simultaneously granting us access to cutting-edge game development tools. I can't wait for the great games we're going to create using Unreal Engine 5!

Tim Sweeney, Founder and CEO of Epic Games, remarked about the partnership:

"Epic has been building Unreal Engine 5 to enable teams to create dynamic open worlds at an unprecedented scale and level of fidelity. We are deeply honored by the opportunity to partner with CD PROJEKT RED to push the limits of interactive storytelling and gameplay together, and this effort will benefit the developer community for years to come."