As the video game industry marches deeper into the current generation of hardware, few upcoming projects carry as much weight, expectation, and scrutiny as The Witcher 4. Serving as the dawn of an entirely new saga for the beloved dark fantasy franchise, the game represents a monumental transitional phase for Polish developer CD Projekt Red.
For the first time in the studio’s history, the iconic monster hunter Geralt of Rivia will step out of the spotlight, with fan-favorite character Ciri taking the reins as the new lead protagonist. However, the changes happening behind the screen are arguably even more profound than those on it. After more than a decade of relying on its proprietary REDengine—the technology that powered everything from The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to Cyberpunk 2077—CD Projekt Red is completely abandoning its in-house tech in favor of Epic Games’ industry-standard Unreal Engine 5.
While the gaming community has spent years debating the motivations behind this massive technological pivot, studio leadership has finally set the record straight. In a recent comprehensive interview, CD Projekt co-CEO Michał Nowakowski dismissed long-running fan theories, offering a fresh, transparent look at the studio’s internal philosophy, its unique partnership with Epic Games, and what the future holds for The Witcher universe.
Main Facts: The Anatomy of a Technological Shift
The decision to move away from REDengine is not merely a routine software update; it is a fundamental restructuring of how CD Projekt Red approaches game development.
- The Core Transition: The Witcher 4 (currently known under its working codename, Project Polaris) is being developed entirely within Unreal Engine 5, marking a permanent departure from CD Projekt’s custom-built pipeline.
- A Change in Leadership: Ciri will officially replace Geralt of Rivia as the primary playable protagonist, signaling a narrative shift for the franchise as it explores new post-trilogy horizons.
- Setting the Record Straight: Co-CEO Michał Nowakowski formally refuted the pervasive fan assumption that the troubled, bug-ridden 2020 launch of Cyberpunk 2077 forced the studio to abandon REDengine due to technical inadequacy.
- An Inside Partnership: Rather than acting as a standard third-party licensee, CD Projekt Red has established a unique "strategic collaboration" with Epic Games, gaining direct access to the engine’s source code to modify and tailor it for massive, open-world role-playing games.
Chronology: From Proprietary Pride to Strategic Collaboration
To understand the magnitude of this transition, it is necessary to retrace the timeline of CD Projekt Red’s technical evolution over the past fifteen years.
The REDengine Era (2011–2020)
When CD Projekt Red released The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in 2011, the studio introduced REDengine 1, a proprietary engine built specifically to handle complex, narrative-driven fantasy role-playing games. The technology evolved into REDengine 3 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2015, earning critical acclaim and establishing the studio as a powerhouse capable of competing with Western AAA giants.
Buoyed by this success, the studio doubled down on REDengine 4 for Cyberpunk 2077, attempting to scale the technology to handle a dense, vertical, futuristic sci-fi metropolis featuring first-person perspective gameplay and seamless streaming architecture.
The Cyberpunk 2077 Crucible (2020)
The disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077 in December 2020 is well-documented. Crippled by performance issues on last-generation consoles, visual bugs, and structural instability, the game suffered immense public backlash.
Naturally, industry observers and fans quickly pointed the finger at REDengine 4. The narrative took root that the proprietary software was outdated, overly complex, and ultimately incapable of keeping pace with modern development demands. For many, abandoning the engine felt like an inevitable admission of defeat.
The Unreal Revelation and Partnership (2022–Present)
In March 2022, alongside the formal announcement of The Witcher 4, CD Projekt stunned the industry by revealing it was entering a multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games to utilize Unreal Engine 5.
According to studio leadership, the decision was not a reactionary bandage for past mistakes, but a calculated pivot born from a re-evaluation of what the company actually wanted to achieve as a business and a creative force.
Supporting Data: The Dream Was Never About Engines
Speaking candidly on the Deconstructor of Fun podcast, Michał Nowakowski directly addressed the widespread belief that Cyberpunk 2077 broke REDengine’s back.
"A lot of people think like this, but this is a bit of a false assumption," Nowakowski explained. "Because the issue with Cyberpunk was not really REDengine itself."
Instead, Nowakowski shed light on the foundational ethos of CD Projekt Red, revealing a surprising truth about the company’s corporate identity: building engines was never the dream.
"The dream of the company was actually never to make technology."
While CD Projekt always aspired to create games that were visually and technically cutting-edge—a goal that historically necessitated building custom tools—the ultimate driving force behind the studio has always been storytelling. "What drives us is telling stories in the most convincing and immersive way," Nowakowski noted.
For years, building an in-house engine seemed like the optimal route to achieve that artistic vision. However, everything changed when studio leadership laid eyes on Epic Games’ technical showcases, most notably The Matrix Awakens Unreal Engine 5 tech demo released in late 2021. The fidelity, lighting solutions (Lumen), and geometry rendering (Nanite) demonstrated by UE5 convinced leadership that third-party technology had evolved to a point where it could surpass their internal capabilities while saving immense engineering overhead.
Official Responses: Inside the "Black Box" with Epic Games
Many major studios license Unreal Engine off-the-shelf, utilizing standard tools and submitting bug reports to Epic Games when things break. CD Projekt Red, however, negotiated a fundamentally different arrangement.
Rather than simply buying a license, the Polish developer pitched a deep, technical collaboration. Nowakowski highlighted the exclusivity and depth of this partnership:
"We’re actually, I think, the only team in the world outside of Epic that deals with the inside of the ‘black box’ that the engine is. Nobody else is doing that except for us and them, which we do through collaborative efforts together."
This inside-track access is vital for an open-world RPG developer of CD Projekt’s scale. Unreal Engine historically faced criticism for performance hitches, asset-streaming stutter, and optimization hurdles in massive open worlds. By embedding CD Projekt engineers directly into the development loop alongside Epic, both companies stand to benefit: Epic gains invaluable feedback from a premier AAA studio to optimize UE5 for massive open-world RPGs, while CD Projekt secures a tailor-made technological foundation without having to maintain a massive proprietary engine division.
Implications: What This Means for The Witcher 4 and the Industry
The partnership between CD Projekt Red and Epic Games carries profound implications for the future of both the studio and the broader gaming landscape.
1. Relief for Development Pipelines and Staffing
Developing and maintaining a proprietary game engine requires an army of dedicated engine programmers who spend years writing low-level code before content creators can even begin building the game. By moving to Unreal Engine 5, CD Projekt can onboard new developers, technical artists, and designers much faster, as thousands of industry professionals are already trained in UE5 workflows. This should significantly streamline production pipelines and reduce crunch culture—a critical priority for the studio post-Cyberpunk.
2. Shaping the Future of Unreal Engine
As UE5 matures, it has faced community scrutiny over performance issues and optimization stutters in various high-profile titles. With CD Projekt Red actively working inside the engine’s "black box" to support the sprawling, systemic scope of The Witcher 4, structural improvements are likely to flow back into the engine’s main branch, benefiting other developers utilizing UE5.
3. The Question of AI and Future Engines (UE6)
As the industry eyes the horizon toward Unreal Engine 6—which early reports suggest will lean heavily into AI-driven workflows—questions remain regarding how CD Projekt’s philosophy will align with future tools. Nowakowski has previously stated that CD Projekt Red does not plan to rely on AI to generate complete games, emphasizing a commitment to human-led artistic creation. Whether CD Projekt’s collaborative influence will extend into the architecture of Unreal Engine 6 remains to be seen, but their heavy involvement in UE5 guarantees their voice will carry weight.
Conclusion
CD Projekt Red’s abandonment of REDengine is not a retreat; it is a strategic evolution. By shedding the heavy operational burden of engine development, the studio is redirecting its immense creative energy back to where it matters most: crafting breathtaking, immersive, story-driven RPGs.
As The Witcher 4 continues development under the hood of Unreal Engine 5, fans can look forward to a new era of monster hunting—one backed by cutting-edge technology, veteran storytelling, and a collaborative partnership designed to push the boundaries of what open-world role-playing games can achieve.
