The Witcher 4 Pre-Production Is Officially Underway

It's been some time since we first travelled to the world of The Witcher 3, though the efforts of recent ports and upcoming upgrades have fought in the opposite direction. The fantasy favourite is an absolute classic that's in the same league as The Elder Scrolls - and even though fans love experiencing Geralt of Rivia's story through the game and its Netflix series, they want more.

We know that things are underway on the next The Witcher game, as The Witcher 4 enters pre-production. Even though we know CD Projekt Red was hard at work behind the scenes, we now have a hint at what it is exactly the team has been working on - and it looks like the game's main arc is ready.

The Witcher 4 Pre-Production: What's Going On?

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Here he comes. The chief financial officer of CD Projekt Red has officially revealed that The Witcher 4 pre-production is finally underway. The news was revealed in a new financial result highlights video, where Piotr Nielubowicz said, "We have recently wrapped up the research phase, which means the project has now progressed to pre-production, and we've begun to capitalise development expenses related to this new game."

Separating research and pre-production phases isn't typical of video game production, but when you're dealing with the expansive and popular world of The Witcher, it's probably fair enough that CD Projekt Red wanted to outline the mythos and lore of the game ahead of time.

What Is The Witcher 4 Release Date?

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In a separate statement from the company at large reflecting on the start of 2022, the CEO has mentioned how excited the team are to return to development on a The Witcher game. After CD Projekt Red was slammed for Cyberpunk 2077, let's hope things are smoother with The Witcher 4. 

"We are very eager to revisit the universe which has shaped our history to such an extent," says CEO Adam Kiciński. "We have recently concluded the research phase for the first game in the new Witcher saga, which means that from now on further development expenditures will be capitalized on our balance sheet."

It looks like the cogs are officially turning at CD Projekt Red, which means a new The Witcher game is getting closer by the day. Sadly, apart from confirmation the next entry will be made in Unreal Engine 5, there's no The Witcher 4 release date. Some speculate it'll be 2025 at the earliest, but remembering how long Cyberpunk 2077 took, it could be a while before Geralt is swinging his sword again.