CD Projekt explained the main reasons for switching to Unreal Engine 5. The company aims to reduce the investment required for developing and maintaining an engine from scratch, allowing more time and resources to be dedicated to storytelling and immersive experiences. Both The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 will utilize this engine.
CD Projekt Co-CEO Michał Nowakowski stated that this adjustment was not solely driven by the issues encountered during the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, nor was the REDengine the sole cause of those problems. After evaluating its position, the company concluded that the team's primary goal is to create games with compelling stories that are believable and immersive, rather than devoting significant effort to acting as a technology company.
The Matrix Awakens tech demo by Epic Games became a pivotal point in this decision. After seeing an early preview, the team began assessing whether Unreal Engine 5 could support the scale typical of CD Projekt's games. The answer was not immediately affirmative at the time, but the company believed that by establishing a partnership with Epic Games and jointly refining the features needed for large-scale projects, this path could become viable.
Nowakowski stated that CD Projekt's goal is not to develop technology itself, but to tell stories; however, telling stories in the way the team desires still requires appropriate technical support. By adopting Unreal Engine 5, the studio no longer needs to build an entire engine from scratch and can instead add specific features that provide practical value for their projects.
This means CD Projekt will still participate in technical development, but the focus will shift from building and maintaining a complete proprietary engine to meeting the specific needs of individual games. The company hopes to leverage the already mature Unreal Engine 5 to allocate more development resources toward game content.
Currently, both The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 are planned to use Unreal Engine 5. CD Projekt also stated that The Witcher 4 will not be just another title with the typical Unreal Engine look; the team will continue to preserve the visual and experiential style characteristic of their own works.