The release of Cyberpunk 2077 plunged CD Projekt Red into a difficult period. After years of anticipation, the RPG launched with numerous bugs and poor performance, forcing the publisher to release numerous patches and updates post-launch to gradually improve playability. This was the studio's last major title using their proprietary REDengine; the upcoming The Witcher 4 will switch to Unreal Engine 5, but a company executive stated that there is no causal link between the two decisions.
Michał Nowakowski, Co-CEO of CD Projekt Red, appeared on the Deconstructor of Fun podcast (source: VGC) to explain the reasoning behind the decision to switch engine technology.
When asked whether the controversy surrounding the sci-fi blockbuster's reception influenced the choice of engine, he explained, "Many people think so, but I must say this is a misunderstanding, as the issues with Cyberpunk were not fundamentally flaws in REDengine itself."
CDPR's internal logic is that the studio's core focus is making games, while REDengine was essentially just a byproduct of the game development process. He added, "The company's goal has never been to build a technology engine, but to create games at the forefront of visuals and technology, and more importantly, to tell stories in the most compelling and immersive way possible."
The catalyst for the team's decision to switch was the release of The Matrix Awakens, a technical demo built on Unreal Engine 5. At the time, Unreal Engine 5 had not yet met CDPR's expectations, but Nowakowski and other company leaders saw its potential, believing it would become extremely powerful in the future.
He recalled their thinking at the time: "If we partnered with the Unreal Engine team to customize development for the scale, size, and specific technical needs of our games, the engine could fully meet our requirements. It was based on this direction that we entered into negotiations with Epic's team and reached a strategic partnership."
Today, CDPR is one of the few developers deeply involved in optimizing the engine's underlying layers. This makes sense, as not only will The Witcher 4 use this engine, but the remastered version of The Witcher 3 is also being built on Unreal Engine 5.
He stated, "I believe that, aside from Epic themselves, we are the only team in the world that has deeply engaged with the underlying architecture of this engine's 'black box.' No other developers have achieved this besides the two of us; it is the result of our close collaboration." In just over a week, the remastered version of The Witcher 3 will be released, allowing us to see the actual optimization results brought about by this partnership.