CD Projekt Red has confirmed that The Witcher 4 — the studio’s next blockbuster role-playing game — is already running on all of its target platforms, a deliberate strategy designed to ensure the game never suffers the catastrophic launch that plagued Cyberpunk 2077 back in 2020.
A Hard Lesson Learned From Cyberpunk 2077
Very few game launches in modern history went as badly as Cyberpunk 2077’s. Released in December 2020, the game was nearly unplayable on base PS4 and Xbox One consoles, suffering from severe frame rate drops, game-breaking bugs, and frequent crashes. The fallout was swift: Sony pulled the game from the PlayStation Store, Microsoft offered full refunds, and CD Projekt Red’s reputation — built over years on The Witcher 3’s success — took a massive hit.
Why The Witcher 4 Is Different This Time
According to Eurogamer’s report, the Polish developer has fundamentally changed how it approaches game optimization. Rather than building the game primarily on powerful development PCs and porting it to consoles late in the cycle — a major factor in Cyberpunk’s downfall — CD Projekt Red now has The Witcher 4 up and running on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S from the earliest stages of production.
This means performance issues can be identified and resolved continuously throughout development, rather than being discovered in a panic during the final months before release. It’s a philosophy that has become increasingly common across the industry, but one that carries special weight for a studio that learned it the hardest way possible.
What This Means for Players
A Smoother Launch for The Witcher 4
For fans eagerly awaiting the next chapter in the Witcher saga, this is genuinely encouraging news. Development on target hardware from day one typically translates to stable frame rates, fewer day-one patches, and a polished experience across every platform — whether you’re playing on a high-end gaming PC or a standard console.
It also suggests CD Projekt Red is being realistic about its timeline. The studio has repeatedly emphasized that The Witcher 4 will ship when it’s truly ready, a stance that aligns with the patient, quality-first approach that helped redeem Cyberpunk 2077 through years of updates and the acclaimed Phantom Liberty expansion.
The Bigger Picture for CD Projekt Red
The redemption arc of Cyberpunk 2077 — which eventually sold over 30 million copies — proved the studio could recover from disaster. But The Witcher 4 represents something more important: the chance to prove that the lesson actually stuck. With the game being the first entry in a planned new saga, and built on Unreal Engine 5 rather than the studio’s proprietary REDengine, the stakes for a clean launch couldn’t be higher.
Early technical testing on target platforms is exactly the kind of unglamorous, behind-the-scenes work that separates smooth launches from disasters, and it’s a strong signal that the studio’s priorities have genuinely shifted.
Prepare for the Journey Ahead
While The Witcher 4 doesn’t have a release date yet, there’s no better time to revisit the world of the Continent. If you want to experience The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, or top up your Steam, PlayStation, or Xbox wallets ahead of the big release, you can find great deals on game codes and gift cards at TURGAME.com.
Source: Eurogamer