What the ‘Most Intensive Phase’ of Witcher 4 Development Means
CD Projekt Red’s current focus centers on Witcher 4 development, where the studio has moved into its “most intensive phase,” meaning the project is now in full production with systems, story, and content being built out at scale rather than only prototyped or planned on paper. In its latest financial Q&A, joint CEO Michał Nowakowski confirmed the Witcher 4 team has expanded to 513 developers, a headcount that signals both the scale of the game and the studio’s ambition to make it the foundation of a new trilogy. CD Projekt Red news from the briefing also underlined that this trilogy is planned across six years and is “most likely” not getting expansions in the way The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt did, pointing to a strategy that favors larger, complete core releases over long tails of post-launch paid content.
A 500-Person Team and What It Signals About Scope and Timeline
Growing Witcher 4 development to over 500 people suggests CD Projekt Red is aligning resources for a large open-world RPG that will likely rival The Witcher 3’s scope. While the studio has not given a release window, committing this many developers usually marks the middle stretch of production, where content creation, quest implementation, and bug-hunting accelerate together. Nowakowski reiterated a plan to launch three new Witcher games within six years, starting with Witcher 4, so the current team size also has to support building pipelines and technology that can be reused across the trilogy. According to CD Projekt’s latest financial results, Witcher IP revenue rose 36% to PLN 44.7 million (USD 12.2 million, approx. RM57.3 million), underlining why the studio is willing to invest heavily: the series remains a commercial pillar that can support long-term development spending.
Why the New Witcher Trilogy Will Likely Skip Expansions
One of the key game development updates from the briefing is that the next Witcher trilogy will “most likely not release expansions” like The Witcher 3’s Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. That shift suggests CD Projekt wants each mainline entry to ship as a more self-contained package, rather than banking on post-launch DLC to round out the experience or extend revenue. It is also a practical decision: a six-year window for three large RPGs leaves limited time to create expansion-sized content between releases. Instead, the studio appears to be front-loading scope into the core games while using other projects, such as the next Witcher 3 expansion, to keep the brand in the spotlight. This approach hints at a more predictable release cadence and fewer sprawling side projects competing for developer time.
Songs of the Past: A Strategic, Quality-First Witcher 3 Expansion
CD Projekt’s handling of Songs of the Past, the new Witcher 3 expansion co-developed with Fool’s Theory, may be the clearest signal of its current philosophy. Originally planned for 2026, the expansion has been moved forward to next year “to achieve the best possible result from the consumer standpoint,” indicating that the team feels confident bringing it to market sooner without cutting corners. Nowakowski described it as a “proper big expansion” closer in spirit to Blood and Wine, though playtime will vary. The new Witcher 3 expansion will not be available on last-gen consoles, freeing the team from old hardware constraints. CD Projekt also frames Songs of the Past as an indirect “prologue” to Witcher 4, designed to keep players in the Witcher universe while serving existing fans with a dense, story-heavy return to a familiar setting.
Lessons From Past Launches and a Renewed Commitment to Polish
While CD Projekt did not name specific missteps, its emphasis on fan satisfaction and quality hints at lessons learned from past high-profile launches that struggled with bugs and performance. The company now stresses “delivering a high-quality experience” as the core goal for both Songs of the Past and Witcher 4, with marketing benefits like “maintaining chatter” around the brand described as side effects, not drivers. The Witcher 3’s long tail — more than 65 million cumulative sales and rising revenue in the latest quarter — shows that polished RPGs can sell for years. That history appears to be shaping the studio’s current stance: fewer expansions, more focused main releases, and schedule changes when needed, instead of pushing content out to hit an early date. If CD Projekt keeps to this approach, Witcher 4 could arrive later than eager fans hope, but in a far better state on day one.
