CD Projekt Explains Why The Witcher 4 Ditched REDengine for Unreal Engine 5, and Cyberpunk 2077 Isn’t to Blame

CD Projekt Red confirmed a while back that The Witcher 4 is being built on Unreal Engine 5 rather than REDengine, the in-house technology that powered every mainline Witcher game and Cyberpunk 2077. In a new interview, Joint CEO Michał Nowakowski pushed back on a theory that has followed the studio ever since, that Cyberpunk 2077’s rocky 2020 launch is what scared CD Projekt Red off its own engine for good.

It Wasn’t About Cyberpunk 2077’s Launch

Speaking on the Deconstructor of Fun podcast, Nowakowski said the link people draw between Cyberpunk’s technical problems and the switch to Unreal Engine 5 doesn’t really hold up. He argued that the issue with Cyberpunk was not really REDengine itself, framing the game’s troubled launch as a broader production problem rather than a failure of the engine underneath it. Asked about the studio’s long-term relationship with building its own technology, he went a step further. “The dream of the company was actually never to make technology,” Nowakowski said.

What Actually Changed Their Minds

According to Nowakowski, the real turning point was seeing what Unreal Engine 5 could do up close, with reporting around the interview pointing to an early look at Epic’s Matrix Awakens tech demo as the moment that convinced the studio the engine could handle a project of The Witcher 4’s size and scope. He also described CD Projekt Red’s current arrangement with Epic as unusually deep for an outside studio, saying the team works directly with parts of Unreal Engine 5 that most licensees never touch.

Ciri in The Witcher 4, now built on Unreal Engine 5

The partnership itself isn’t new. CD Projekt Red and Epic Games struck their long-term engine deal back in 2022, and the two companies later showed an early Witcher 4 tech demo running on Unreal Engine 5 at Epic’s State of Unreal event in June 2025.

A gameplay screenshot from The Witcher 4

Where The Witcher 4 Stands Now

The Witcher 4 was formally unveiled at The Game Awards in December 2024, with a cinematic trailer confirming Ciri, not Geralt of Rivia, as the game’s protagonist for the first time. CD Projekt Red still hasn’t announced a release date or window, and Nowakowski’s comments don’t say whether REDengine has any future at the studio beyond legacy support. What they do offer is a rare, unusually candid look at how CD Projekt Red now thinks about its own tools.

Whatever REDengine’s fate turns out to be, CD Projekt Red is betting that The Witcher 4’s next chapter runs better on someone else’s engine than on a fight to keep maintaining its own.

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Picture Source: CD Projekt Red