The Witcher 4 targets 2028 as CD Projekt Red readies a darker return to The Witcher 3

The update: a 2028 target, not a final date

CD Projekt Red has put its clearest public timing yet around The Witcher 4, with joint CEO Michał Nowakowski telling fans in a pre-Gamescom message that the studio is “targeting a 2028 release window” for the next mainline entry [2]. The phrasing matters: the company is not giving a day, month, quarter, or locked launch date, and Nowakowski explicitly said the team is “not ready to share an exact date” [2]. That makes the news significant without making it final.

The announcement arrived through an official Witcher social post inviting fans to follow the franchise’s Gamescom plans, with the account presenting Nowakowski’s message as a direct address to “fans, players, and community” shortly before the event [1]. GamesRadar+ and Gematsu both reported the central timing point on August 24, 2026: The Witcher 4 is aimed at 2028, and the studio is asking players to wait while development continues [2][3].

The strongest read is that CD Projekt Red is now managing expectations rather than accelerating hype. Nowakowski said The Witcher 4 will not be shown at Gamescom this week, even as the studio talks about the project’s scale and direction [2]. In other words, the company has chosen to disclose the window while withholding gameplay, release specifics, and a marketing blowout.

Ciri takes the lead in CDPR’s biggest Witcher bet

The new saga is being built “with Ciri at the helm,” according to Nowakowski’s message, and CD Projekt Red says more than 500 developers are working on the project [2]. The studio’s current description frames The Witcher 4 as a huge open-world RPG with action-heavy combat and a story designed to have lasting emotional impact [2]. Gematsu’s report repeats the same core positioning and quotes Nowakowski calling it CD Projekt Red’s “biggest, boldest, and most ambitious” game to date [3].

That wording is more than routine marketing. The Witcher brand is entering a transition moment: Geralt remains important enough to headline a new Witcher 3 expansion, but the future of the numbered series is being centered on Ciri [2][3]. CD Projekt Red is therefore trying to preserve continuity while making a generational handoff. The studio has to reassure players who associate the franchise’s game identity with Geralt while making Ciri’s lead role feel inevitable rather than merely symbolic.

The 2028 target also gives the studio room to position The Witcher 4 as a major platform-era RPG rather than a short-cycle sequel. The public message avoids feature lists beyond broad pillars: open world, action, story, scope [2]. That restraint suggests CD Projekt Red wants to define expectations around ambition first and execution later.

Songs of the Past becomes the immediate focus

While The Witcher 4 will skip Gamescom’s showcase spotlight, CD Projekt Red is putting The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past at the center of this week’s Witcher presence [2][3]. Nowakowski said the team has “a lot of the expansion to show off,” including “a taste of its dark story” and the new content it will bring [3]. That makes Songs of the Past the near-term vehicle for keeping the Witcher audience engaged before the 2028 target window.

Gematsu reports that Songs of the Past is planned for 2027, while the Gamescom presentation will provide the “first full look” at the expansion [3]. Cinelinx also reported that the expansion will receive significant attention at Gamescom, including the dark-story tease, a booth presence, and daily REDstreams with possible surprises [4]. The current message is clear: CD Projekt Red is not asking players to wait silently until 2028; it is building a runway through The Witcher 3 first.

The strategy is especially interesting because Songs of the Past returns to Geralt while The Witcher 4 shifts the franchise’s main future toward Ciri [2][3]. That contrast lets CD Projekt Red serve two needs at once: nostalgia and transition. A dark new Witcher 3 story can reawaken the tone that made the franchise resonate, while the absence of Witcher 4 footage protects the newer project from being overexposed too early.

Why the word “targeting” is doing heavy lifting

The most important caveat in the announcement is the word “targeting.” It leaves room for schedule movement while still giving fans and investors a year to plan around. Community reaction immediately picked up on that nuance, with discussion on Reddit noting the difference between a target window and a guaranteed release [5]. That distinction is not pedantic; for a large open-world RPG, a target year is a planning signal, not a promise etched in stone.

CD Projekt Red also appears to be choosing a careful communications posture. Nowakowski’s “let the team cook” line, reported by GamesRadar+, functions as both fan-facing reassurance and a defense of development time [2]. The phrase asks players to treat the wait as a quality-control measure, especially because the studio is describing The Witcher 4 in extremely ambitious terms [2][3].

For readers, the practical takeaway is simple: 2028 is now the official target window, but not a fixed release date. If the project stays on track, that is when CD Projekt Red wants the game to arrive. If the studio decides it needs more time, the language used today already gives it space to adjust.

Gamescom will be about the bridge, not the destination

The company’s Gamescom plan separates the near future from the long future. Songs of the Past is the playable-world product being shown now; The Witcher 4 is the destination being framed from afar [2][3]. Nowakowski’s message says the studio has a large booth in Hall 8, a team ready to show Songs of the Past, daily REDstreams, and possibly additional surprises [3]. That gives fans a schedule of tangible Witcher content without forcing The Witcher 4 into a premature reveal cycle.

The move also gives CD Projekt Red a cleaner narrative. Rather than let Gamescom speculation spiral around whether The Witcher 4 gameplay would appear, the studio has already answered: no, it will not be shown there [2]. That redirects attention to Songs of the Past and keeps the 2028 game’s first substantial reveal for a later moment.

This is sensible brand management. A new Witcher 3 expansion can carry the emotional weight of the old era, especially if its “dark story” promise lands with the moral ambiguity players expect from the series [3][4]. The Witcher 4, meanwhile, can remain a high-level promise: Ciri, a huge world, intense action, and a major story [2].

The current bottom line

As of August 24, 2026, the current state is this: The Witcher 4 is targeting 2028, Ciri leads the new saga, more than 500 developers are attached to the project, and CD Projekt Red is calling it its most ambitious game so far [2][3]. It will not be shown at Gamescom this week, and no exact release date has been announced [2]. The immediate Witcher spotlight instead belongs to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past, a 2027 expansion that will get a first full look at Gamescom and is being teased with a dark story, new content, REDstreams, and possible surprises [3][4].

For fans, that creates a two-step roadmap. First comes a return to Geralt through Songs of the Past. Then, if CD Projekt Red meets its target, comes the Ciri-led future of The Witcher in 2028. The message is not “the wait is over.” It is: the path has finally been marked.

Sources from the last 72 hours

1. [1]The Witcher 4 is "targeting" a 2028 release, CD Projekt Red announces: "I know it's a bit of wait" | GamesRadar+Aug 24, 2026, 12:00 AM UTC
2. [2]The Witcher IV launches in 2028 - GematsuAug 24, 2026, 3:36 PM UTC
3. [3]‘The Witcher IV’ Releasing 2028 - Cinelinx | Movies. Games. Geek Culture.Aug 24, 2026, 12:00 AM UTC
4. [4]The Witcher IV will release in 2028Aug 24, 2026, 12:00 AM UTC
5. [5]@thewitcher.com on BlueskyAug 24, 2026, 3:24 PM UTC

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