CD Projekt Red confirms The Witcher 4 is already playable across all target platforms
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
CD Projekt Red is ensuring The Witcher 4 runs on all target platforms early in development to avoid a repeat of the technical issues that plagued Cyberpunk 2077 at launch.
CD Projekt Red is taking no chances with its next major release. According to a recent interview with Game Developer by studio co-CEO Michal Nowakowski, The Witcher 4 is already up and running on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. This early multi-platform functionality marks a major shift in the studio's internal pipeline. It is a clear reaction to the painful lessons learned from the disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077, which struggled massively on older console hardware when it first arrived.
During the development of Cyberpunk 2077, the team prioritized high-end PC visuals with the assumption that scaling the game down for consoles later would be straightforward. That false belief resulted in widespread performance issues that ultimately led to Sony temporarily pulling the game from the PlayStation Store. Nowakowski noted that while the studio managed to scrape by on past projects like The Witcher 3, that kind of luck is not something the team is willing to rely on anymore. Early testing across all target hardware ensures that platform-specific problems are caught and addressed immediately rather than being deferred to the final months of production.
This new workflow also changes how CD Projekt Red handles internal development milestones. In the past, missing a few technical checkmarks during early phases was brushed off with the expectation that the team would catch up later. That approach often snowballed into massive technical debt by the time launch rolled around. With The Witcher 4 currently eyeing a 2028 release window, this proactive optimization strategy gives the community real reason to hope for a stable, polished experience on day one across every supported platform.
Tags: The Witcher 4, CD Projekt Red, PC Gaming, Console Gaming, Game Development
Original article: Eurogamer