CDPR: Witcher 4's Unreal Engine 5 Switch Isn't About Cyberpunk's Woes

CD Projekt's co-CEO says ditching REDengine for Unreal Engine 5 has nothing to do with Cyberpunk 2077's rocky launch, and everything to do with storytelling.

Here's a hot take you might've seen floating around: CD Projekt Red ditched its own REDengine for Unreal Engine 5 on The Witcher 4 because Cyberpunk 2077's launch was a technical disaster. Makes sense, right? Well, according to CDPR itself, that's not the story at all.

The Witcher 4 has two big confirmed changes so far: Ciri is taking over as the main protagonist from Geralt, and the studio is swapping its in-house REDengine for Epic's Unreal Engine 5. That engine shift has fueled plenty of speculation, with some players assuming Cyberpunk 2077's early problems pushed CDPR away from its own tech.

Speaking on the Deconstructor of Fun podcast, CD Projekt co-CEO Michał Nowakowski shot that theory down. He said a lot of people think REDengine itself was the root of Cyberpunk's issues, but that's a misreading of what actually happened. The real reason, he explained, is that CD Projekt never set out to become an engine developer. The studio's dream was never about tech for tech's sake, it was about telling stories in the most convincing and immersive way possible.

Nowakowski went further, admitting CDPR does want to make games that are cutting edge both visually and technically, which is why building its own engine once seemed like the best path. But after the team watched the Unreal Engine 5 tech demo for The Matrix Awakens, they decided going with a third-party engine made more sense than continuing to build in-house. That's when CDPR pitched Epic on a strategic partnership, one that didn't just secure a license but also let the studio work inside the engine's development itself. Nowakowski even claimed CDPR might be the only team besides Epic with deep access to the engine's so-called black box.

As things stand, The Witcher 4 will be CD Projekt's first game built on Unreal Engine 5. Nowakowski has also said the company won't rely on AI to make a full game, and that The Witcher 4 and future projects will stay human-led.

So there you have it: the engine swap isn't a mea culpa for Cyberpunk, it's CDPR betting on storytelling over tech ownership. Does that make you more confident about The Witcher 4, or does the Unreal switch still have you nervous? Drop your thoughts below.