It’s hard to forget the infamous launch of Cyberpunk 2077. While the game looked stunning on PC, developer CD Projekt Red seemingly neglected to ensure the game ran properly on consoles, especially on last-gen hardware. The result was a disastrous release riddled with technical issues, to the point that Sony pulled the game from the PlayStation Store and offered mass refunds. Scarred by this experience, CD Projekt Red appears determined to avoid repeating the same mistake with The Witcher IV.
Unlike its predecessor, which was built on CDPR’s in-house REDengine, The Witcher IV will utilise Unreal Engine 5. Even with the shift in technology, the trauma of Cyberpunk 2077’s botched release has left a lasting impression, one that has significantly altered CDPR’s development priorities.
In a recent interview with Digital Foundry, CDPR’s VP of Technology, Charles Tremblay, revealed that the studio is now prioritising console development first for The Witcher IV. By focusing on the more constrained hardware environment of consoles, the team hopes to deliver a version of the game that can run at 60 frames per second, as demonstrated in an earlier tech showcase.
The rationale behind this shift is clear: CDPR has learned that scaling up from console to PC is far more manageable than scaling down from a high-end PC build to underpowered console hardware. This approach provides a more stable foundation, helping to ensure that the core experience remains consistent across platforms.
Jakub Knapik, VP of Art and Global Art Director at CDPR, added that Unreal Engine 5 has consistently shown results when scaled up, both technically and visually. This gives the team confidence that features developed for consoles can be further enhanced on PC, particularly in terms of advanced visual effects like ray tracing.
While consoles are now the starting point, CDPR reiterated its deep commitment to the PC gaming community. The studio emphasised that The Witcher IV will ultimately be optimised to shine at its absolute best on PC, delivering a high-end experience worthy of the franchise’s legacy.
