CD Projekt Red Co-CEO: Redemption Arc Isn’t Done, Witcher 4 in 2027

CD Projekt Red’s joint CEO says the studio’s redemption arc after Cyberpunk 2077 is not yet complete. In an interview with EDGE’s Knowledge weekly newsletter, Michał Nowakowski said he is “not 100 per cent convinced we went through the full redemption arc.”

He also said the company has “lost the faith of some people indefinitely.” The June 2026 interview, also reported on by IGN, GamesRadar, and Wccftech, doubles as a preview of a 10-year pipeline built on patience. The Witcher 4 is the next big release, with a 2027 floor, and a deeper roster of sequels, remakes, and one new IP behind it.

The Co-CEO Who Won’t Say It’s Over

The quote is the most candid public read of CD Projekt Red’s reputation in nearly six years. Nowakowski used the phrase “redemption arc” himself, and then declined to declare it finished.

He framed Cyberpunk 2077’s launch as the kind of event that splits a fanbase permanently. “I’m convinced that we lost the faith of some people indefinitely, and that’s a fair thing,” he said. The follow-up was conditional: he hopes CD Projekt can win those players back, he added, if not with The Witcher 4 then with whatever comes next. That is the studio’s most direct public statement on the Cyberpunk 2077 recovery since the launch.

I’m not 100 per cent convinced we went through the full redemption arc.

The remark came from Michał Nowakowski, joint CEO of CD Projekt Red, in an interview with EDGE’s Knowledge weekly newsletter reported on by IGN, GamesRadar, and Wccftech. The same interview gave the studio’s spin on the people who lived through the launch. The Cyberpunk 2077 team, he said, came out as “seasoned, battle-hardened veterans; leaders who were able to carry a different kind of challenge on their shoulders.”

Six Years Between the Launch and the Apology

Cyberpunk 2077 launched nearly six years ago and immediately cratered. Bugs, crashes, and a console experience so broken that Sony pulled the game from the PlayStation Store until patches arrived months later. The reputation cost was real, and the public, in Nowakowski’s words, is “fair” to remember it. What CDPR did next is the work Nowakowski is now half-crediting.

Update 2.0 and the Phantom Liberty expansion landed in 2023, and both were well received. IGN reports the title has since sold at least 35 million copies, with the November 2025 figure, attributed to CD Projekt’s own announcement, making Cyberpunk 2077 the studio’s main revenue line, ahead of The Witcher 3. “It’s been nearly six years since Cyberpunk 2077 undid much of the goodwill CD Projekt Red had accumulated,” IGN’s writeup of the interview notes.

• 35 million copies of Cyberpunk 2077 sold, per CD Projekt’s November 2025 announcement
• Nearly 6 years between the troubled 2020 launch and the June 2026 interview
• 2027: confirmed earliest release window for The Witcher 4
• 10 years: the rolling plan horizon Nowakowski described

The Patience-First Pipeline

Nowakowski used the same interview to draw a line around what CDPR is and is not trying to become. “Our dream is to be making more games, although we never want to turn into the studio that’s going to be launching a big game every year,” he said. The plan covers a rough 10-year rolling plan built around a small number of large projects.

The shape of that plan is visible in CDPR’s own announcements and the studios it funds. The Witcher 4 is the next major single-player release, with a Witcher 3 expansion, Songs of the Past, arriving in 2027 as a bridge. A remake of the original Witcher is in development at Fool’s Theory, the same studio co-developing the expansion. Behind those sit Cyberpunk 2, a multiplayer spin-off codenamed Project Sirius, and a brand-new IP codenamed Project Hadar.

Two details from the same earnings materials give the plan its timeline. The Witcher 4 has been in “full-scale production” since the end of 2024, per CFO Piotr Nielubowicz’s Q3 2025 earnings call. The Witcher 1 remake will ship after The Witcher 4, and will use Unreal Engine 5, the same engine that powers the new trilogy. CDPR also plans to ship the whole new Witcher trilogy within a six-year window, per the same call.

That roster is also the ceiling. Nowakowski said CDPR is “not planning to grow” into a studio with a ton of IPs, and described the goal in plain terms: “really cool games,” not market saturation. The pipeline below is the public shape of the plan as of mid-2026, with statuses drawn from CDPR’s own announcements, the Q3 2025 earnings call and presentation, and the studio’s investor materials. CDPR has confirmed it does not want to grow into a studio that ships a big game every year.

The 2027 Test

The Witcher 4 is the centerpiece of the strategy, and 2027 is the floor. CFO Piotr Nielubowicz confirmed during CD Projekt’s Q3 2025 earnings call that the game will not ship inside the studio’s incentive-program window, which ends December 31, 2026. The earliest possible release is 2027. The Witcher 4 has been in “full-scale production” since the end of 2024, per the same earnings materials. Nielubowicz also said CDPR plans to release the whole new Witcher trilogy within a six-year window, contingent on progress with Unreal Engine 5.

Before the main game ships, fans will get a smaller read on the studio. Songs of the Past, the third expansion for The Witcher 3, lands in 2027 with Fool’s Theory co-developing. The expansion is also a stress test of the Fool’s Theory partnership that will deliver the Witcher 1 remake after The Witcher 4.

Fool’s Theory, the studio co-developing Songs of the Past, is the same team handling the Witcher 1 remake. The two projects together make Fool’s Theory the most active external partner in CDPR’s 10-year plan. That partnership is part of the “really cool games, not market saturation” line Nowakowski drew in the same interview. Wccftech’s coverage flags Songs of the Past as the first public test of how fans judge CDPR’s pipeline after the Cyberpunk 2077 launch.

The Market CDPR Is Building Against

The Knowledge newsletter interview also carried a second, more skeptical Nowakowski. Asked about fully AI-generated games, he told GamesRadar he “knows for a fact” they are coming, citing chats with founders running AI-first studios.

Nowakowski walked GamesRadar through one of those conversations, in which a founder laid out a three-week build cycle for a full game. The founder’s pitch: 40 prototypes in a week, five picks in two, a launch in three. Nowakowski’s verdict on that model is in the same interview.

I have some doubts whether this is really the path to follow.

The remark came from Michał Nowakowski, joint CEO of CD Projekt Red, in his interview with EDGE’s Knowledge weekly newsletter, as reported by GamesRadar. Nowakowski also told GamesRadar the “fight for attention is tougher than it ever was,” with the thousands of games shipping every year pulling for the same hours. His answer, in his words, is that a fresh idea “with a soul, with legs” still has a shot at breaking through.

Together, the two interviews sketch a deliberate posture. CDPR is choosing to compete on craft and a small number of large projects, not on output volume or on AI-led prototyping. Six years after a launch that cost the studio some fans forever, the next public test of the studio’s recovery lands with The Witcher 4 in 2027.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will The Witcher 4 be released?

The Witcher 4’s earliest release is 2027, per CD Projekt Red CFO Piotr Nielubowicz. He confirmed the window during the Q3 2025 earnings call, noting the game will not launch within the studio’s incentive-program target, which ends December 31, 2026. No specific date has been announced. The game has been in full-scale production since the end of 2024.

What did the co-CEO mean by “redemption arc”?

Michał Nowakowski used the term in his June 2026 interview with EDGE’s Knowledge weekly newsletter to describe the period after the troubled launch of Cyberpunk 2077. He said CD Projekt Red has “lost the faith of some people indefinitely” and is not 100 per cent sure the studio has finished the recovery. He framed the original launch as “heartbreaking” for the team and for fans.

How many copies has Cyberpunk 2077 sold?

CD Projekt Red announced in November 2025 that Cyberpunk 2077 has sold at least 35 million copies. IGN reports the title is now the studio’s main revenue line, ahead of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The November 2025 update followed the 2023 release of Update 2.0 and the Phantom Liberty expansion, both of which were well received.

What is CD Projekt Red’s 10-year plan?

Nowakowski said the studio has a “rough 10-year rolling plan” built around a small number of large projects. The public roster includes The Witcher 4, a Witcher 3 expansion called Songs of the Past, a Witcher 1 remake at Fool’s Theory, Cyberpunk 2, the multiplayer Project Sirius at Molasses Flood, and one new IP codenamed Project Hadar. CDPR has said it does not want to grow into a studio that releases a big game every year.

What is Project Hadar?

Project Hadar is a new IP in development at CD Projekt Red. A recent job listing described it as promising an “emotional, open-world experience.” The studio has not announced a release date. Nowakowski has said the new IP sits inside the studio’s 10-year rolling plan but has not framed it as a flood of new brands.