Three Witcher Games in 6 Years — All Through AI

Once again, CD PROJEKT RED is pushing the players to discuss the future of The Witcher franchise. The company announced a daring project – the release of the next trilogy in six years following the release of the first part in the new trilogy. In other words, it is the Project Polaris, also known as The Witcher 4.

At first glance, it may sound very risky. Since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the franchise was waiting for a significant update for many years, and now they are talking about three big RPG games in a short span of time. It is no surprise that one idea arose almost immediately - the creation of the next games by means of AI.

But are the upcoming games going to be created by means of artificial intelligence?

Why Players Started Talking About Artificial Intelligence, What CDPR Officially Says, Can Games Be Developed Faster with the Help of AI?, CDPR’s Main Bet Is Not Only AI, but Unreal Engine 5, The Witcher 4 Will Become the Foundation for the Whole Trilogy, Why This Is Still a Risky Plan, Conclusion

Why Players Started Talking About Artificial Intelligence

The reason for such talk, of course, is the extremely tight schedule. Open-world AAA games are now developed over several years. For such games, you will require not only many users but also complicated stories, voice acting, cutscenes, quests, scenery, and many more.

What this translates to is that making The Witcher 4, 5 and 6 within six years might be quite unrealistic. And hence, it seems only reasonable for AI technology to be included because when artificial intelligence can be used for scripting and testing and other procedures, it may save time.

These facts led many gamers to discuss whether AI could play a significant part in developing this new trilogy of video games.

What CDPR Officially Says

CD PROJEKT RED has indeed discussed artificial intelligence during communications with investors. The company was asked whether AI could reduce the need for employees and affect future projects.

The response from the studio was rather moderate. CDPR did not claim that artificial intelligence would be used to make The Witcher 5 or The Witcher 6 games. Furthermore, the studio's administration made it clear that they did not think of any situation where AI could "sit down and make a game."

Nevertheless, this does not imply that AI will be completely left unused. On the contrary, CDPR claims that the tool can assist in becoming more productive. It can involve routine operations, technical support, internal software, acceleration of certain stages of development, and many other things.

To put it differently, CDPR will not replace developers with AI but, quite probably, will use the technology as an assistant.

Can Games Be Developed Faster with the Help of AI?

Yes, at least theoretically. Artificial Intelligence can assist developers in many aspects, including code analysis, bug search, fast prototyping, documentation, testing, localization, and working with a lot of data.

Such assistance becomes especially valuable for a massive RPG. Such projects include thousands of small tasks that take time from the team. If some of these processes are automated, developers can move faster to more important work: quest design, scene direction, balancing, story, and quality polishing.

But there is an important limitation. AI cannot create a full game on the level of The Witcher 3 by itself. It cannot replace creative direction, writers, game designers, artists, animators, actors, and programmers. This is especially true for a series where players expect a strong story, living characters, and complex moral choices.

So AI can speed up development, but it cannot become the main author of it.

CDPR’s Main Bet Is Not Only AI, but Unreal Engine 5

CDPR’s other expectation of fast-paced development is associated with switching to the Unreal Engine 5. Before that, CDPR had been relying on the REDengine that worked behind titles such as The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. However, now, CDPR plans to use the Epic Games’ platform for its upcoming The Witcher franchise. Such a step should bring predictability and convenience into the process of developing the game.

In addition, the two companies are working together on technologies for creating open worlds. It can be especially important in regards to The Witcher 4, which will be a large-scale RPG game.

The Witcher 4 Will Become the Foundation for the Whole Trilogy

The most important part of CDPR’s plan is that The Witcher 4 should create the base for the following games. The first part of the new saga will most likely be the most difficult and longest to produce. It is where the studio has to set up the technology, tools, pipeline, gameplay systems, and visual style.

If this foundation turns out to be stable, The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6 could really be made faster. In that case, the acceleration would not be connected only to AI, but to a combination of factors: a ready technical base, Unreal Engine 5, the team’s experience, and possible automation of some processes.

Why This Is Still a Risky Plan

Even with AI and a new engine, CDPR’s plan remains very ambitious. Large RPGs cannot be released quickly without risking quality. Players remember the troubled launch of Cyberpunk 2077 very well, so now they expect not only scale from CDPR, but also stability.

If the studio tries to speed up production too much, it may create new problems. This is especially true if AI is used not as an assistant, but as a way to replace full manual work where it is genuinely needed.

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Conclusion

The story of three Witcher games in six years really makes people think about the role of AI in CD PROJEKT RED’s future. Artificial intelligence may help the studio speed up certain processes, remove some routine tasks, and make production more efficient.

But calling the new trilogy “games made through AI” is still incorrect. Officially, CDPR says something different: AI can be a tool, but not a replacement for developers.

Obviously, the new series of The Witcher is to come into existence due to multiple reasons, such as Unreal Engine 5, a new production studio, expertise of the developers, and auxiliary AI technologies. The problem thus is not whether AI will create The Witcher instead of humans, but how much it will assist in launching the trilogy.