You might have thought that CD Projekt Red still have their hands full with the can of worms that is Cyberpunk 2077 and its subsequent expansions, but the game studio based in Poland have shared some pretty big news this afternoon. And it's not NFT related.

Taking to Twitter CDPR revealed that "A New Saga Begins" soon for their best-loved franchise with a white-haired hero. The Witcher 4 is now in development, with the meat of the information teased being that the game will be made in Unreal Engine 5 rather than the in-house but ageing REDengine (previously used in Witcher 2 & 3 and Cyberpunk 2077).

Witcher 4's development is part of a multi-year partnership between CD Projekt and Epic Games that will feed into UE5 improvements, particularly with a view to tailoring it to open-world experiences. Cyberpunk 2077's first expansion will still be created in REDengine, but the implication is that the older environment will be retired soon after.

The developers have also clarified that they have no plans to enforce store exclusivity, silencing rumours of the Epic Games Store as sole PC distributor before they begin.

Release date and game content, including story details such as whether Geralt himself will be the main protagonist of the new saga, aren't part of the announcement. It's notable however that the medallion in the image above has hallmarks of the Witcher 'School of the Cat' and not Geralt's 'School of the Wolf'.

SOURCE: TheWitcher.com, @WitcherGame