When CD Projekt Red announced that future projects, including the highly anticipated next chapter in The Witcher franchise, would move away from their longtime proprietary technology in favor of Unreal Engine 5, many industry watchers immediately drew connections to the turbulent launch of Cyberpunk 2077. The futuristic RPG faced severe optimization hurdles and performance issues upon release, largely tied to the limitations and complexities of the in-house REDengine.
However, studio representatives have recently pushed back against that narrative, clarifying that the decision to abandon the proprietary software had little to do with those past technical struggles. According to leadership, the core issue with the sci-fi release was not rooted in the engine itself, refuting assumptions that the transition was simply a reactive measure to fix a broken development pipeline.
Instead, the shift toward Epic Games' industry-standard platform comes down to a fundamental reassessment of what the studio wants to achieve. Studio executives explained that the original ambition of the company was never centered on building and maintaining internal technology, but rather on crafting deeply immersive narrative experiences and memorable virtual worlds.
By adopting Unreal Engine 5, developers can reportedly focus more of their creative and technical bandwidth on gameplay mechanics and storytelling elements rather than constantly rebuilding and troubleshooting foundational engine architecture. As anticipation builds for the next major entry in the beloved fantasy series, this strategic pivot represents a fresh chapter for the developers as they streamline their production workflows for future blockbusters.
Original report: PCGamer latest