CD Projekt RED will release a physical edition of The Witcher 4 despite Sony’s decision to discontinue discs.

CD Projekt RED intends to keep physical boxed editions of its games even after the possible disappearance of physical discs. The company has already confirmed that The Witcher 4 will receive a full physical box with collectible materials, although the disc itself may be missing from the PlayStation version.

The box will remain, but without the disc.

Co-CEO of CD Projekt RED Michał Nowakowski said that the studio still considers physical releases an important part of launching major games. Developers themselves are enthusiasts of collectibles and do not want to fully transition to a format where the buyer receives only a digital license.

Therefore, a boxed edition for The Witcher 4 has already been planned. Inside, there will be physical materials designed to make unboxing the game a distinct part of the experience. The exact contents of the kit are not yet disclosed.

The situation with the drive itself is more complex. CD Projekt RED does not manufacture discs for consoles independently and relies on the infrastructure of platform holders.

This especially applies to PlayStation. Sony officially announced that starting in January 2028, it will cease production of physical discs for all new games on its consoles. Releases that were issued on discs before this date will not be affected by the decision.

If this plan remains unchanged, the PlayStation version of The Witcher 4 may indeed be released without a disc. CD Projekt RED will not be able to order its production bypassing Sony.

At the same time, developers have not yet said what exactly will replace the disc. In particular, it has not been confirmed whether there will be a code inside the box to download the game. It is also unknown whether such a restriction will apply to the Xbox version – Microsoft has not yet announced a similar complete abandonment of discs.

Physical CD Projekt RED editions

Back in the day, the standard boxed version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was noticeably richer than most ordinary editions of its time. In addition to the game itself, buyers received a soundtrack disc, a game world map, stickers, The Witcher Universe: Compendium guidebook, and additional printed materials.

The company maintained a similar approach when releasing Cyberpunk 2077. The standard physical edition included a Night City map, postcards, stickers, and a game world guide. The collector’s edition additionally received a V figurine, stylebook, artbook, metal pins, keychain, and other items.

Therefore, the Witcher 4 box without a disc will not necessarily be just a standard case with a code. According to Nowakowski, CD Projekt RED wants to preserve the physical product format with items that can be kept in a collection.

The Witcher 4 will not be released before 2028

The exact release date for The Witcher 4 has not been announced yet. CD Projekt RED is targeting 2028, so the game’s release will nearly coincide with Sony’s decision to stop producing discs for new games.

The Witcher 4″ will become the beginning of a new saga and the next main installment in the series after “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt”. The main heroine will be Ciri, who has become a professional monster hunter by the time of the new game’s events.

The project is built on Unreal Engine 5. CD Projekt RED calls it its most ambitious and large-scale game in The Witcher universe. Earlier, the studio also showed a technical demo set in Kovir. She demonstrated technologies that developers plan to use for creating a large open world.