The Witcher 4 will get a physical edition despite Sony dropping discs
CD Projekt RED intends to continue releasing physical boxed editions of its games even if physical discs eventually disappear. The company has already confirmed that The Witcher 4 will receive a full physical edition with collectible materials, although the PlayStation version may not include a disc.
The box will remain, but the disc may not
CD Projekt RED co-CEO Michał Nowakowski said that the studio still considers physical releases an important part of launching major games. The developers themselves are fans of collectibles and do not want to fully transition to a model in which buyers receive only a digital license.
Therefore, a boxed edition of The Witcher 4 is already planned. It will include physical materials designed to make unboxing the game a distinct part of the experience. The exact contents of the package have not yet been disclosed.
The situation with the disc itself is more complicated. CD Projekt RED does not manufacture console discs independently and relies on the infrastructure of platform holders.
This is especially relevant to PlayStation. Sony officially announced that starting in January 2028, it will stop producing physical discs for all new games on its consoles. Games released on disc before that 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 disc production independently of Sony.
At the same time, the developers have not yet said what exactly will replace the disc. In particular, it has not been confirmed whether the box will include a code to download the game. It is also unclear whether the same limitation will apply to the Xbox version – Microsoft has not announced a similar complete phase-out of physical discs.
Physical editions from CD Projekt RED
The standard boxed version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was noticeably richer than most regular editions of its time. In addition to the game itself, buyers received a soundtrack disc, a map of the game world, stickers, The Witcher Universe: Compendium guidebook, and other printed materials.
The company took a similar approach with Cyberpunk 2077. The standard physical edition included a map of Night City, postcards, stickers, and a guide to the game world. The collector’s edition additionally included a V figurine, a stylebook, an artbook, metal pins, a keychain, and other items.
Therefore, The Witcher 4 box without a disc will not necessarily be just a standard case containing a download code. According to Nowakowski, CD Projekt RED wants to preserve the concept of a physical product with items that can be kept as part of a collection.
The Witcher 4 will not be released before 2028
The exact release date for The Witcher 4 has not yet been announced. CD Projekt RED is targeting 2028, so the game’s release could roughly coincide with Sony’s decision to stop producing discs for new games.
The Witcher 4 will mark the beginning of a new saga and will be the next main installment in the series after The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The protagonist will be Ciri, who has become a professional monster hunter by the time the events of the new game take place.
The project is being developed 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. It demonstrated technologies that the developers plan to use to create a large open world.
