Analyst Believes The Witcher 4's Budget Could Be Double…

The Witcher 4 could cost twice as much to make and market as Cyberpunk 2077, according to one analyst. CD Projekt Red is no stranger to expensive dev cycles, with several big-budget titles under its belt, but it looks like the Polish studio is ramping things up even more for its upcoming projects. When The Witcher 4 finally arrives, it could be CDPR's most expensive game to date by a long shot.

CD Projekt Red has several irons in the fire at the moment. The studio is actively working on The Witcher 4 and a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, both of which are likely to be massive, but there's also a multiplayer Witcher spin-off, a remake of the first Witcher, and a brand-new IP in the works. To be fair, it will be years before all of these projects see the light of day, but there's a lot going on at the company, and at least one financial expert thinks it's going to be costly.

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By John Bonelli

The Witcher 4 Could Cost $800 Million to Develop and Market

Mateusz Chrzanowski, an analyst with Polish investment bank Noble Securities, predicts CDPR could spend roughly PLN 1.4 billion, or around $389 million, on The Witcher 4's development. He also expects the company to spend a similar amount on marketing, which could take the total budget close to $800 million when all is said and done. For context, Cyberpunk 2077 had a budget of roughly $441 million, and that was one of the most expensive games to ever get a full release. If Chrzanowski's predictions prove accurate, that would mean The Witcher 4 would smash the company's record for its highest-budget game, and it would instantly become one of the most expensive titles in general upon its release.

It's also worth noting that The Witcher 3 had a total budget of around $81 million, so its sequel could cost almost 10 times as much. Interestingly, though, Chrzanowski doesn't expect future installments to follow the same pattern of massive budget increases. Noble Securities' current estimates say the new Witcher trilogy could have an overall budget of $900 million, and if that's accurate, it would mean The Witcher 4 accounts for the vast majority of that total. Chrzanowski touches on this, saying how The Witcher 5 and 6 will rely heavily on technology developed for 4, so the next game will take a lot more to develop than what comes after it.

While $800 million is a truly eye-watering sum, it still may not be enough for The Witcher 4 to claim the title of most expensive game ever made. It's rumored that Grand Theft Auto 6 could cost between $1 billion and $2 billion, and Star Citizen has raised more than $900 million on Kickstarter and still doesn't have a release date. As games keep getting bigger and more technologically complex, dev costs have skyrocketed. A crowded market also pushes big companies like CDPR and Rockstar to have equally imposing marketing budgets, so there will almost certainly be more games with budgets in the hundreds of millions in the future.

A large budget does not always equal a great game, but The Witcher 4 is building on a strong foundation, so hype is high for the future of the series. While the new trilogy is still a ways out, fans may not need to wait too long between installments once it gets rolling. CDPR is reportedly aiming to release the next three Witcher games within six years of each other, which is ambitious but could be possible if all goes according to plan. Most seem to think The Witcher 4 could release in late 2027, so things could change between now and then, but the future looks bright.

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