The move to Unreal Engine 5 from CD Projekt RED’s proprietary REDengine is the beginning of a “multi-year strategic partnership with Epic Games,” which not only covers licensing, but also technical development of Unreal Engine 5 and potential future versions of Unreal Engine where relevant. CD Projekt RED will work closely with Epic Games developers “to help tailor the engine for open-world experiences.”

“One of the core aspects of our internal RED 2.0 Transformation is a much stronger focus on technology, and our cooperation with Epic Games is based on this principle,” said CD Projekt RED CTO Pawel Zawodny in a press release. “From the outset, we did not consider a typical licensing arrangement; both we and Epic see this as a long-term, fulfilling tech partnership. It is vital for CD Projekt RED to have the technical direction of our next game decided from the earliest possible phase as; in the past, we spent a lot of resources and energy to evolve and adapt REDengine with every subsequent game release. This cooperation is so exciting, because it will elevate development predictability and efficiency, while simultaneously granting us access to cutting-edge game development tools. I can’t wait for the great games we’re going to create using Unreal Engine 5!”

Epic Games founder and CEO Tim Sweeney added, “Epic has been building Unreal Engine 5 to enable teams to create dynamic open worlds at an unprecedented scale and level of fidelity. We are deeply honored by the opportunity to partner with CD Projekt RED to push the limits of interactive storytelling and gameplay together, and this effort will benefit the developer community for years to come.”

Further details, such as a development time frame or release date, were not announced.