In recent social circles, gamers started expressing concerns about The Witcher 4 not having a disc on PlayStation 5, a revelation that surfaced thanks to an interview with CD Projekt’s highest echelons. If you know how the literal calendar works, you’ll fully understand why, but for some reason, this has prompted some to lash out at the multi-award-winning Polish developer.
During the interview, CD Projekt Red‘s co-CEO expressly said that they cannot influence Sony’s decision to scrap discs come January 2028, and given that The Witcher 4 will be released after that, there’s nothing that they can do.
But that doesn’t stop people from going after them nonetheless.
The Witcher 4 Will Be Disc-less on PS5, And What?
In a recent interview aggregation from The Game Business, Michal Nowakowski, co-CEO at CD Projekt Red, explained that there most likely won’t be a disc for The Witcher 4 on PlayStation 5, but that’s out of his control entirely:
We don’t know what’s going to be the case.
We know what PlayStation has announced. And we have no influence on the policies of the first parties. The discs for the first parties, including PlayStation, have to be manufactured in their own factories. So, if they stop manufacturing indeed by 2028, then yes, we won’t have a disc.
That said, the team will still create something special for those who lean into physical video game collections. In 2015, CDPR dropped an incredible collector’s edition for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that, to this day, sits proudly on my shelf of gaming knick-knacks.
If you tune into the Insider Gaming Weekly Podcast, you can see it alongside Ritual Tides’ Agnes and a Fallout Deathclaw, of all things.
But the sentiment from Nowakowski didn’t stop folks from piling on the firm on social media, apparently in the belief that it’s the developer who controls the manufacturing of discs.
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One social media user wrote, ‘Shame, because I was going to get it, but only on disc. Oh well. Looks like another game will get the money.’ Another said, ‘Then CD Projekt Red isn’t getting my money.’
In one ambitious post, a user tried to give the developer some business advice:
CDPR needs to make it clear to Sony, if they don’t do a physical disc, they don’t get the game.
Others refused to believe that a developer with as much power as CDPR couldn’t change Sony’s mind:
The Witcher 3 sold 65 million copies and this guy says they have influence on the policies? I’d say they have more influence than almost anyone on Earth.
And another was quick to make a witty quip: ‘Funny how they have the word CD in their name…’
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Ultimately, the decision whether or not to cease production of discs is totally and completely out of the hands of publishers and developers the world over. It’s up to Sony, and that bed has already been made. At this point, it’s highly unlikely they’ll reverse the divisive business decision to halt the production of discs come January 2028.
Are you shocked to learn that people are haranguing CDPR over the recent comments about The Witcher 4 on disc? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
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Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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