CD Projekt Red: Artificial Intelligence Won't Make The Witcher 5

CD Projekt Red made its position clear: artificial intelligence won't sit in the driver's seat and make a game for the studio. During the presentation of financial results for the first half of 2026, the company's co-CEO Michał Nowakowski said outright that the creators of The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 don't intend to follow the path chosen by part of the industry, namely mass, automated production of AI-generated games.

What Nowakowski Said

During the Q&A session following the publication of the financial report, Nowakowski acknowledged that artificial intelligence is growing in importance across the gaming industry and that CD Projekt Red doesn't intend to ignore it. At the same time, he stressed that people remain the foundation of the studio's work, with AI meant to serve as a tool supporting specific processes rather than replacing creative teams.

Artificial intelligence is definitely gaining significance in the gaming industry too. We still rely mainly on human work - Michał Nowakowski, co-CEO of CD Projekt Red

Earlier, in comments on industry trends made in June, Nowakowski described a conversation with the founder of a studio built entirely around generative AI, who boasted about a production pace unattainable for classic development teams.

In a week I can have 40 prototypes, in two weeks I pick the five best games - the founder of an AI-based studio, quoted by Michał Nowakowski

CD Projekt Red's co-CEO admitted at the time that he had doubts about whether such an approach truly leads to success, pointing to the risk of flooding the market with low-quality productions, which would further make it harder for players to find valuable titles on platforms like Steam.

Where AI Is Already Used at the Studio

CD Projekt Red doesn't hide the fact that artificial intelligence is already part of everyday game development work. A dedicated research team is working on more than a dozen experimental AI projects, and the technology supports automated prototyping, testing processes, and the generation of realistic crowds of non-player characters in the studio's open-world games.

In February 2026, the studio reinforced this direction by hiring Dorian Kieken, previously with Canada's BioWare and the Mass Effect series, as director of artificial intelligence. It's a sign that AI now has a formal structure and budget within the company, despite the studio's declared caution about using it to replace developers.

Financial Context

The statement came as the company touted strong results. Revenue in the first half of 2026 rose to 435 million zloty and net profit to 249 million zloty, driven mainly by sales of games in the Cyberpunk and Witcher universes and growing licensing revenue, which reached 95 million zloty across more than 100 partnerships. The strong financial position gives the studio the comfort of not having to chase the cheapest, fastest production method.

Nowakowski also stressed that he wasn't passing judgment on other studios choosing a different approach to generative AI. CD Projekt Red consistently states that instead of mass, assembly-line production of titles, it favors a smaller number of polished games, and the studio's next major release, The Witcher 4, is expected to hit the market in 2028.

Why It Matters For Poland

CD Projekt Red is the largest and most recognizable Polish game development studio, so its stance on AI carries weight beyond the company itself. For Poland's gaming industry, Nowakowski's statement signals that even a large, well-funded studio is treating generative AI selectively, limiting it to supporting tasks rather than the creative core of production.

The debate over AI's role in game development is playing out across the entire industry, and similar skepticism toward fully automated production has been voiced by heads of other major publishers. CD Projekt Red's position shows that Polish developers want to be part of this discussion rather than passive recipients of trends set by smaller, experimental AI-centered studios.