The Witcher 4, the untitled Witcher game currently in development at CD Projekt Red, has been drawing speculation since it was first announced. The Witcher 3 has already provided a neat ending to the original Witcher trilogy, and its incredible popularity has helped CD Projekt Red grow massively as a studio.
One of the biggest questions that players have about the next game in the series is how it will change the classic Witcher formula. It's already been made clear that Geralt of Rivia won't be the protagonist, but there could be an even larger change as well. It's quite likely that Witcher 4 will incorporate some multiplayer elements, something that CD Projekt Red has been dancing around for the past few years.
The Evidence for Multiplayer in The Witcher 4
The fact that CD Projekt Red is planning to introduce multiplayer into its flagship Witcher series isn't in question. In late 2021 the company's president Adam Kiciński confirmed that "we're planning to add multiplayer functionality in the future to both franchises [Witcher and Cyberpunk]". The question is whether Witcher 4 will be the first Witcher title to receive that integration.
There's some good evidence that it will be, including the other hints that the next Witcher will be taking the series in a different direction. CD Projekt Red has specifically not named the game in development as The Witcher 4, making it clear that the three-game story arc that ended in The Witcher 3 is complete. This is reinforced by the Lynx Medallion that appeared in the announcement image, referencing a Witcher School that doesn't exist in the current lore. If the School of the Lynx is important enough to be the first ever image of the new Witcher title, then it's likely that it'll be taking center focus from Geralt's School of the Wolf.
The final evidence for Witcher 4 being the first CD Projekt Red game to introduce multiplayer functionality is that Cyberpunk 2077 was meant to be that game. There's still no news on the standalone Cyberpunk 2077 multiplayer title, and players haven't forgotten that the game was originally intended to launch with multiplayer elements included. The fact that this plan was made indicates that CD Projekt Red felt it'd be ready to step into the multiplayer scene several years ago.
The Evidence against Multiplayer in The Witcher 4
Although CD Projekt Red clearly felt confident enough to announce the multiplayer elements in Cyberpunk 2077, the fact that those elements never materialized may actually be the strongest evidence against multiplayer in Witcher 4. It makes sense that, following Cyberpunk 2077's troubled launch and lack of promised features, the studio may be hesitant to make those same promises again.
This is particularly convincing due to Adam Kiciński making it very clear that CD Projekt Red was going to maintain its focus on singleplayer RPGs, and that the multiplayer elements would be introduced "gradually." After the poor reception of Cyberpunk 2077, a title that the studio clearly hoped would join the Witcher as its second big franchise, The Witcher 3 remains CD Projekt Red's flagship product.
The question is whether the studio would be willing to risk tarnishing the reputation of its most famous series by introducing experimental multiplayer. It's quite likely that Cyberpunk 2077 was meant as a test-bed for the features that would later be incorporated into Witcher 4. However, given that those features were never added to Cyberpunk, they remain untested, and incorporating them into the next Witcher title could be disastrous if they're not well received.
A new Witcher game is currently in development.