Witcher 4 could cost nearly $1 billion, putting it at the table with Grand Theft Auto 6

There are two open-world games anticipated to push the envelope of what is possible in immersive worlds: Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto 6 and CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 4.

Unsurprisingly, Grand Theft Auto 6 is so anticipated that it's estimated to earn a billion dollars in pre-orders once Rockstar makes it available to purchase, with the title also taking home the Most Anticipated award from The Game Awards 2025.

Followed closely behind is The Witcher 4, which, according to reports, could cost CD Projekt Red close to $400 million to develop, and then another $400 million on marketing. If that is true, it will put it at the table with Red Dead Redemption 2's $540 million budget, and GTA 6, which is expected to have cost anywhere between $1 and $2 billion by the time it releases in November 2026.

The $800 million figure for The Witcher 4 is a prediction from Noble Securities analyst Mateusz Chrzanowski, who reported that CD Projekt Red could spend as much as $388 million to develop the title and then spend an equal amount on marketing it. Furthermore, Chrzanowski reported the budget for The Witcher 4 increased from $583 million to $861 million.

Chrzanowski also mentioned the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, which CD Project Red is internally calling Project Orion, saying the budget for that title is around $416 million, with much of that dedicated to the multiplayer aspect of the game. The inclusion of multiplayer is reportedly the reason why Project Orion has been pushed back to release sometime in Q4 2030.