Fri, Feb 01, 2013 | 14:46 GMT
CD Projekt debuts REDengine 3 with first screen ahead of rumoured Witcher 3 reveal
The Witcher 3 rumours continue as developer CD Projekt RED’s unveils its new REDengine 3 technology. The tech has been designed with next-gen consoles and open-world RPG titles firmly in mind, and promises to bring a new level of realism to gaming.
Revealed via Develop, CD Projekt Red discussed its goals for REDengine 3 and how it will impact on the studio’s development moving forward.
Speaking with the site, head of CD Projekt RED Adam Badowski, explained, “If we look at RPGs nowadays we find two approaches, one which emphasizes the story but limits the game world and one that builds a vast open-world but hampers and simplifies the story. With the REDengine 3 we combine the positive aspects of both approaches for the first time, creating an open environment with a complex, multi-thread story.
“Together with believable characters, a captivating tale and a world where players can roam freely without loading times, we will be able to move gaming to a new level with a realistic feel and full player immersion. When working on our previous titles, I didn’t dream that we would achieve something like this. Thanks to the support of all our fans, now we have the possibility to use REDengine 3 and create something many RPG fans dream of.”
Badowski’s words could just hint at what form the open world of The Witcher 3 could take. The game is touted for a February 5th reveal, which we covered here. The following REDengine 3 tech demo screen was also revealed:
The engine also powers CD Projekt RED’s Cyberpunk 2077 and another title – all bets are on The Witcher 3. The studio hopes that the engine will help future RPGs compete with “top-shelf shooters”, and is a “Next-gen ready solution that begins to blur the line between pre-rendered CGI movies and real time rendered graphics, bringing us closer to the most life-like world ever created in video games.”
Excited yet? What do you make of the potential image above? Could it be from The Witcher 3? Let us know below.
Thanks OXM.
19 
Posted in: CD Projekt, PC
Tags: cyberpunk 2077, REDengine 3, The Witcher 3
19 comments
#1
redder
01/02/13, 1:18 pm
Hail to the WITCHER! <3333333
#2
deathm00n
01/02/13, 1:23 pm
I don’t think we can reach life-like graphics. IF we do it people will say it’s not enough, it’s too simple.
But what to say about this screen? It’s looking great, don’t even need to say this is the most awesome graphics ever. Looks a lot like CGI.
#3
Bomba Luigi
01/02/13, 1:53 pm
“With the REDengine 3 we combine the positive aspects of both approaches for the first time, creating an open environment with a complex, multi-thread story.”
Can’t wait to see how they wanna do that, thats a very hard thing to do. But its CDP Red, I will throw my wallet at them just because its CDP Red. Can’t say that about any other Developer.
#4
Talkar
01/02/13, 1:55 pm
I’m so excited for Witcher 3. First 2 games were absolutely stellar!
@2
Of course we can reach real life graphics. We can even make it better than real life, since in a game we decide what colors should be where, how saturated they should be, how big a role shadows should play et cetera. We might not be there yet, but we will definately reach real life graphics and surpass it.
#5
deathm00n
01/02/13, 2:00 pm
@4 And with this you prove my point, people will want more once we reach it, if we reach it, I doubt it, there’s things a computer can’t handle.
#6
SameeR_Fisher
01/02/13, 2:02 pm
I still didn’t play any Witcher game, come on now, bring them to the PS3 already.
#7
Samoan Spider
01/02/13, 2:02 pm
I to my shame haven’t played witcher 2 further than taking the city at the start. I really should go back and sink some time into it. But if 3 improves on what I’ve experienced already then sign me up now.
#8
Talkar
01/02/13, 2:23 pm
@5
There is no doubt in my mind that computers will be able to handle those graphics. Look at how powerful computers were 10 years ago, and look at them now. Then think of how powerful they will be in another 10 years, or even 20 years. This is an area that is constantly evolving, and there are no signs that it is going to stop anytime soon.
#9
sh4dow
01/02/13, 2:25 pm
“closer to the most life-like world ever created”
Nope. The screenshot clearly shows heavy stilization. Looks like it was made to look a LOT more like a painting than reality on purpose.
Which is not a bad thing though. I’m just skeptical because of the weird looking ground and the lack of detail in the background to the right.
But… I was also skeptical about the visuals in The Witcher 2 up until I saw actual gameplay videos from people after release. And it promped me to buy a new computer earlier than I would have had otherwise. A bit of a waste though because while it looked great, just like with Elder Scrolls games, it’s just not wise to play a Witcher game right at release. Bug-ridden like crazy.
#10
Badumtsss
01/02/13, 2:26 pm
There’s no mention about Witcher 3 anywhere in this press release.
#11
sh4dow
01/02/13, 2:26 pm
Oh yeah and @ VG247: Could you possibly make that screenshot any smaller?! -_-
#12
Erthazus
01/02/13, 2:37 pm
New Next gen engine from CD? WOW. AWESOME. My PC is ready.
If it’s next gen you won’t see it on this gen for sure.
#13
GwynbleiddiuM
01/02/13, 2:40 pm
Open world, HELL YES!
#14
Moonwalker1982
01/02/13, 2:44 pm
I’m playing through The Witcher 2 right now, i love the different choices and outcomes of things. I love the characters in the game, actually care about them. Open world Witcher would be awesome, but PLEASE bring it to the next-gen consoles and not 360 and PS3.
Oopsy…nevermind. I must have read past that part about next-gen consoles. Man this sounds good. I hope to see some gameplay next week.
#15
Stardog
01/02/13, 2:48 pm
@2 Your comment is beyond inane. How much are CD Projekt paying you?
“don’t even need to say this is the most awesome graphics ever”
… really?
#16
Dave Cook
01/02/13, 3:02 pm
@10 there’s a heavily-rumoured Witcher 3 reveal coming next week. I said it could be a screen from Witcher 3. I never outright said that it was
#17
Badumtsss
01/02/13, 3:34 pm
@16 You just changed the title mate.
#18
Dave Cook
01/02/13, 3:40 pm
@17 correct. I did. Because of this – https://twitter.com/EvolveTom/status/297341605512359937
#19
Moonwalker1982
01/02/13, 3:47 pm
Ah so that picture probably isn’t The Witcher 3. But we all know about that tease pic of Geralt’s sword and their explanation of what game it is they are talking about at the end of the Cyberpunk trailer. Simply has to be The Witcher 3 that they are going to unveil tuesday.
RPG is by far my favorite game genre, this explanation of the engine sounds brilliant. The Witcher 2 has an awesome story with great characters, but it didn’t offer alot of freedom. If they can succeed in that with new RPG’s…and this new engine, oh my.