Not content with stealing everyone’s attention at Gamescom by unveiling a cheeky extra expansion for a decade-old RPG, CD Projekt Red have decided spend their Monday afternoon locking in the year that The Witcher 4 will be coming out. It’s set to emerge from a lake full of drowners in 2028.

So said CD Projekt Red co-CEO Michał Nowakowski in a video recorded in a weirdly intimate candlelit room, which the studio have stuck up on their socials. “We have more than 500 incredibly talented developers working to create something special for you,” the exec said, calling TW4 CD Projekt’s “biggest, boldest, and most ambitious game to date”. No overhyping there, then. To be fair, though, this is the studio who’ve spent the past few years proving that despite my mounting doubts with each one, the already very good Cyberpunk 2077 could still always benefit from one more update.

The Witcher 4 having a 2028 window slapped on it isn’t the most surpising news. It’d looked from CD Projekt Red’s last few financial reports to be heading in that direction rather than rocking up next year. The good news is that, at least for now, it hasn’t been pushed further down the line to 2029 or 2030. God, the year 2030’s nearly here. That feels quite freaky for some reason.

Tiding folks over until then is the job of that extra Witcher 3 DLC, Songs of the Past, which is set for a full reveal during tomorrow night’s Gamescom Opening Night Live. In this short video, Nowakowski teased it’ll have a “dark story”, which is arguably akin to a person making spaghetti bolognese confirming that it’ll taste a bit tomatoey – dark fantasy romps being the studio’s well-established bread and butter. Though, it does put pay to my theory that the DLC’s name hinted at Geralt being given a Yakuza-esque karaoke minigame.

Odds are I’ll have thoughts about whatever Songs of the Past’s tale has in store. So, make sure to check back here some time after Opening Night Live if you’d like to read my opinings about wanky fantasy starring a lad named Gerry.