Even though they sometimes release games that are an unfinished mess, CD Projekt Red respects their customers enough to spend as much time as it takes to fix their game. The developer’s dedication to their games, their customers and to creating living, breathingopen worldsthat tell stories hardly any other game does is why the industry loves them so much.
10 Best Open-World Games on Switch
Nintendo Switch has one of the best game libraries of any console, and these are the best open-world games in it.
With Witcher 4 in the works, it’s only fair that we take a look at the six best CD Projekt Red games that helped them become who they are today (spoilers: it’s mostly the Witcher games)
6Gwent: The Witcher Card Game
A Card Game So Good it Became its Own Game
What started as a side activity in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt turned into one of the most-refined digital card games out there.Gwent: The Witcher Card Gametook the addictivedeck-buildingmechanics that made it a fan-favorite minigame and expanded them into a full-fledged competitive experience. Instead of the simple AI duels found in its original incarnation, Gwent introduced a deep multiplayer mode with a constantly-evolving meta, balancing updates and new faction-based expansions.
Unlike traditional card games that rely on reducing an opponent’s health to zero, Gwent keeps its focus on strategy, bluffing and deck synergy across three distinct rounds. Each faction brings its own playstyle: Nilfgaard excels at deception, Skellige thrives on resurrecting fallen units and Monsters relish swarming the board with overwhelming numbers. While its launch as a standalone game saw initial success, CD Projekt Red eventually announced an end to active development, leaving Gwent as a well-crafted but sunset title in their lineup. Still, it remains a testament to the studio’s ability to take a seemingly small idea and turn it into one of the top CD Projekt Red titles.
5The Witcher
The Beginning of a Legendary Saga
The Witcher
Long before CD Projekt Red became known for award-winning RPGs,The Witcherwas their ambitious first step into game development. Released in 2007, this PC-exclusive RPG introduced players to Geralt of Rivia in a world inspired by Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels. While the story was strong, the gameplay was rough around the edges. Its unique rhythm-based combat system felt more like a point-and-click adventure than an action RPG and the game suffered from technical issues at launch.
Despite these flaws, The Witcher laid the foundation for what would become one of the best CD Projekt Red games. Its mature storytelling, choice-driven narrative and rich lore made it stand out at a time when mostRPGsstill leaned on high-fantasy tropes. It also introduced the studio’s signature moral dilemmas; there were no clear “good” or “evil” choices, only consequences that would unfold much later in the story. While it may not hold up as well as its sequels, this first entry remains an essential piece of CD Projekt Red’s history.
4Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
When a Side Character Deserves Their Own Story
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
A single-player RPG spun off from Gwent, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales shifts the focus away from Geralt and onto Queen Meve, ruler of Lyria and Rivia. Instead of traditional RPG combat, battles play out as Gwent games, but unlike the standalone card game, Thronebreaker is a full-length RPG, complete with an overworld to explore,side queststo finish and difficult choices that shape Meve’s journey.
Beyond its gameplay, Thronebreaker shines in its storytelling. Queen Meve is one of the most-compelling protagonists in The Witcher universe and her struggle to reclaim her throne is filled with betrayals, hard-fought victories and devastating losses. The game also boasts some of the best writing in any CD Projekt Red title, proving that the studio could tell deeply engaging stories even outside of Geralt’s perspective. Despite its strong narrative and unique gameplay, Thronebreaker struggled commercially, overshadowed by Cyberpunk 2077’s marketing push. Yet for those willing to dive into its world, it remains one of the most underrated gems in the studio’s catalog.
3The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
The Sequel That Elevated Everything
The Witcher 2
Following up on the cult success of The Witcher, CD Projekt Red refined nearly every aspect of its sequel. The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings introduced a more action-oriented combat system, branching storylines that made entire locations and quests exclusive to certain playthroughs, and vastly-improved visuals powered by the studio’s own RED engine. The storytelling took a more political turn, throwing Geralt into the middle of a deadly struggle between rival kingdoms and forcing players to make choices that carried weight well beyond a single quest.
7 Best Side Quests In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3 is known for its side content, and these quests prove why the game deserved the GOTY in 2015.
Unlike its predecessor, The Witcher 2 was designed with a broader audience in mind, launching on both PC and Xbox 360. Its steep difficulty curve and complex mechanics, however, still made it feel like an RPG for dedicated players rather than a mainstream-friendly experience. Even so, it helped establish CD Projekt Red as a serious contender in the RPG space, proving they could go toe-to-toe with Western RPG giants like BioWare and Bethesda. While it was later overshadowed by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, this sequel remains a defining moment in the studio’s history.
2Cyberpunk 2077
From Disaster to Redemption
Cyberpunk 2077
By now,Cyberpunk 2077’stroubled launch is the stuff of gaming legend. Released in 2020 after years of sky-high expectations, the game was plagued by game-breaking bugs, performance issues and missing features that left many feeling shortchanged. Its disastrous console launch forced CD Projekt Red to offer refunds and the backlash even led to it being pulled from the PlayStation Store for months.
But if there’s one thing CD Projekt Red is known for, it’s not abandoning its projects. Over the years, Cyberpunk 2077 has seen a No Man’s Sky-style redemption arc, with patches improving performance, AI behavior and overall gameplay balance. The Phantom Liberty expansion took it even further, refining core mechanics and adding one of the best storylines in the game. Now, Cyberpunk 2077 is closer to what fans originally hoped for: a dense, atmospheric RPG set in a cyberpunk world that rivals the depth of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. While it may never fully shake its rocky past, it stands today as one of the top CD Projekt Red titles and a showcase of the studio’s ability to turn things around.
1The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Game That Defined a Generation
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
There’s no question thatThe Witcher 3: Wild Huntis the crown jewel of CD Projekt Red’s library. This award-winning RPG set a new benchmark for open-world storytelling, crafting a world so rich in detail that even minor side quests carried the weight of full-fledged narratives. The story follows Geralt’s search for Ciri, his adopted daughter, against the backdrop of a war-torn Continent and the looming threat of the Wild Hunt. But it’s everything outside the main quest that truly makes this game shine: the depth of its characters, the moral ambiguity of its choices and the sheer amount of meaningful content packed into its massive world.
Its expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, only reinforced its legacy, adding some of the best-written content in RPG history. Few games have managed to balance a compelling main narrative with side content that feels equally important, but The Witcher 3 does exactly that. Even years after its release, it remains one of the best CD Projekt Red games, setting a standard that future RPGs will continue to be measured against.
8 Strongest Monsters in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3 brings back many monsters from the old games, and these are considered the strongest in this title.
