To account for rising game development costs, many developers and publishers have resorted to things like DLCs or expansions, live-service battle passes, or in-game microtransactions as a way to generate additional revenue streams.
Even long-running single-player franchises have found ways to incorporate microtransactions, sometimes to the detriment of the player experience. Dragon Dogma's 2 is the latest example of a game that has had microtransactions shoe-horned into the game, and gamers have rightfully criticized Capcom for it.
CD Projekt Red is probably one of the last few remaining game developers who have not succumbed to the practice of incorporating microtransactions into their single-player games, and it sounds like they will continue to go against the grain.
In a recent interview with StockWatch.pl, CD Projekt Red's Chief Financial Officer, Piotr Nielubowicz, was asked if microtransactions will be added to future games. Nielubowicz's response should put gamers at ease:
“We do not see a place for microtransactions in the case of single-player games, but we do not rule out that we will use this solution in the future in the case of multiplayer projects.”
This seems to be in line with CD Projekt Red's philosophy for the last few games. The Witcher 3 and, most recently, Cyberpunk 2077, have no had microtransactions. However, both have had large paid expansions released along with many smaller, free DLC offerings.
This bodes well for The Witcher 4 which is set to enter the production phase later this year. CD Projekt Red confirmed in its latest earnings conference that there are now over 400 developers working on The Witcher 4, which is codenamed "Polaris," and that this was CDPR's target goal.
This is also CDPR's biggest development team, which almost certainly means The Witcher 4 could be the studio's most expensive game. With rising development costs, some gamers were rightfully worried that The Witcher 4 would have some sort of microtransactions, but it seems that won't be the case.
While we don't know much about The Witcher 4 right now at least we can rest easy knowing that the single-player campaign will be free of nickel-and-dime tactics.
That said, if there is an online multiplayer component of the game, it's quite possible that microtransactions could be involved. I feel like that is much more expected though as live-service online games need a constant revenue stream to maintain servers and support.
Rockstar Games' GTA Online and Red Dead Online are probably the best examples of this. Both titles have award-winning single-player experiences and are supported by fun, online multiplayer modes.
The Witcher 4 doesn't yet have a release date, but based on previous comments from CD Projekt Red officials, it could launch anywhere between 2025 and 2027.