If you want to play the main Witcher RPGs in release order, the path is straightforward: The Witcher, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, then The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. CD PROJEKT's own Witcher Classics page presents those games as Geralt of Rivia's original trilogy, with The Witcher 3 wrapping that saga around Geralt's search for Ciri.
That does not mean every new player should automatically start with the oldest game. The better starting point depends on what you want from the series. If your priority is following Geralt's game story from its beginning, start with the first Witcher. If your priority is getting into the most recent mainline Geralt adventure before the next saga, starting with The Witcher 3 is a reasonable editorial choice — with the trade-off that earlier relationships and political history arrive with less context.
Release order gives you the most context
The original game establishes CD PROJEKT RED's version of Geralt and the world around him. The Witcher 2 continues that story with a stronger focus on political conflict and choices that can send parts of the narrative down different paths. Playing both before The Witcher 3 means recurring characters and references arrive with more history attached to them.
The cost is time and friction. Older games reflect the design and technology of their eras, and a player mainly curious about where the series is heading may not want to work through two full RPGs first. There is no prize for turning entertainment into compulsory reading. Release order is the most complete route, not automatically the best route for every person.
The Witcher 3 is also built around a clear central objective: Geralt's search for Ciri. The official Classics material explicitly describes it as the point where the original saga wraps up. That gives a newcomer enough of a spine to follow the main journey even when some returning characters already have complicated history with Geralt.
The Witcher 4 changes whose story is central
CD PROJEKT RED revealed The Witcher IV as the first game in a new Witcher saga, with Ciri as its protagonist. That distinction matters when deciding how much preparation is sensible. The next game is a successor to The Witcher 3, but it is not being presented as “The Witcher 3 Part Two” with Geralt remaining the lead.
There is also more Geralt content still coming before that handover. In May 2026, CD PROJEKT confirmed Songs of the Past, a third full expansion for The Witcher 3 planned for 2027, describing it as a return to Geralt before the baton passes to Ciri. No release date for The Witcher IV was confirmed in the sources used for this explainer, so there is no need to race through the trilogy against an invented deadline.
Pick the route that matches your goal
For maximum continuity, play The Witcher, The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3 in release order. For a shorter route focused on the story most directly connected to Ciri's rise into the lead role, start with The Witcher 3 and use earlier games for context afterward if the characters and world grab you.
If you already know you dislike going backward to older game systems, that is another reason not to force chronological completion first. Starting with The Witcher 3 may spoil some earlier outcomes and relationships, but it also lets you decide whether you care enough about Geralt's past to explore it in detail.
The key point is that “play order” and “required order” are different questions. Release order is clear. What you need to play before The Witcher IV is a personal threshold, and the official framing of a new saga makes a focused Witcher 3 route defensible for players who do not want a three-game homework assignment.
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