Unreal 5 needs to simply be the best thing to happen in a long time, because the previous 2 versions of the engine has a reputation for not handling open-world environments well.
So as others have stated, CDPR HAS to hit a grand slam with this if they are looking to have any hopes in climbing out of the rot they kinda got themselves in with their lackluster management issues.
If anything, this might be them hitting the reset bottom and rewinding time a bit, back to when they partnered with Bioware to create the Witcher 1 with their engine.
At least i hope that's what this is, because they absolutely got a inflated ego when Witcher 3 broke awards and accolades records and made them superstars and the CEO a billionaire, so this is me hoping that the disaster of Cyberpunk humbled them again.
Nah, they are doing fine, their share price is stable, financials look good (almost 50% increase from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021), Witcher 3 remaster is set to release in Q2 2022, which will again sell like hot cakes... I'd say you're letting your own impressions and emotions cloud your view here.
On the topic of the engine and open world, you are spot on. That's why this is not a standard licensing deal. They actually signed a 15-year contract (a "licensing and partnership agreement") with Epic that will let them jointly work on the engine.
My guess is that CDPR realised it's pointless to constantly invest millions upon millions into keeping graphics fidelity of their Red Engine competitive and instead will get that directly from Unreal Engine 5 (and possibly 6 and 7, considering the duration of the contract). Epic will get CDPR engine programmers develop UE in areas where it never worked well, especially large open world RPG support and cinematics - those two are where the Red Engine has always been best.
All in all, a good deal for both CDPR and Epic - CDPR games will have top notch visuals without heavy investments and Epic will have their engine adapted for open world narrative-driven cinematic RPGs (= more and better UE licensing deals in the future).
Many folks haven't kept close enough tabs on Cyberpunk; it's not a NMS level improvement, but they've fixed and added and the game is now a really solid, fun RPG shooter in an incredible setting. Probably helps with continued sales of the title.
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