By Megan Garside

Copyright gamesradar

Skip to main content

Games Radar

Retro Gamer

Close main menu

GamesRadar+
The smarter take on movies

View Profile

Search GamesRadar+

Gaming Magazines

Why subscribe?

Subscribe from just £3
Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
Try a single issue or save on a subscription
Issues delivered straight to your door or device

From£9.99Subscribe now

Best Netflix Movies
Best movies on Disney Plus
Movie Release Dates
Best Netflix Shows

Don’t miss these

Fantasy Shows
The Witcher season 4: release date, trailer, cast, news and more

The Witcher returns as Liam Hemsworth in new teaser for season 4

Fantasy Shows
The Witcher season 4 first teaser gets a divisive reaction from fans as Liam Hemsworth replaces Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia: “It’s hard to imagine anyone else with those swords”

Fantasy Shows
The Witcher season 4 may release alongside long-rumored spin-off The Rats – and it’s reportedly a standalone movie, not a series

Assassin’s Creed
Ubisoft CEO says Assassin’s Creed Shadows cost over $100 million to make, but that’s not shocking if you sat through the game’s 2-hour credits

The Witcher
The Witcher 4: Everything we know so far

Marvel Movies
Marvel boss Kevin Feige met with the team behind sci-fi movie The Creator to learn how to keep VFX budgets down on MCU movies: “They would have been even cheaper if it wasn’t for the strikes”

Horror Shows
Squid Game season 3 might be controversial, but it’s already made history for Netflix with a record-breaking premiere

The best new TV shows coming your way in 2025

Fantasy Shows
Wednesday season 2 debuts to 50 million views on Netflix, which is slightly lower than season 1

Horror Shows
In just 10 days, Squid Game season 3 has broken another Netflix record and become the streamer’s third most-watched non-English language show

Horror Shows
Stranger Things creator teases “logistically insane” season 5 episode, which is “as big as any finale we’ve ever done”

Fantasy Shows
The Witcher author fires shot at Game of Thrones’ George R.R. Martin and never-ending Winds of Winter saga: “When I say I’ll write something, I will”

Action Games
Marvel’s Blade reportedly might have a budget of at least $109 million, but that’s still a fraction of the $300 million it allegedly took to make Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

The Witcher
The Witcher 4 is learning lessons from CDPR’s past: no fetch quests, an eye on Cyberpunk 2077’s fan-favorite characters, and devs who “care about the art we’re making”

Entertainment

Fantasy Shows

The Witcher (TV show)

The Witcher season 4 will reportedly cost over $25 million per episode, making it one of Netflix’s most expensive projects behind Stranger Things season 4

Megan Garside

23 September 2025

The Witcher season 4’s huge budget matches this year’s biggest superhero blockbusters

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Netflix)

Although The Witcher season 4 has traded the show’s previous Geralt of Rivia star Henry Cavill for The Hunger Games’ Liam Hemsworth, the upcoming installment is the most expensive yet, reportedly costing Netflix over $25 million per episode to make.

The Witcher season 4 has cost the streamer a total of $221 million to make, according to Redanian Intelligence. That works out to around $27 million per episode. This is a huge jump up from season 3, which set Netflix back $175 million, averaging $21.8 million per episode, which wasn’t far off from season 2’s total cost of $176.3 million.
To put that massive season 4 budget into perspective, the show is working with more or less the same amount of money that some of this year’s biggest blockbusters had. James Gunn’s Superman cost an estimated $225 million to make, as stated by TheWrap, and Marvel’s Fantastic Four reportedly set Disney back anywhere from $200-$250 million, as per Variety.

You may like

The Witcher season 4: release date, trailer, cast, news and more

The Witcher returns as Liam Hemsworth in new teaser for season 4

The Witcher season 4 first teaser gets a divisive reaction from fans as Liam Hemsworth replaces Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia: “It’s hard to imagine anyone else with those swords”

Not only is The Witcher season 4 the most expensive season of the video game adaptation, but the show is also one of the most costly seasons per episode the streamer has ever made. Stranger Things season 4 currently tops that list, as the sci-fi series’ penultimate season set the streamer back over $30 million per episode.

In terms of the series as a whole, season 4 has boosted The Witcher’s total budget right up to a whopping $720 million, not counting the many spin-off projects. This means that The Witcher is currently Netflix’s most expensive show, sitting in front of The Crown at around $650 million, and Stranger Things at just under $500 million. However, this may well change when the total cost of Stranger Things season 5 is revealed, as per Collider.
So, why is Netflix spending so much money on The Witcher? Despite being one of the site’s most popular shows, the series has recently seen a bit of change. With fan-favorite Cavill leaving the franchise and being replaced by Hemsworth, it seems as though the streamer may be doing everything it can to keep fans on board.
Will the extra dosh be worth it in the end? We will see when The Witcher season 4 drops on Netflix on October 30, 2025. For more, check out our picks of the best shows on Netflix. As for The Witcher games, check out our list of the best games like The Witcher 3 to play right now.

See more TV Shows News

Streaming Services

Megan Garside

Social Links Navigation
Editorial Associate, GamesRadar+

I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for SFX and Total Film online. I have a Bachelors Degree in Media Production and Journalism and a Masters in Fashion Journalism from UAL. In the past I have written for local UK and US newspaper outlets such as the Portland Tribune and York Mix and worked in communications, before focusing on film and entertainment writing. I am a HUGE horror fan and in 2022 I created my very own single issue feminist horror magazine.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

The Witcher season 4: release date, trailer, cast, news and more

The Witcher returns as Liam Hemsworth in new teaser for season 4

The Witcher season 4 first teaser gets a divisive reaction from fans as Liam Hemsworth replaces Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia: “It’s hard to imagine anyone else with those swords”

The Witcher season 4 may release alongside long-rumored spin-off The Rats – and it’s reportedly a standalone movie, not a series

Ubisoft CEO says Assassin’s Creed Shadows cost over $100 million to make, but that’s not shocking if you sat through the game’s 2-hour credits

The Witcher 4: Everything we know so far

Latest in Fantasy Shows

Co-creator of beloved BBC Merlin show shares one regret he still has about the fantasy series

The Witcher season 4 may release alongside long-rumored spin-off The Rats – and it’s reportedly a standalone movie, not a series

2026 is the year of Game of Thrones spin-offs at HBO, with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiering in January, and House of the Dragon season 3 arriving shortly after

The Witcher season 4 first teaser gets a divisive reaction from fans as Liam Hemsworth replaces Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia: “It’s hard to imagine anyone else with those swords”

The Rings of Power season 3 drops new sneak peek at a very important sword in Lord of the Rings history

Wednesday star confirms an Uncle Fester spin-off is in the works at Netflix

Latest in News

The Witcher season 4 will reportedly cost over $25 million per episode, making it one of Netflix’s most expensive projects behind Stranger Things season 4

Hideo Kojima’s new horror game OD looks creepier than ever in a new trailer that manages to flex its hyper-realistic Unreal Engine visuals while making me scared of knocks on doors forever

Weapons director Zach Cregger confirms Aunt Gladys prequel is “real” and “not bulls**t” – “There’s a story and I’m pretty excited about it”

After Terraria, Palworld devs team up with another indie legend: FPS Ultrakill, and you’re not gonna believe this, it’s got guns: “Blood is fuel. Hell is full”

Nintendo devs were so obsessed with Konami’s legendary 1994 dating sim that they filled Super Mario 64’s code with references to it

Fans waited 7 years for season 2 of this anime, but luckily Grand Blue Dreaming season 3 has already been announced

GAME REVIEWS
MOVIE REVIEWS

Hotel Barcelona review: “Everywhere better roguelike games go right, this hotel-set horror goes left”

Silent Hill f review: “The legendary horror series’ most unsettling atmosphere and writing to date butts heads with combat that’s more irritating than scary”

Dying Light: The Beast review – “A playful sandbox of horror and mayhem with a surprising amount of depth”

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds review: “Even more frantic than Mario Kart World, this has the mileage to be a karting favorite”

Lego Voyagers review: “A carefully crafted, playful, and earnest adventure”

One Battle After Another review: “One of the best studio movies in years and an instant classic”

The Conjuring: Last Rites review: “Not bold or memorable enough for the Warrens’ final chapter”

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle review: “Roars past Mugen Train as Demon Slayer’s best adventure yet”

The Long Walk review: “One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made”

Frankenstein review: “A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation”

Gen V season 2 review: “As strong as the first season, if not stronger”

Wednesday season 2 part 2 review: “Ortega shines, but it’s a zombie who steals the entire show”

Peacemaker season 2 review: “Darker and sadder than the first year, but there’s still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids.”

Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: “Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots”

Alien: Earth review: “Arguably the franchise’s strongest outing since James Cameron’s Aliens”

GamesRadar+ is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Contact Future’s experts

Terms and conditions

Privacy policy

Cookies policy

Advertise with us

Review guidelines

Write for us

Accessibility Statement

Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury,

BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait…