We’ve got a new look at our next adventure on the Continent.
During the Game Awards 2024, CD Projekt RED made an appearance to show off the next Witcher game. Set some time after the events of 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, this new game is titled The Witcher 4, and it features Ciri, Geralt’s adopted daugher and the primary protagonist of the overall saga.
In the teaser video, which is notably rendered in Unreal Engine 5 on an unspecified GPU, we see Ciri intervene as a young woman is sacrificed to a monster. Ciri is a Witcher herself now, but of course things don’t go as expected.
The Witcher IV — Cinematic Reveal Trailer | The Game Awards 2024 – YouTube
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“The beginning of a new saga, and a follow-up to one of the most acclaimed RPGs of all time, Ciri takes center stage as the protagonist, embarking on her own journey to become a professional monster slayer,” the trailer description reads.
The Witcher remains CD Projekt’s bread and butter
While much of CD Projekt RED’s attention has naturally been focused on Cyberpunk 2077 over the past four years, with numerous updates and the excellent Phantom Liberty expansion, the world of monsters and silver swords remains incredibly important for the company, and is the main feature in the storied developer’s upcoming plans.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt crossed 50 million copies sold back in May 2023, while total sales for the trilogy of games crossed 75 million copies sold. Back in 2022, CD Projekt RED confirmed that a new Witcher game, codenamed Polaris, was being built in Unreal Engine 5. This new title is also meant to kickstart a new trilogy of Witcher games, with the development team working to reuse the technology that’s established in this first entry in order to speed development along in the next two games.
I’m a massive Witcher fan, so I’m all for this, even if the official name “The Witcher 4” comes as something of a surprise. I will admit I really wasn’t expecting Ciri to be the protagonist because of her power level. Hey, if the developers are able to balance the Lady of Worlds, I’ll happily jump on board.
There’s no platforms, but it seems reasonable to expect The Witcher 4 will eventually be launching on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.
Outside of The Witcher 4 (and by extension, a new trilogy) we’re also getting a remake of the original Witcher. This game is also being developed in Unreal Engine 5, but with development primarily being led by an external team at Fool’s Theory, a studio founded by CD Projekt RED veterans.
