During The Game Awards 2024, CD PROJEKT RED unveiled and offered a first glimpse of The Witcher IV, marking the beginning of a new saga in the series. The reveal included a nearly six-minute cinematic trailer, showcasing Ciri as the central protagonist, embarking on her journey as a Witcher.
Set in a dark fantasy world, the trailer depicts Ciri undertaking a contract in a remote village haunted by a monster that has demanded ritual sacrifices for generations. Demonstrating her advanced magical powers and new tools, including a chain weapon, the trailer highlights Ciri’s unique abilities and her determination to challenge both supernatural threats and the deeply ingrained prejudices of the villagers towards outsiders.
The cinematic trailer was created using a customised version of Unreal Engine 5 on an unannounced NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU. While pre-rendered, it features in-game assets and models, offering a glimpse of the visual fidelity and immersive experience the game aspires to deliver. Platige Image, known for their work on previous entries in The Witcher series, collaborated with CD PROJEKT RED to bring the trailer to life.
The Witcher IV is being developed as a single-player, open-world RPG using Unreal Engine 5 technology. The game promises to deliver a more ambitious and immersive experience than its predecessors.
Sebastian Kalemba, Game Director at CD PROJEKT RED, expressed excitement about this new chapter in The Witcher franchise, sharing:
We’re kicking off a brand-new Witcher saga, this time with Ciri as the heart of the story! It feels so good to finally be able to say those words — for the longest time we knew that we wanted Ciri to be the protagonist of The Witcher IV; it just felt natural to us and we believe that Ciri deserves it. In this game we want to explore what it means to truly become a witcher by following Ciri on her Path. This trailer is a taste of both that, and just how dark and grounded the world of The Witcher can be.
Further details, including a release window, have yet to be announced.
