GamesRPGThe WitcherThe Witcher 4The Witcher 4: Everything we know so farWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPGThe WitcherThe Witcher 4The Witcher 4: Everything we know so farWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)
The Witcher 4 is inching ever closer.CD Projekt REDjust revealed its next open-world RPG, the first installment in a new Witcher saga that’s set to star Ciri as she begins her journey as a monster hunter on the Continent. A gorgeous Unreal Engine 5 cinematic trailer showcased the look, feel, and vibe of the world CDPR is striving to create in its new Witcher game, a sprawling single-player epic that is charting a future for the franchise without Geralt at the helm. As something ends, something begins – the studio striving to deliver “the most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date.”
The Witcher 4 release date and platforms are unconfirmed
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)
CD Project RED is yet to confirm any launch details for its new open-world RPG. That means that there’s no Witcher 4 release date, and no sense of what platforms it will land on just yet. In fact, the studio hasn’t even committed to a rough release window after its showing atThe Game Awards 2024– there’s basically zero chance of this title landing in 2025, and 2026 also seems unlikely given that it only entered its “full-scale production phase” earlier this year. We’re going to be waiting a while for this one, folks.
The Witcher 4 trailer
The Witcher 4 gameplay
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)
The Witcher 4 gameplay experience is going to be familiar if you played The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with some notable differences. While you’ll be returning to the Continent, CDPR is shooting for a more brutal dark-fantasy world, with Ciri taking the lead as she tries to walk the witcher’s path as the old world crumbles around her. The studio has already confirmed that The Witcher 4 will be a single-player RPG set in an open-world, albeit one where you have more scope to make choices and live with the consequences.
Ciri is a very different character to Geralt, more open to embracing the world around her – part of her struggle in this new adventure will be not only in grappling with ancient nightmares, but the evil which lurks in the people struggling to survive this land. Still, at the heart of it all is the witcher – a mutated warrior skilled in combat and alchemy, slaying monsters which threaten people for a price; only now you’ll be able to do it with new combat proficiencies, all of it enhanced with Ciri’s ability to deftly wield magic.
The Witcher 4 combat
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)
The Witcher 4 story
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)
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Executive producer Malgorzata Mitrega explains that Ciri being so distinct from Geralt also opens up new storytelling possibilities. “She’s open, curious, and drawn to people, yearning for connection and understanding. This opens up uncharted territory in storytelling, where relationships and emotions are just as important as the fight for survival.” You get a sense of all of this in the first Witcher 4 trailer, which sees Ciri completing a witcher’s contract near the village of Stromford – not only battling an ancient evil in the shadows but encountering evil in a more human form too, where her decision to intervene in old rituals leads to disastrous consequences.
The Witcher 4 main character
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)
Ciri is the main character in The Witcher 4. Geralt’s adopted daughter played a pivotal role in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and now that his story has reached its conclusion it’s time for a new Witcher to leave their mark on the Continent. CD Projekt RED is keen to note the differences between the two characters, with story director Tomasz Marchewka explaining: “On one hand, she’s very similar to Geralt, a continuator of his values – honorable, brave, just, but she also has this side we haven’t explored much – grim, rebellious, and fierce. She’s familiar, but at the same time she’s fresh. And she’s simply a badass.”
The studio says that there was never any doubt that Ciri would become the protagonist of The Witcher franchise. Marchewka says that “from the very beginning we knew it had to be Ciri – she’s a very complex character, and there is so much to be told about here.” Executive producer Malgorzata Mitrega adds: “Ciri is a worthy successor to the title of the next Witcher, and personally for me she always has been!”
The Witcher 4 open world
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)
The Witcher 4 is going to be a single-player open-world RPG. Developer CD Projekt RED believes it’ll be the “most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date.” With a new protagonist comes a new open-world to explore, and the studio is already teasing out a far darker fantasy world. You should expect The Witcher 4 to offer up a world that is more dangerous and unpredictable than the one we experienced alongside Geralt, “a world where the old order is crumbling, and dark forces are seizing their chance to rise.” The studio adds: “In this world, survival depends not only on your skills in combat, but also on the connections you make with those around you, for better or worse.”
The Witcher 4 choice and consequences
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)
The Witcher 4 engine
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)
Did Geralt die in The Witcher 3?
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)
While The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt had a number of ending variations, it’s possible to now get a better sense of the canon ending for the Geralt series now that we know Ciri is walking the witcher’s path. In The Witcher 3 the three core ending scenarios involved: Ciri becoming a witcher, becoming the Empress, or dying. We know that the third option is out of the picture, which is also the scenario which implied that Geralt dies in combat. So instead we’re likely looking at a world in which Geralt is still active in the Continent during The Witcher 4, albeit in a reduced capacity – his monster slaying days behind him as he grows older and wearier. Some of the ending variations in The Witcher 3 did, after all, have Geralt retiring in Kovir with Triss or eloping with Yennefer. So who knows, maybe we’ll see some old, friendly faces.
Looking for something to play while you wait for more? Check out one of the bestgames like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
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2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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5Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”