The Game Awards 2024 opened with a stunning six-minute pre-rendered cinematic trailer (powered by NVIDIA's GPU about to be announced at CES 2025) of The Witcher IV, the first installment in the new saga.
The trailer confirmed what most fans had surmised following the ending of Wild Hunt: Cirilla will be the protagonist of the new saga rather than Geralt. Speaking to IGN, CD Projekt RED developers commented on this choice, starting with Cian Maher (franchise and lore designer), who said:
‘The Witcher’ as a title refers to both Geralt and Ciri and always has. I think she's arguably more important to the plot than Geralt himself is.
They wouldn't say anything more about Geralt, although it seems unlikely he wouldn't appear in some capacity in The Witcher IV. Anyway, Game Director Sebastian Kalemba added in the interview that Cirilla's relatively new enrollment as a professional Witcher also means she still has to develop her own code for dealing with the various situations. This, in turn, will increase the player's agency in the game.
Since I can remember, we've been talking about Ciri and how much she deserves her own journey. I love this grit in her. She's almost obsessed with the way she lives. There are some moments where you have to go with your heart instead of always going with the calculated calls. And this is what I love in Ciri. She's less calculating, following her heart, her passion, her gut feel.
We want to let players try to define her. She's about to form her own codex on her own terms. The way she actually deals with the monsters, the way she deals with quests, the adventures, it's her own unique way. We want to put player agency at the center. We’re giving more tools for players' disposal, to be able to not only play and go with the consequences narratively but also gameplay-wise. We want to give players more opportunities to be able to feel that they define their experience.
Kalemba then admitted that Cyberpunk 2077 had more varied gameplay than The Witcher 3, and it's an area where the studio wants to improve in this upcoming title.
I believe the gameplay in Cyberpunk 2077 was more varied than in The Witcher 3, and it allowed more freedom when it comes to creating character builds and being able to experience encounters in your own way. This is something we definitely want to bring as a lesson to The Witcher IV. We want to improve on The Witcher 3's gameplay, but also we want to improve the alignment of the way you will be able to explore the world.
CD Projekt RED also told IGN that the TGA 2024 trailer underwent many revisions as the studio sought to ensure that every frame had its own meaning for fans to discover.
The Witcher IV has no release window. If we had to guesstimate, we'd put it between late 2026 and early 2027, so prepare for a long wait.
