The Witcher 4 is set to be CD Projekt Red's "most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date," with a "brutal" world and "the start of a new saga"

The Witcher 4 cinematic screenshot showing a closeup of Ciri, protagonist of the new adventure
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)

Following director Sebastian Kalemba's announcement that The Witcher 4 has now "entered the full-scale production phase" and multiple teasers involving coins, we've finally received our first real look at the new RPG during The Game Awards 2024 - and it seems it's set to be the series' biggest entry yet.

According to CD Projekt Red, The Witcher 4 is everything the community has wanted - and more. The developer behind the iconic RPG series and smash-hit titles like Cyberpunk 2077 released not only a cinematic trailer revealing Geralt's adopted daughter Ciri as the upcoming game's protagonist, but dropped some words on what fans can expect as well. "The Witcher 4 is a single-player, open-world RPG from CD Projekt Red," writes the studio.

The Witcher IV — Cinematic Reveal Trailer | The Game Awards 2024 - YouTube The Witcher IV — Cinematic Reveal Trailer | The Game Awards 2024 - YouTube
Watch On

"At the start of a new saga, players take on the role of Ciri, a professional monster slayer, and embark on a journey through a brutal dark fantasy world." As if that isn't exciting enough to learn as a Witcher fan, the game sounds as though it's also incredibly visually ambitious, with CD Projekt Red describing how it's "powered by Unreal Engine 5" and stating that "it aims to be the most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date."

It sounds downright massive, and there's more to come than just The Witcher 4, too - there are other upcoming CD Projekt Red games like the mysterious codenamed Project Sirius, another Witcher game that developers say will "differ from past productions" at CDPR. A new story from The Witcher books' author Andrzej Sapkowski is also out now, arriving over a decade after the series' last title, so it's safe to say that fans are eating good.

The Witcher 4 devs explain why Ciri had to be the RPG series' next protagonist: "from the very beginning we knew it had to be Ciri"

Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.

Read more
The Witcher 4 screenshot showing Ciri getting ready for action in a dank cave
The Witcher 4: Everything we know so far
Ciri seen in the cinematic reveal trailer for The Witcher 4, out of breath from a fight.
The Witcher 4 devs say Ciri's actions in the RPG's reveal trailer are "different than what Geralt would do"
The Witcher 4
The Witcher 4 NPCs will offer a "more immersive experience" than other CD Projekt games: "We are trying to push the bar here"
The Witcher 4 screenshot showing the stunning Unreal Engine 5 fidelity
The Witcher 4 director refutes claims that Ciri's appearance has changed since the reveal trailer: "We have not modified it"
The Witcher 4 Ciri
The Witcher 4 focusing on Ciri has Geralt's voice actor "really excited" for the upcoming RPG, "mostly because of things that happen in the books"
The Witcher 4 screenshot showing the stunning Unreal Engine 5 fidelity
The Witcher 4's gorgeous reveal trailer was "pre-rendered" on Nvidia's $2,000 RTX 5090
Latest in The Witcher
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
The Witcher 4 and Naughty Dog's Intergalactic are reportedly skipping 2026 and won't be ready until at least the year after
The Witcher 4 screenshot with Ciri using sword and sorcery to fight an ancient monster
CD Projekt boss says "cutting-edge single-player games" – you know, like The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2 – will "continue to enjoy great popularity" despite industry shifts
Cyberpunk 2077
Despite releasing exactly zero new games, CD Projekt bagged $120 million in profit for 2024 – the Witcher and Cyberpunk studio's third-best result ever
The Witcher 4 cinematic screenshot showing a closeup of Ciri, protagonist of the new adventure
"We slept under our desks and lived in chaos": Before the Witcher 3 became an RPG phenomenon, CDPR's CEOs had a tough time making the original game
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners
Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 studio CD Projekt Red won't make survival games just because they're popular, but Netflix's Edgerunners anime is fueling dreams bigger than RPGs
Witcher comics Geralt
"Something for true collectors": CD Projekt CEO shares his nostalgia for the "super retro" Witcher comics that are coming out in English for the first time
Latest in News
Pillars of Eternity
10 years later, in a post-Baldur's Gate 3 and Avowed world, Obsidian is giving its own throwback CRPG Pillars of Eternity a turn-based combat mode
Destiny 2 Lightfall
When Destiny 2 "weekly active users dropped lower and faster than we'd seen since 2018," Bungie assembled an A-Team to put out some fires: "We needed to do something"
Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-Doo looking at a giant key which is also a clue
Netflix is rebooting Scooby-Doo as a live-action series from the producer of Supergirl and The Flash centered around a "supernatural murder" at a summer camp
Astro Bot
Astro Bot went through 23 pitch iterations before its director promised PlayStation "happy gameplay" and "overflowing charm," though it did once end with robot decapitation that made "some people really upset"
Tomb Raider
5 years after Avengers, 2 years after its last layoffs, and who knows how long before Perfect Dark and Tomb Raider return, Crystal Dynamics announces another round of layoffs
AI Limit
"AI is not as effective as it might appear": Dev of AI-focused Soulslike RPG says they didn't use any AI-generated content and it can't match "genuine creativity"