During this year’s The Game Awards, CD PROJEKT RED offered a first look at The Witcher IV, previously known by its codename Polaris. The game, a successor to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — considered one of the most acclaimed games of all time — marks the beginning of a new Witcher saga with Ciri stepping into the role of the protagonist.
In the nearly six-minute trailer, viewers were re-introduced to Ciri, the adopted daughter of Geralt of Rivia, as she takes on a witcher contract in the remote village of Stromford. The villagers there, to protect themselves from evil, sacrifice
young girls. To prevent the death of the next victim and defeat the monster that terrorizes them, Ciri must venture deep into the heart of a mysterious, deadly cave. In doing so, she comes face-to-face with not only the evil that lurks there — her true struggle lies with the villagers’ deeply held beliefs and the generations-old tradition that they cling to. Framed as a short, self-contained Witcher story, the trailer showcases Ciri’s new abilities and tools, including a chain and advanced magic powers.
“We’re kicking off a brand-new Witcher saga, this time with Ciri as the heart of the story!” said Sebastian Kalemba, Game Director. “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.”
The trailer is pre-rendered in a custom build of Unreal Engine 5 on an unannounced NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU. Powered by the same tech that The Witcher IV is built on, using assets and models from the game itself, it aims to provide players with a cinematic look at the kind of experience the game is aspiring to provide. The trailer was created through a close collaboration between CD PROJEKT RED and Platige Image, who are no strangers to The Witcher universe, having been responsible for intro cinematics in the previous installments of the series.
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 her,” said Tomasz Marchewka, Story Director. “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.”
Ciri embarks on a journey through a world even more dangerous and unpredictable than the one we experienced with Geralt, a world where the old order is crumbling, and dark forces are seizing their chance to rise. 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 IV is a single-player, open-world RPG from CD PROJEKT RED. At the start of a new saga, players take on the role of Ciri and embark on a journey through a brutal dark fantasy world. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it aims to be the most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date.
Ciri is a worthy successor to the title of the next Witcher, and personally for me she always has been!” said Małgorzata Mitręga, the game’s Executive Producer. “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.”
Narrative Director Phillip Weber gave some insight into how Ciri’s story might unfold. “The world of The Witcher IV is a place full of moral ambiguity, and so the stories we tell there rarely provide easy answers of good and evil. Make your choices, and live with the consequences. Ciri’s story is a battle against destiny. This battle comes at a price that will have to be paid eventually — either by Ciri or by those dear to her. Your actions within the open world, the people you permit to come close to you, all have the potential to affect the path Ciri goes down on, and who she will become.”
For more information on The Witcher IV, please visit the official website. More information about The Witcher series can be found on the official website, X, and Facebook.
Images via CD PROJECKT RED
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