- At the State of Unreal 2025 show, CD Projekt Red debuted an extended look at The Witcher 4.
- The devs showed off a cinematic trailer, followed up with a gameplay demo, giving players an early glimpse at the title's gorgeous open world, which is powered by Unreal Engine 5.
- Unfortunately, the developers provided no news on the release date.
CDPR kicked off the State of Unreal 2025 show with an absolute humdinger of a presentation. The Polish studio revealed a fresh, new look at the Witcher 4, featuring grotesque monstrosities, whimsical jesters, and all the horse muscles you could ask for. The long-awaited follow-up to 2015’s Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt was first unveiled as part of last year’s TGA presentation, and the devs have now provided one of the best gameplay demos you’ll ever see.
The presentation started with a cinematic trailer, featuring shots of a merchant wagon ravaged by a gruesome Manticore. As the winged beast tore into its prey, the helpless merchant inadvertently tossed a coin to a Witcher. Night transitioned into day, and in stepped Ciri, armed with dual swords and a sharp swagger. Geralt’s apprentice looks more than ready to take up the mantle, and we got to see a lot more of the character than in the initial reveal trailer.
The cinematic wrapped up with a shot of Ciri overlooking frost-capped mountains and verdant valleys. And just when I thought that’s all we’re getting, the game’s cinematic director picked up a Dualsense and started panning the camera. Needless to say, my jaw was on the floor. The upcoming title perfectly encapsulates what we all expected the PS5 generation to deliver, at least in terms of visual fidelity. Speaking of which, the narrator confirmed that the demo was running on a base PS5 at 60 FPS with raytracing enabled.
The gameplay sequences saw Ciri traverse through rugged terrain with plush snow particles drizzling the region. We also got a look at our new steed, a dark-maned horse named Kelpi. The devs went into some of the tech powering the horse mechanics, including machine-learned deformations that realistically recreate the stretching pattern under Kelpi’s skin, resulting in clearly visible nerve formations. We also got a dedicated look at the lush foliage down to individual pinecones, all being powered by Nanite.
The real highlight of the presentation came after Ciri rode into a settlement named Vagrest. CDPR was clearly in the mood to show off, as we got a look at some incredible NPC interactions, all of which looked organic and non-scripted.
From civilians scorning at the sight of a mutant and a guard straight up spitting at Ciri, to the local circus amassing a crowd of 300 for their show, the sheer variety on display is nothing short of mindblowing. Even the mini world events, such as an innkeeper hurling out a drunk patron or a fishmonger working on his charm on a customer, look meticulously detailed.
While we received no word on the game’s official release date, I reckon this presentation will have players more excited than ever for The Witcher 4. To play the devil’s advocate for a second, I’d recommend tempering expectations since we all know how CDPR’s last AAA project fared on day one. However, the devs did a terrific job rejuvenating Cyberpunk 2077 into an excellent futuristic RPG, so I guess all aboard the hype train.
With all that being said, what did you make for The Witcher 4 presentation? Let us know in the comments below.
