"Witcher 4 Dev Reveals Team's Prep for Awaited Game"

Summary

• The Witcher 4's development team prepared for the project by working on a special quest in The Witcher 3, serving as an initiation for new team members.
• Ciri will be taking the lead role in The Witcher 4, starting a new trilogy for the character.

The narrative director of The Witcher 4 has shared insights into how the team prepared for the development of Ciri's upcoming solo adventure. Fans have been buzzing with excitement since the first glimpse of The Witcher 4, but the development team began re-immersing themselves in the Witcher universe two years ago with a special quest added to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, initially released in May 2015, follows Geralt as he protects his adopted daughter, Ciri, from the spectral warriors of The Wild Hunt. Although Ciri was playable in certain sections of the original game, a trailer unveiled at The Game Awards 2024 confirmed her as the lead protagonist in The Witcher 4.

In late 2022, the sidequest "In the Eternal Fire's Shadow" was introduced to The Witcher 3. This quest allowed Geralt to acquire long-lost equipment, serving both as a promotional tool for the game's next-gen update and a way to canonize the armor worn by Henry Cavill in Netflix's The Witcher series. Philipp Webber, who transitioned from quest designer on The Witcher 3 to narrative director for The Witcher 4, recently disclosed via social media that this quest was a crucial initiation for new team members joining the series, helping them acclimate before diving into The Witcher 4's development.

Late Witcher 3 Quest Was a Starting Point for The Witcher 4's Development

Webber emphasized that working on "In the Eternal Fire's Shadow" was "the perfect start to getting back into the vibe," aligning well with the timeline for The Witcher 4's development. Announced in March 2022, nine months before the sidequest's release, The Witcher 4 marks the beginning of a new trilogy centered around Ciri. This quest not only served as a preparatory step for the team but also hints at the planning that occurred prior to the game's official announcement.

While Webber did not disclose the names of the initiated team members, it's speculated that some may have come from the Cyberpunk 2077 team, given the release of that game in 2020. There is also speculation about The Witcher 4 featuring a skill tree similar to that in Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, supported by the timeline of new team members joining the project.