The Witcher 4 (or something the subsequent entry in the long-running game series will be called) will use a unique engine from the one previously used in the controversial Cyberpunk 2077 – with The Witcher 4 being developed in Unreal Engine 5 and Cyberpunk 2077 having been developed in REDEngine.
“We’re completely satisfied to announce that the subsequent installment in The Witcher series of video games is presently in development, kicking off a new saga for the franchise,” CD Projekt Red stated in the post. “This is an exciting moment as we’re moving from REDengine to Unreal Engine 5, beginning a multi-year strategic
partnership with Epic Games. It covers now not solely licensing but technical development of Unreal Engine 5, as nicely as achievable future variations of Unreal Engine, the place relevant. We’ll carefully collaborate with Epic Games’ developers with the important goal being to assist tailor the engine for open-world experiences.
“At this point, no further details regarding the game such as a development time frame or release date are available.”
The Witcher game sequence is based totally on the book series of the identical name through Andrzej Sapkowski. The seriously acclaimed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the remaining mainline entry in CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher game series, was once first released back in 2007, making it 15 years since we got our hands on a new Witcher game.
But it is no shock that CD Projekt Red is developing a new entry in the series, given the success of Netflix’s The Witcher TV series (and its spin-offs). The show is about to go into its third season.
While details on The Witcher 4 are skinny right now, we’re predicting we ought to see Ciri taking up the protagonist mantle in this new series entry. The image (above) released alongside the announcement suggests a cat medallion in the snow (which belongs to Ciri), as a substitute for Geralt’s signature wolf medallion. What’s more, the put-up is titled ‘A New Saga’, suggesting an essential change is coming for the game series.
This hasn’t been verified but, given The Witcher 3 seemed to mark the give-up of Geralt’s adventures, Ciri heading up the subsequent installment in the series would make sense.
We may also now not understand plenty about the new Witcher game yet, but we’re already thrilled to hear that it’s going to be built on Unreal Engine 5 rather than REDengine. After all, Cyberpunk 2077 has been plagued with problems for the reason that its launch and the developer virtually might not want a repeat with its most iconic franchise.
We’re hoping we will hear more about The Witcher 4 in the coming months (including when we can expect it) at events such as Gamescom 2022 however given, the new series entry seems to be in early development, do not expect the subsequent Witcher time out to land anytime soon.
The Witcher 4 Doesn’t Need Geralt
Ever since The Witcher 3’s release again in May 2015 followers have speculated on a possible fourth entry in the series, however there are quite a few good reasons why protagonist Geralt have to no longer return for it. Geralt has been the important character of all three of The Witcher’s games, which observe on from him additionally being the primary character in the series of books by using Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski upon which the video games observe on from. Players of all three games will likely have built up pretty a connection with Geralt over the path of these games, so it would possibly be surprising to some followers to learn that Geralt nearly wasn’t in The Witcher 3.
The Witcher 3’s story was once greater closely tied to the books than both of the previous two games, featuring many characters no longer but encountered in the games such as Ciri and Yennifer, while additionally including the acquainted faces from the previous games, as properly as the impacts from some of the major decisions, mainly from The Witcher two The Witcher 4 has regularly been mentioned through fans, with Polish developers CD Projekt Red all however confirming its existence over the course of the last 7 years, though there has been no official confirmation as of yet. That may not be a fear for many gamers though, given the time it takes to complete The Witcher 3.
The Witcher 4 has a few options when it comes to setting and main character, but all of the most interesting options don’t need Geralt to succeed. CD Projekt Red could opt to set The Witcher 4 in the centuries before the events of the first three games when witchers were more commonplace. This could potentially give players the ability to create their own characters whilst still remaining friendly to the established lore. There would also be potential to explore the different witcher schools in greater detail than was possible in The Witcher 3, with even the possibility of having the choice of several different starting lifepaths similar to Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red’s other big title.
There is even the option of having the player not be a witcher at all, although admittedly on paper this does sound like a strange choice, The Witcher 3 showed that in addition to witchers, sorceresses are formidable fighters, and could well be worthy of crafting a story around. There are also the options of some of the non-human races, such as the elves or dwarves that could be explored, with factions such as the Scoia’tael ripe for further examination. It does seem unlikely that CD Projekt Red will want to make such a big departure for a mainline Witcher entry, however, especially given the importance of Alchemy in The Witcher 3 and the preparation and use of witcher brews and oils are seen by many as a key part of the games.
