During the State of Unreal event held earlier tonight, CD Projekt Red and Epic Games teamed up to unveil a new promotional video and technical showcase for their latest masterpiece, "The Witcher 4," giving fans a glimpse into the future of the highly anticipated sequel. While this presentation is not the final version of the game, it fully demonstrates the immense potential of Unreal Engine 5 in open-world gaming.
In the demo video, players follow the protagonist, Ciri, as she explores the never-before-seen region of Kovir while undertaking a monster-related quest.
CDPR has confirmed that Kovir will be an explorable region in "The Witcher 4." The showcase highlighted several new technologies in Unreal Engine 5.6 for open-world environments, including footage running smoothly at 60fps with ray tracing on a base PlayStation 5 console. In a market scene within the game, CD Projekt even boosted the NPC count to 300, with each character featuring independent animations.
▼The demo was also shown running live on a PlayStation 5 at the State of Unreal event.
The official description notes: "As Ciri explores the bustling market of Valdrest, we see how Unreal Engine 5.6 handles a busy scene filled with highly detailed characters and visual effects. The tech demo also showcases the Nanite Foliage system—a fast and memory-efficient method for rendering extremely dense and realistic vegetation, which is expected to be released in UE 5.7."
While this technical showcase has fans excited about the visual experience of "The Witcher 4," the release of the main game itself is still a long way off.
CD Projekt has previously stated that "The Witcher 4" would launch in 2027 at the earliest, meaning a release this year is impossible. Even fans who were hoping for a 2026 release now see that as unlikely. Of course, a 2027 launch assumes everything goes smoothly, so it wouldn't be surprising if "The Witcher 4" doesn't arrive until 2028.
CD Projekt Red stated that "The Witcher 4" will leverage the technology of Unreal Engine 5 to create a more immersive open-world experience. The studio also emphasized that it will apply the lessons learned from the launch of "Cyberpunk 2077" to ensure "The Witcher 4" meets player expectations in both technology and content.
Although the game's release date remains unconfirmed, this technical showcase has undoubtedly provided players with a beautiful vision of the future of The Witcher's world.