If there was any doubt that CD Projekt Red wanted Ciri to be the lead in future Witcher games, the studio has now confirmed that the idea was floating around since 2014. Ciri will take over the lead role from Geralt for The Witcher 4 and it was a natural course of action, according to the company.
Speaking in a new issue of PC Gamer (via GamesRadar), CD Projekt Red developers who worked on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt stated that Ciri was always the plan for leading the franchise after Geralt. The devs used the story of The Witcher 3 as a prime example. Geralt, despite being the main character, was there as more of a support character for Ciri’s journey than actively be at the centre of the game’s events and narrative.
“It was pretty early on we realised that [Blood & Wine] is where it ends, and also pretty early on, we knew that we wanted to work with Ciri later on. Even like 2014, it was already an idea floating around the studio that she’s next. In Witcher 3, Geralt is just helping out… he is there for her. So it was pretty clear we want her as the next… main character.”
In related news, a March 2024 report from Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier claimed that The Witcher 4 won’t release in 2026. So far, all we’ve gotten from official material is the cinematic reveal trailer so it’s expected that the anticipated sequel is at least a few years off from release. CD Projekt Red will probably want to take its time developing the game as the studio doesn’t want to repeat the same mistakes of Cyberpunk 2077’s notorious launch.
The Witcher 4 is currently in development. Make sure you check out some behind-the-scenes details about the game that were released earlier this year, including story information and how Ciri differs from Geralt.
Source: PC Gamer (via GamesRadar)
