During the State of Unreal presentation, which was hosted by Epic Games to provide updates on in-engine innovations made around Unreal Engine, CD Projekt RED debuted 15 minutes of The Witcher 4 footage.
According to the studio, this footage is running on “base PS5” at 60FPS using raytracing. Believe it or not, considering how many lies the studio told when it came to Cyberpunk 2077, the footage does look gorgeous.
While it is still early in development, and perhaps too early to pass judgement on whether or not the footage represents actual future gameplay, the video does showcase Unreal Engine 5’s beauty. CDPR claims that the in-engine footage showcases the “powerful foundation” the studio is building in close collaboration with Epic Games to push open-world games further using Unreal Engine 5.
The footage reveals that The Witcher 4 plans to take full advantage of all the latest and fancy tech in UE 5, including Nanite Foliage, Smart Objects, ML Deformer, and more.
CD Projekt Red has confirmed to VGC that what was shown wasn’t Witcher 4 gameplay, but a tech demo set in The Witcher 4 world. This is a tech demo, and a first look at the cutting-edge technology powering The Witcher 4 – but not The Witcher 4 itself. It showcases the powerful foundation we’re building in close collaboration with Epic Games to push open-world design further than ever before and the core systems and features we’re developing using Unreal Engine 5. We’re really proud of this early milestone and excited to give you a sneak peek at some of the cool tech like UAF, Nanite Foliage, Smart Objects, ML Deformer and FastGeo Streaming that are helping shape the future of The Witcher.”
The demo shows Ciri, who is the protagonist of the new game, exploring the land of Kovir. The studio says this region is the base for The Witcher 4’s setting, and players will explore all the secrets it has to offer.
If anything, The Witcher 4 has kept its traditional “Witcher” art style. You can see it is a new Witcher game. We are still a few years away from playing The Witcher 4. The game is reportedly scheduled to launch sometime after 2027. We will unlikely see real gameplay from the game until much further in development. Watch the tech demo below;
