Cyberpunk 2077 may have only just graced our screens, but the next Witcher is already in our sights. All but confirmed, The Witcher 4 will not feature Geralt, and very little is known about the game. That doesn’t stop us from being excited about CD Projekt Red’s next outing in the Northern Kingdoms, though – for Temeria!
When The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released back in 2015, it unveiled a huge world filled with beasts, political intrigue and one of the most engaging stories in video game history. Naturally, it was hailed as a triumph of game design and storytelling. Ever since, we have wondered what’s in store for our next adventure.
Witcher 4: The Good News?
We might not know a whole lot about the next Witcher installment, but by gosh are we still excited! The most important thing: the next Witcher is definitely in development, and it’s definitely coming. At this point, we’ve had quite a few confirmations that this is the case. Latest was when an investor hinted at a development team at work on The Witcher 4. Check out our break down:
In an interview with CD Projekt Red CEO Adam Kiciński in early 2020, Kiciński confirmed what we had already suspected – that The Witcher 4 will not, in fact, be ‘The Witcher 4’! In other words, the game will not be a continuation of the original trilogy, but instead a different adventure in the same universe.
CD Projekt Red may currently be focused on fixing Cyberpunk 2077, after an earth-shattering month for the developer (gosh we written a lot about this dev over the last month!), but a new Witcher adventure on next-gen consoles would sure-as-hell be a sweet pallet cleanser after such a dirty release.
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In March of 2020, Kiciński said some more fabulous words, claiming that a “relatively clear concept” was already set out for the next Witcher game! He also said that full-scale production would start up straight after Cyberpunk 2077 launched. How this has shaped up in reality, though, is hard to ascertain at this point.
Witcher 4: The Bad News?
Well, our dear Geralt won’t be blessing us with his presence this time around. What will be his replacement, you may ask? Well, beats us! Nothing has been confirmed, but we have some pretty sweet ideas. You gotta keep reading, though...
The release is a while away. As we mentioned above, CD Projekt Red planned on launching into full development as soon as Cyberpunk 2077 launched. The problem is, with such a buggy launch, Cyberpunk 2077 is surely taking a lot of resources to get fixed. This has probably delayed the development of a new Witcher title.
With that in mind, however, we could perhaps be looking at the game going into development after the main fixes have been implemented for Cyberpunk 2077 between now and February 2021. CD Projekt Red has refused our requests for comment on how all this will affect the allocation of development teams for future projects, but they did kind-of address it in their emergency investors conference call.
So, What Could the Next Witcher Game Be About?
Well... Let's be real here: we don’t know! But there are quite a few cool possibilities. Perhaps Ciri could be the new protagonist, possibly in a Dragon Age: Inquisition-style system where you rule over a kingdom? Or... maybe we could find ourselves inhabiting one of the many storylines from the books.
Personally, it’d be really cool to maybe inhabit the life of Vesemir before the order of Witchers crashed and many of the Witchers of Kaer Morhen died (these events happened many years before the events of the games or even the books). Perhaps we could move away from the Witcher’s themselves and towards a more political angle.
Maybe we could see a further exploration of Ciri’s parents Pavetta and Duny? Or an exploration of the sorceresses at Garstang on the Isle of Thanedd. There are many options in this rich and wonderful fantasy universe, and it gets us bloody excited for whatever the next installment may be!
Excuse Me, Sir, But What Should I Do Now?
Read the books. Play the games. Andrzej Sapkowski created an absolutely incredible universe, and the books are a wonderful place to start. Check out the two volumes of short stories – The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny - to get the context before you dive into the mainline books with Blood of Elves!
If you haven’t played through the entire trilogy yet, you must! The original Witcher may feel a bit outdated, but the world-building is superb and totally worth a play. And The Witcher 2 is still one of our favorite games – that opening! The Witcher Netflix series is pretty cool too, we love Henry Cavill as Geralt. And there's even an animated Witcher movie in the works. There’s PLENTY to entertain you with in the leadup to the next Witcher installment!
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