While CD Projekt RED has confirmed that Ciri will be taking over as the protagonist in The Witcher 4 over the franchise’s traditional protagonist – Geralt – how the studio will handle the narrative remains to be seen. In the meantime, however, Geralt’s voice actor, Doug Cockle, has spoken about having met Ciri’s voice actor, Ciara Berkeley, and how he believes she is going to do a great job as the upcoming game’s lead.
Speaking to GamesRadar, Cockle recounted having met Berkeley and having spoken with her through online DMs. Generally speaking, he has been quite positive about his interactions with her, and even went as far as to say that he doesn’t really have any advice for her.
“I have met her [Berkeley],” said Cockle. “I only spoke with her briefly, just today. We exchanged some DMs a couple of weeks ago just to say hi… She’s lovely, and I think she’s going to do a great job. She’s got a fantastic presence in person. I don’t really have any advice. I’ve offered to chat with her if she has any questions or anything like that, but she’s a strong person. She’s going to be fine.”
Cockle has been quite vocal in his support for Ciri taking over as the protagonist in The Witcher 4. The original announcement from back in December 2024 caused a bit of controversy, with many referring to the decision to have Ciri as the main character as “woke”. Cockle spoke out against this, telling these people that they should “read the damn books.”
“It’s not woke,” said Cockle at the time. “There’s nothing woke about it. It’s a cool character from The Witcher and they’re going to focus on that character. I think that’s awesome. We can’t just have Geralt for every single game for The Witcher ad nauseum through eternity.”
“Besides, we’ve seen the end of Geralt’s journey,” he continued. “Blood and Wine was supposed to wrap up Geralt’s journey. I celebrate Ciri. I celebrate her being the protagonist. So all you people who think it’s woke … if you read the books, then you understand why CD Projekt went down this avenue. There’s a whole rich world of stuff to explore with Ciri that they didn’t do when they put her into [The Witcher 3] because the story was about Geralt. But she hints at it.”
“If you think it’s woke, read the damn books. They’re good, first of all. And secondly, you won’t think it’s so woke anymore.”
Back in January, Cockle had also referred to the decision of focusing on Ciri for The Witcher 4 as being “a really good move”. He went on to note that he was excited for the upcoming game, and that he was interested in seeing how the narrative shapes up with a new hero at the helm. He also noted that, while Geralt won’t be the main character, he will still be present in the game as a side character.
The Witcher 4 is being developed for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.
