RPG fans will agree that The Witcher franchise is known for some of the tough choices that it forces players to make throughout its main story as well as side quests. Game director Sebastian Kalemba has said that the studio – CD Projekt RED – intends to hang on to this aspect of the series with the upcoming title, The Witcher 4. In an interview with IGN, Kalemba spoke about presenting players with difficult choices, even if it were to result in players getting sad.
“Whatever the choice is and whatever the consequence is, we want players to feel rewarded, even if the emotion in the end is sadness,” explained Kalemba about the studio’s approach to presenting players with tough choices in its games. “If this is coherent with the emotional journey we’re delivering, [it will allow] the player to feel [that they are] okay with this consequence.”
However, Kalemba also emphasises that one of the core things about the studio’s games is that player agency is always important. With The Witcher 4, Kalemba said that CD Projekt RED wants to make sure that players will be able to sense that there are choices to be made, and that they have a role in the story. This also means that players will have to end up dealing with the consequences of their choices.
“We want to put player agency in the center,” said Kalemba. “We want players to be able to really sense these opportunities and to go in-depth when it comes to choice and consequences.”
“It’s the evolution of The Witcher, so more tools at players’ disposal to be able to not only play and go with the consequences narratively, but also gameplay wise,” he adds. “We want to give players more tools, more opportunities, to be able to feel that ‘I am the player and I define my experience.’”
The Witcher 4 is currently in development for PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. It was officially unveiled with a trailer back in December 2024 during The Game Awards, where CD Projekt RED also revealed that Ciri would be taking over as the protagonist of the series from previous protagonist Geralt of Rivia. In an interview with a Polish publication, CD Projekt CFO Piotr Nielubowicz spoke about how Ciri is a “great choice” as the new protagonist.
“At the [The Game Awards 2024] in December, we presented the first trailer, which was created using our own version of the Unreal Engine 5 engine,” said Nielubowicz. “Although it did not show the gameplay itself, it gave players an idea of what they could expect from ‘The Witcher 4’. Above all, we wanted to introduce the world to the main character of the game. We believe that Ciri is a great choice for the new saga because she gives us many possibilities – both narrative and artistic.”
“It also gives us the opportunity to tell the story from a new perspective. Apart from that, unfortunately, I cannot reveal anything more. We have the ambition to reach higher and higher with each new game, and this also applies to the fourth part of ‘The Witcher’.”
In the meantime, CD Projekt RED has also been celebrating ten years since the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Check out the recent video celebrating this event.
