Witcher 4 Devs Share Pre-Production Insights

The Witcher 4: A Secret Initiation Quest Shaped its Development

CD Projekt Red's upcoming Witcher 4 adventure, starring Ciri, began its development journey in an unexpected way: a seemingly innocuous side quest for The Witcher 3. This served as a crucial onboarding experience for new team members, smoothly transitioning them into the Witcher universe before tackling the ambitious Witcher 4 project.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, initially launched in May 2015, featured Ciri as a playable character in certain segments. However, the Game Awards 2024 trailer dramatically showcased Ciri's ascension to the lead role in Witcher 4, initiating a new trilogy centered around her.

The key piece of the puzzle? The "In the Eternal Fire's Shadow" side quest, added to Witcher 3 in late 2022. Initially conceived as a promotional tie-in for the game's next-gen update and to provide in-game justification for Henry Cavill's Netflix armor, it secretly served a far more significant purpose.

Philipp Webber, a Witcher 3 quest designer now leading narrative direction for Witcher 4, revealed on social media that this quest acted as an initiation rite for new team members. He described it as "the perfect start to getting back into the vibe," perfectly aligning with Witcher 4's March 2022 announcement. While pre-announcement planning undoubtedly existed, Webber's insight sheds light on the team's practical approach to integrating new talent.

Although Webber refrained from naming names, it's plausible that some team members were transferred from the Cyberpunk 2077 team, considering its 2020 release. This raises speculation about potential similarities between Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, particularly regarding skill trees. The timing of these new members' integration lends credence to this theory.