Update []: In an update to this, CD Projekt Red has reached out to VGC to state that this new Witcher 4 gameplay footage is just a "tech demo" and not actually "The Witcher 4 itself". In other words, it's evidence of what the team is attempting to build using Unreal Engine's many tools, but not necessarily representative of what we'll see when The Witcher 4 launches in the future.
Here's the full statement that was provided to the outlet earlier today:
“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."
Original Story: CD Projekt Red has unveiled our first look at actual gameplay for The Witcher 4 as part of the State of Unreal showcase today, and it's safe to say we're absolutely blown away by how incredible this game looks so far.
There's loads and loads of footage in here, with the raw gameplay parts said to be running at 60FPS on a standard PlayStation 5, meaning the Xbox Series X should deliver a very similar experience whenever this game finally arrives.
Of course, being an Unreal showcase, there's a lot of talk about the technical aspects of this demo throughout the presentation, and there's certainly a lot of wizardry going on behind the scenes!
The Witcher 4 doesn't have a release date for Xbox (or any other platform) yet, but clearly it's coming along well. As soon as we hear anything about a launch window, we'll obviously let you know.
Here are the videos you want to see, and if we get any further details today, they'll be shared later on.
What do you think of this first gameplay reveal for The Witcher 4? Tell us in the comments down below.
Comments 45
This way further along then I thought. There was talk of this being next gen, yet here it is.
It's looking a very pretty game alright!
It is a tech demo, so we could still be a year or two away from actual release.
I wish they kept with their proprietary engine. That was a beast of an engine alongside id tech. No matter how pretty the game looks I don't know how they're going to make the game run without stuttering and blurry image quality. Just hope they find a solution.
Wow. That does look amazing. I wager this is launch next gen maybe? Or launch year at least.
It's not a gameplay, it's a tech demo. It doesn't represent the final game state in any way.
We all remember Cyberpunk 2077 running astonishingly great on base consoles.
Not sure how well it will work without Geralt as the main character though. But this is still high up on my list.
Looks like a slideshow.
I'm not going to play it anyway on current gen hardware.
Never forget 2077's trailers!
I will be waiting for at least 2 or 3 months post release before I even think of getting it.
All the usual tech demo caveats, but holy cow that looks astounding!
Having just come off the back of Cyberpunk 2077 I am now after anything CDPR and I can't wait for Ciri's adventure.
Impressive that this is running on og ps5, not even a pro.
Nanite foiliage is a game changer.
I have my doubts about this releasing as good on ps5 and series x. I have a feeling it will be better suited for the next xbox and ps6, I hope I am wrong! The videos looked fantastic! I am such a huge fan of the witcher, cannot wait for this!
Wow! I had been skeptically thinking it might end up on the next generation of systems. Guess not! Maybe we’ll see it in 2027
And then they’ll do a special edition in 2028 for ps6 etc
@Medic_alert Yes all the tech demo caveats, but I have to say I was impressed by Unreal's concentration on discussing PERFORMANCE improvements for Unreal Engine 5.6 which releases today. One interesting thing they said is that the UE5 Matrix demo's city now streams 90% faster than it did in 5.0.
Metahuman in real time also looked sick, literally enabling small studios to do face capture and li syncing on the cheap. That's a game changer. Plus Nanite Foliage. Lots of exciting new tech.
@themightyant exactly. UE5 has had a decent number of issues but things like this really change the game and are a leap forward for games.
Stuff like this arguably makes more difference than hardware right now because of the resource saving techniques, not to mention the potential it has to make creating games more cost effective.
I'm not expecting to play it for another 2-3 years mind. And even then it will probably need a bit more time in the oven knowing CDPR.
@Medic_alert Indeed. I just saw the AI part as well (i'm a bit behind the livestream juggling work) that also blew my mind about the possibilities in the next decade and more.
Quick update to this - CDPR has provided the following statement to VGC:
“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.”
@FraserG that's a really useful update and helps keep the hype in check.
Hopefully not another Spiderman puddles situation incoming !
Thanks
@FraserG So it's just a Witcher-flavoured tech demo. I guess that means we shouldn't read into it running on PS5 as confirmation as current-gen release.
@Medic_alert You're welcome! They do mention it's a "technological showcase" in the gameplay footage, but the statement clarifies things a lot better.
@abe_hikura I guess so, yeah. Who knows!
Does that not just seem like a massive waste of time though? Or does the game eventually benefit from this in any way shape or form?
@Kaloudz We'll find out in years to come 🤷♂️
@Kloppo That's generous of you to assume it will run good on the next Xbox or Playstation too. It'll probably be another Cyberpunk fiasco, so expect it to run poorly if it releases on next gen too until they patch it.
@Kaloudz could simply have been part of a marketing deal as part of the support they are getting as CDPR transition to the new engine.
You have to think some of this is representative of what they are working on though otherwise it will come across as super misleading long term.
People will be digging this video up in years to come like the Zelda demo before Wind waker!
@FraserG Man, I hope it's not years and years. I can live with 2 years, but not the sort of length we had to wait for, say, Cyberpunk. Do we know which is to come first? Witcher Remake or Witcher 4?
@Medic_alert That's true. Very true. Still, I do wonder whether this was slapped together from scratch, or whether they took some of this from the game they're currently working on and built it up from there. Either way, like Fraser points out, we're a long way from finding out no doubt :/
this looks great, Praise Geraldo
@Kaloudz yeah I reckon 3 years plus at this point and to be honest, just let them take as long as they need.
Cyberpunk 2077 is so good now, it is such a shame that it will be forever tarnished by that launch.
@TruestoryYep Agreed. I will be eagerly awaiting this game, but even when it releases… I will be waiting maybe a month or two until it is fixed.
@Kaloudz I hope it’s the remake! That things been announced for like 3 years now right?
Since it's a tech demo/target render, I'll say that I like what they're aiming for! I hope they can make it happen at or close to this fidelity.
@Kaloudz CDPR said several times that Witcher 4 comes out before the Witcher 1 remake, sadly...
Remember that one time CDPR lied to everyone about Cyberpunk?
I don’t believe a word they say.
@Dimey Oh okay, well, that's a shame. Thanks for letting me know buddy. You'd have thought they'd work to get the remake out before 4, given that it's bound to be a smaller game.
@ScalenePowers Sadly it's not. Dimey says that the devs have said on a number of occasions that the remake will come after the fourth game :/
@Medic_alert I never got round to playing it mate. I saw how badly it was when it launched and just never bothered. Surprising really, because although Witcher 3 had some teething issues, CP just seemed to be swimming in bugs lol.
@Kaloudz oh it still has some bugs and they seem to get worse the longer you play it but they are nothing game breaking, just a bit of pop in or textures failing to load.
Cyberpunk 2077 has ended up being a top 10 game of all time for me and i'm picking up a complete edition for S2 to have another play through i love it that much.
@Medic_alert Do you prefer it to, say, Witcher 3? Can I ask, what's the game like for flashing? Is it quite a flashy game? Lots of different colours and such?
Didn't these guys base this game on a board game or something? They certainly know how to find an IP that's not well known, and make it big, don't they haha.
@Kaloudz I do prefer it to the Witcher but that's entirely down to a preference for the setting. The characters and quests are just as well written and once I'd got past the prologue I was utterly hooked - like weeks where it was the first thing i thought about on waking in the morning.
In terms of flashing lights, it does have a fair amount of neon and screens in game, the lighting is obviously a lot less natural than something like the Witcher and I'd imagine riding through the city on a motorbike at high speed may elicit a similar experience for those sensitive to it...
@Kaloudz It's a different studio handling the remake, and I'm sure that I read something about it requiring some of the Witcher 4 assets or something along those lines.
shame - much as I'm looking forward to W4, I'd love to play W1 (and hopefully W2 one day) first, to round out Geralts story.
@Medic_alert Well that's me out then lol. Another one I'll add to the pile of never going to play. I really wish they could add an option to dull that down or turn it off one day every dev, not just these devs. I assume you enjoy Cyperpunk sort of things? Big Judge Dredd fan, Robocop etc...?
@Dimey Oh yeah of course, I recall that now. That a different studio is handling it under CD's supervision, right? Funny you say that, I tried W2 a small while back (it's backwards compatible 360) and the intro was outstanding, but the gameplay - after playing W3, it's almost clunky-like. I didn't get far lol.
@Kaloudz not particularly a fan albeit Robocop was part of my childhood.
I think I particularly liked the idea of this dystopia that feels all too 'round the corner' in terms of the current state of the world.
@Medic_alert I watched Demolition Man not so long back and it's scary how close our society is to that sort of thing 🤣
@Kaloudz I love that movie. Very much my era of bad but brilliant action movies!
@Medic_alert I love it too. That era of movies are just untouchable IMO. These days it's just marvel, marvel, the odd horror, and more marvel lol.
@Kaloudz I'd highly recommend Nobody and Sisu if you want a couple of no nonsense decent length old school action movies!
@Medic_alert Bookmarked. Heard of neither of them but you had me at no nonsense haha. I grew up on Seagal, Van Damme, (apparently they hate each other), Stallone, Russel, the lot.
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