The Witcher 4: First Glimpse of Unreal Engine 5 Power
CD Projekt Red took the stage at Unreal Fest Orlando and dropped a real surprise—a live tech demo for The Witcher 4 running in Unreal Engine 5.6. The showcase was part of Epic Games’ State of Unreal 2025 keynote, and it pulled back the curtain on both the technology and the fresh direction for the hit RPG series. For fans who’ve been itching to see what’s next after Geralt, this is the first serious look at Ciri’s new adventure, and it’s got some serious tech muscle behind it.
This time, the demo taps into UE5’s latest tools to deliver not just pretty visuals but a whole new feel for open-world gaming. We see Ciri—a Witcher in her own right—navigating rough mountains, stepping into the buzzing port town of Valdrest, and stumbling onto a lively, circus-like settlement. It’s all in a region called Kovir, a place that’s only been talked about in books and lore until now.
One major brag from the demo: they’re using something called the Fast Geometry Streaming Plugin. Basically, it means that as you ride through this massive world, the landscape, buildings, and forests are pulled in quickly, so you don’t get those awkward pop-ins that break your immersion. This was all running on a PlayStation 5, holding a steady 60 frames per second with ray-traced lighting making everything pop—a real leap over last gen’s Witcher.
The Details: Ciri, Kelpie, and Next-Gen Environments
Visuals are just part of the story. They showed off what they can now do with character effects using Chaos Cloth—so Ciri’s gear and cape move with a kind of realism that feels alive, not stiff or tacked on. And this is only going to get crazier with the next update, Unreal Engine 5.7’s Nanite Foliage, which promises even thicker, more detailed forests and plant life. Picture sunlight streaming through dense leaves while monsters prowl in the shadows.
What's also cool is how alive the world feels. There was a key bit where Ciri talks to her horse Kelpie—not just your standard mount. They gave a quick look at new muscle simulations for Kelpie, which means when it runs or kicks, you actually see the muscles shifting and flexing. Not flashy, but it matters for that feeling that you’re in a living, breathing world.
The demo included a classic Witcher moment: Ciri takes a merchant’s contract to handle a monster harassing a trade route. It’s a familiar setup—tracking clues, interrogating the shaken merchant, and a sudden, messy fight as the monster crashes the scene. But thanks to the new tech, every expression, every swing of her sword, feels dialed up in detail and impact. Even dynamic population scenes—like the circus settlement—are bustling, not just with cardboard-cutout people, but with NPCs responding naturally, giving the place a real sense of energy.
This isn’t just about looking good, though. Both CD Projekt Red and Epic Games keep talking up how UE5 puts fewer limits on the designers. That means bigger maps, fewer load screens, and a more seamless story—you could start in a mountain cave and be fighting in a dockside brawl ten minutes later, feeling like it’s one continuous adventure. The goal: deliver The Witcher 4 on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox with bigger worlds, smarter AI, and the kind of environmental storytelling that draws you in and doesn’t let go.
Jun, 4 2025