On Tuesday, fans of the video game franchise The Witcher finally got a glimpse of the upcoming fourth installment during Epic Games’ State of Unreal event.
Polish developer CD Projekt RED, the masterminds behind the massively popular open-world RPG Cyberpunk 2077, initially teased the project in December 2024 at The Game Awards. Today’s reveal, however, offered a short-but-sweet look at the upcoming game’s sprawling environments and captivating cast.
In the presentation, players saw protagonist Ciri with her horse Kelpie, the pair trekking through the densely wooded region of Kovir. The presentation did not include gameplay, but instead sought to highlight the compelling capabilities of Unreal Engine 5.6. CD Projekt RED’s latest news release reports that the visually dazzling demo ran on “a PlayStation 5 at 60 frames per second.”
In the release, the Polish studio explains it wanted to “show[s] off in-engine capabilities set in the world of The Witcher IV, including the new Unreal Animation Framework, Nanite Foliage rendering, MetaHuman technology with Mass AI crowd scaling … The tools showcased are being developed, tested, and eventually released to all UE developers, starting with today’s Unreal Engine 5.6 release. This will help other studios create believable and immersive open-world environments that deliver performance at 60 FPS without compromising on quality — even at vast scales.”
The release continues: “The Unreal Animation Framework powers realistic character movements in busy scenes. FastGeo Streaming, developed in collaboration with Epic Games, allows environments to load quickly and smoothly. Nanite Foliage fills forests and fields with dense detail without sacrificing performance. The Mass system handles large, dynamic crowds with ease, while ML Deformer adds subtle, realistic touches to character animation — right down to muscle movement.”
The Witcher 4 won’t be available anytime soon, but if the concise sneak peek is any indication of what’s to come, then it’s likely worth the wait. Check out the gobsmacking visuals on YouTube.
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A lifelong gamer raised on classic titles like Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, and Croc, Stephanie brings her expertise of gaming and pop culture to deliver unique, refreshing views on the world of video games, complete with references to absurd and obscure media.
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