With a tech demo revealed just this past week at State of Unreal 2025, The Witcher 4 is finally beginning to emerge from the shadows of early development. While it’s still a long way off, the look behind the curtain confirms CD Projekt Red’s ambitions for the next era of its beloved fantasy franchise. And it seems The Witcher 4’s team is looking to one of 2025’s biggest RPGs for inspiration: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
In a recent conversation with PC Gamer, CD Projekt Red co-CEO Adam Badowski revealed that the studio is genuinely impressed by Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2‘s immersive, simulation-driven approach to the player experience. Badowski cited the game’s emphasis on world interactivity, meaningful freedom of choice, and emergent gameplay as elements that CDPR is seriously looking to emulate. But importantly, Badowski also made clear that while The Witcher 4 may take cues from Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, it will remain rooted in CD Projekt Red’s signature storytelling style. And while this inspiration feels like a wonderful homage to one of 2025’s biggest games, CD Projekt Red taking note of what made Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 resonate with players is a great sign of what the future holds.
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Is a Masterclass in Grounded Worldbuilding
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has earned widespread acclaim in 2025 for its deeply immersive historical setting, historical tone, and grounded approach to character development. Set in medieval Bohemia, the game eschews high-fantasy tropes, such as those found in Baldur’s Gate 3, in favor of a grittier, human-centered story. And while The Witcher series has never shied away from magic, monsters, or myth, the IP has always thrived most when it blended the fantastical with the political, the personal, and the brutally real.
That’s where Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 becomes a surprisingly fitting influence. It’s not about copying its setting or mechanics directly, but about capturing that same sense of regional realism, social hierarchy, and personal consequence. The Witcher’s Continent is full of cities with centuries of history, warring factions, cultural traditions, and fraught legacies, much like Henry of Skalitz’s Bohemia. Embracing the grounded detail seen in KCD2 would only enrich that world further.
A Systems-Based Approach Could Deepen The Witcher 4’s RPG Mechanics
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is renowned for its role-playing gameplay systems that go far beyond intelligent dialogue options. Its stamina-based combat, injury mechanics, alchemy, and reputation systems all encourage players to think carefully about their actions in ways that do not inherently involve charisma. The Witcher series has traditionally leaned more towards action-heavy narratives, but the subtle amping up of already existing systems in The Witcher 3, particularly around herbalism, monster hunting preparation in bestiaries, and political alliances, could make The Witcher 4 feel more deliberate and modern.
This doesn’t mean The Witcher 4 needs to abandon accessibility or adopt punishing mechanics wholesale. Instead, it suggests a shift toward rewarding preparation and immersing players in systems that make the world feel lived-in. The Witcher 3 was already praised for its monster contracts and their side quests, and KCD2 offers a blueprint to take these details that burst with potential even further.
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Geralt’s World Was Already Gritty—But Ciri’s Could Be Grimmer
Geralt’s story was one that revolved around neutrality, consequence, and the grey areas of morality. Yet, even with its bleak outlook, the original Witcher trilogy leaned heavily on magical destinies and world-threatening crises. By contrast, KCD2 demonstrates that compelling RPGs don’t need world-ending stakes to feel urgent. Personal revenge, political maneuvering, and family loyalty can carry just as much narrative weight as ancient prophecies. If The Witcher 4 dials down the high fantasy in favor of smaller-scale, more personal stakes, at least at the outset, it could evoke the kind of slow-burn storytelling that helped KCD2 stand out.
The Continent Is Ready for a New Kind of Hero
The Witcher 4 is likely to leave Geralt behind, and that means CD Projekt Red has the opportunity to rethink what kind of character players will step into. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 makes a strong case for protagonists who aren’t instantly powerful or world-famous. Henry, the protagonist of Kingdom Come, begins as the adopted son of a blacksmith with limited combat experience, forcing players to grow with him as he seeks revenge.
As a protagonist, Ciri already has plenty of stakes up against her. Her elderblood and heiress lore, her womanhood, and the fandom’s attachment to Geralt’s role in the Witcher series may prove themselves as formidable foes against Ciri. She may be the underdog due to the fact that many players hesitated upon hearing she was The Witcher 4’s protagonist, but the DNA of KCD2’s fellow underdog offers compelling ways to frame this new heroine’s journey.
Returning to a Grittier, More Introspective Fantasy World
The comparisons between The Witcher and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 might seem surprising at first, especially given the former’s association with monsters and magic, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s roots in historical realism. But in tone, structure, and vision, they share more than many would expect. Both care deeply about consequences, about people trying to survive in systems that don’t favor them, and about stories that unfold not through bombast, but through character. In a gaming landscape increasingly defined by larger-than-life spectacle, a quieter, grittier, and more human fantasy RPG could be exactly what both Witcher and Kingdom Come fans are craving. If CD Projekt Red is truly looking to KCD2 for inspiration, then The Witcher 4 may end up being the most grounded and character-driven entry yet—an evolution that makes perfect sense.