The Witcher 4 narrative director has admitted that the team is implementing a lot of good lessons learned from The Witcher 3 to develop the anticipated new entry in the franchise. CD Projekt Red has a successful portfolio of games, but many would agree that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is undoubtedly one of its best, and that’s precisely why the developer is drawing on everything it learned there to bring The Witcher 4 to life.
CD Projekt Red is continuing the saga with The Witcher 4, this time bringing a story centered around Ciri instead of Geralt. The developer recently revealed a new tech demo of The Witcher 4, where fans could see some jaw-dropping Unreal Engine 5 graphics, showcasing landscapes and impressive world-building. However, in order to deliver such promising in-game visuals, the studio first had to learn several lessons in game development, most of which came from The Witcher 3—which is regarded by many as one of the best games of the century. Now, CD Projekt has provided more details on how The Witcher 3 helped the studio with the new entry in the franchise.
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Witcher 4 Dev is ‘Pretty Confident’ About the New Game
One of the lead developers behind The Witcher 4 is feeling confident about the next chapter in CD Projekt Red’s epic fantasy RPG franchise.
During an interview with GamesRadar+, The Witcher 4 narrative director Philipp Weber explained that, while the new game will bring innovative new elements to the table, the upcoming sequel builds upon many lessons learned from the successful The Witcher 3. He said that the team is well aware of what made that game so popular and “we have to really push that.” Weber also mentioned that the team knows what players want based on what they enjoyed from the previous game, and “we can’t break that. We have to do that.”
The Witcher 4 Takes Narrative Lessons from The Witcher 3
Weber highlighted the lessons learned from The Witcher 3’s narrative, emphasizing how the team is approaching The Witcher 4’s story in exactly the same way. Moreover, the way CD Projekt is tackling quest development is also based on rules from the previous game, stating that even the new features are ultimately inspired by the same philosophy applied in The Witcher 3.
In addition to the lessons learned from its own games, CD Projekt Red revealed it drew inspiration from Baldur’s Gate 3 for The Witcher 4. The studio’s CEO said Larian’s massive RPG hit affected the upcoming Witcher entry, especially in terms of character interaction with the open world, though he also emphasized that the team is “sticking to what was The Witcher 3.” Unfortunately for fans, The Witcher 4 won’t see the light of day until at least 2027, but considering the sources of inspiration the game is drawing from, it’ll almost certainly be worth the wait.