Summary
- The Witcher 4's development began with a special quest in The Witcher 3, designed to onboard new team members.
- Ciri takes center stage in The Witcher 4, launching a new trilogy focused on her adventures.
The narrative director of The Witcher 4 has revealed how the team prepared for Ciri's upcoming solo adventure. While fans are still buzzing over the first glimpse of The Witcher 4, the development team began their journey two years prior with a unique quest added to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Released in May 2015, The Witcher 3 featured Geralt protecting his adopted daughter, Ciri. Although Ciri was playable in parts of the game, a December 2024 Game Awards trailer showcased her as the lead protagonist of The Witcher 4.
In late 2022, the "In the Eternal Fire's Shadow" side quest was added to The Witcher 3. This quest, involving Geralt acquiring lost equipment, served as both promotion for the game's next-gen update and a way to canonically explain the armor worn by Henry Cavill in the Netflix series. Philipp Webber, quest designer for The Witcher 3 and narrative director for The Witcher 4, recently confirmed this quest served as an initiation for new team members joining the project.
Late Witcher 3 Quest: A Springboard for The Witcher 4's Development
Webber described the "In the Eternal Fire's Shadow" quest as "the perfect start to getting back into the vibe" for new developers. This aligns with The Witcher 4's development timeline. Announced in March 2022, the game—the start of a Ciri-centric trilogy—preceded the side quest's release by approximately nine months. While pre-announcement planning existed, this reveals how the team was brought together.
Webber didn't name the initiated team members, but some likely transitioned from the Cyberpunk 2077 team (released in 2020). Speculation exists about The Witcher 4 potentially featuring a Phantom Liberty-style skill tree, a theory supported by the timing of these new team members' onboarding.
