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The 2024 reveal trailer follows Ciri to a remote village where a monster demands human sacrifices. When villagers choose a young woman for the ritual, Ciri intervenes. The nearly six-minute film introduces her as the protagonist of a new Witcher saga—but it is a pre-rendered cinematic, not confirmed real-time gameplay.
What happens in the reveal trailer?
In its December 13, 2024 announcement, CD PROJEKT RED describes the cinematic as a self-contained story. Ciri takes a monster contract in an isolated village whose people have been living under the threat of ritual sacrifice. When a young woman is selected, Ciri steps in to protect her, despite being an outsider among villagers who distrust her. The studio’s framing turns on a familiar Witcher tension: the danger may come from supernatural monsters, human prejudice, or both. Read the studio’s announcement and synopsis.
A December 18, 2024 interview with the developers at Xbox Wire gives the cinematic’s characters and setting names: the village is Stromford, the young woman is Mioni, and the monster is Bauk. The interview also reports Narrative Director Philipp Weber’s description of the story as taking place a few years after The Witcher 3. Those details come from the interview rather than the studio’s shorter trailer announcement. Read the Xbox Wire interview.
What does the trailer establish about The Witcher IV?
CD PROJEKT RED presents The Witcher IV as a single-player, open-world RPG and names Ciri as its protagonist. The studio calls the game the beginning of a new saga and describes it as a successor to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Game Director Sebastian Kalemba said the new saga has “Ciri as the heart of the story.” The official Witcher IV page credits the cinematic’s production to Platige Image in cooperation with CD PROJEKT RED.
#1 Best Overall
- Trained from early childhood and mutated to gain superhuman skills, strength, and reflexes, witchers are a counterbalance to the monster-infested world in which they live.
- Built for endless adventure, the massive open world of The Witcher sets new standards in terms of size, depth, and complexity.
- Take on the most important contract of your life: to track down the child of prophecy, the key to saving or destroying this world.
The developers’ comments offer context for the choice of protagonist, not a full account of her gameplay or every story decision. In the Xbox Wire interview, Weber discusses Ciri’s personal motivations, while Kalemba describes her as “super passionate, super determined and very engaged in this story.” These are developer characterizations; the trailer alone does not establish how every player choice will work.
Is the cinematic real gameplay?
No. CD PROJEKT RED says the nearly six-minute cinematic was pre-rendered in a custom Unreal Engine 5 build on an unannounced NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU. It uses technology, assets, and models from the game, but the announcement does not identify it as a real-time playable capture. The accurate takeaway is that the film was made with the game’s technology and materials—not that its shots prove how the game will look or perform during play.
Rank #2
![NAMCO - CD Projekt Red - The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt - Complete Edition, Playstation 5 [English Edition]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51dWUfwFl5L._SL160_.jpg)
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How the reveal differs from the later Unreal Engine 5 demo
In June 2025, CD PROJEKT RED presented a separate Unreal Engine 5 technology demonstration. The studio described it as an early-development technology demo and explicitly said it was not gameplay of The Witcher IV. The two presentations have different purposes and should not be treated as evidence of final gameplay or performance:
| Presentation | What the studio says it is | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|
| December 2024 cinematic reveal | A pre-rendered cinematic made in a custom UE5 build, using game technology, assets, and models; production credited to Platige Image with CD PROJEKT RED | The story premise and Ciri’s role, not confirmed real-time gameplay |
| June 2025 UE5 technology demo | An early-development technology demonstration, explicitly not gameplay of The Witcher IV | A separate technical showcase, not a playable-game capture |
CD PROJEKT RED’s technology-demo page explains the later presentation’s status.
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- PLAY AS A HIGHLY TRAINED MONSTER SLAYER FOR HIRE: Trained from early childhood and mutated to gain superhuman skills, strength, and reflexes, witchers are a counterbalance to the monster-infested world in which they live.
- Gruesomely destroy foes as a professional monster hunter armed with a range of upgradeable weapons, mutating potions, and combat magic.
- Hunt down a wide variety of exotic monsters, from savage beasts prowling mountain passes to cunning supernatural predators lurking in the shadowy back alleys of densely populated cities. Invest your rewards to upgrade your weaponry and buy custom armor, or spend them on horse races, card games, fist fighting, and other pleasures life brings.
- EXPLORE A MORALLY AMBIGUOUS FANTASY OPEN WORLD: Built for endless adventure, the massive open world of The Witcher sets new standards in terms of size, depth, and complexity. Traverse a fantastical open world: explore forgotten ruins, caves, and shipwrecks, trade with merchants and dwarven smiths in cities, and hunt across the open plains, mountains, and seas. Deal with treasonous generals, devious witches, and corrupt royalty to provide dark and dangerous services. Make choices that go beyond good & evil, and face their far-reaching consequences.
- TRACK DOWN THE CHILD OF PROPHECY: Take on the most important contract of your life: to track down the child of prophecy, the key to saving or destroying this world. In times of war, chase down the child of prophecy, a living weapon foretold by ancient elven legends. Struggle against ferocious rulers, spirits of the wilds, and even a threat from beyond the veil – all hell-bent on controlling this world. Define your destiny in a world that may not be worth saving.
Where to go for more context
The reveal is designed to introduce Ciri and the new saga; it does not require prior familiarity with the series. Readers who want background on the world or Ciri can start with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which the studio identifies as the predecessor to The Witcher IV. The franchise is also rooted in Andrzej Sapkowski’s book series, as described on the official Witcher site. Neither the game nor a particular book is necessary to understand the cinematic’s central conflict.
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