The Witcher 4 Tech Demo Gives Us a First Look at What Appears to Be Gameplay, but CDPR Adamant It’s Not the Game Itself
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While CD Projekt RED has officially revealed The Witcher 4, we haven’t seen the game in action yet. That (sort of) changed today, as CDPR gave us our first look at the game as part of a tech showcase by Epic Game for Unreal Engine 5.
However, here’s the thing: CD Projekt RED has kind of backtracked on the “gameplay” shown.
The Witcher 4’s Tech Demo Looks Insanely Impressive
The Witcher 4 stuff starts at 00:29:56 (you’re welcome), and kicks off with a cinematic, before transitioning to what seems to be actual gameplay featuring the franchise’s new protagonist, Ciri.
Now here’s the thing though, while what we’ve seen looks like gameplay, CD Projekt RED is hesitant to call it that. The studio has even issued a statement about it.
According to a CDPR spokesperson (via VGC), “This is a tech demo, and a first look at the cutting-edge technology powering The Witcher 4 – but not The Witcher 4 itself.”
Continuing, “It showcases the powerful foundation we’re building in close collaboration with Epic Games to push open-world design further than ever before and the core systems and features we’re developing using Unreal Engine 5.”
“We’re really proud of this early milestone and excited to give you a sneak peek at some of the cool tech like UAF, Nanite Foliage, Smart Objects, ML Deformer and FastGeo Streaming that are helping shape the future of The Witcher,” the statement finished.
According to The Game Awards and Summer Game Fest producer Geoff Keighley, CD Projekt RED confirmed that The Witcher 4 on PS5 will run at 60 frames-per-second on a base PS5, though that’s par for the course for most games these days –especially for single-player experiences.
Did CDPR backtrack since the game looked too good, and they were cautious of the blowback if the actual gameplay reveal didn’t live up to expectations? Maybe. At the very least, they have tempered expectations a bit, which is good, I guess.
The Witcher 4 is set for release on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and has no release date.
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