The Witcher 4 Tech Demo Does Not ‘Fully Represent the Final Game,’ CD Projekt Clarifies: ‘Visuals Reflect the Direction We’re Taking’

Amid excitement and disbelief at the quality of The Witcher 4 Unreal Engine 5 tech demo, developer CD Projekt has issued a statement insisting it is not a gameplay showcase and therefore does not represent actual The Witcher 4 gameplay footage.

The tech demo, captured on a PlayStation 5 and running at 60 frames per second, follows Ciri as she explores the never-before-seen region of Kovir in the midst of a monster contract (CD Projekt confirmed Kovir is a playable area in The Witcher 4).

There is a stunning amount of detail in the tech demo, with incredibly fluid animations on a level we have yet to see on the current generation of consoles. Ciri and her horse Kelpie have particularly impressive movement and interactions with each other, NPCs, and the game world as they make their way through the mountains of Kovir to the bustling port town of Valdrest. At one point in the demo, CD Projekt upped the NPC count in the market scene to 300 individually animated characters. The showcase ended with a first look at Lan Exeter, the winter capital and a major port city in Kovir.

The “standalone” tech demo was built to showcase Unreal Engine 5 features, CD Projekt said, and tools it’s using to develop the game’s open world. It is not gameplay footage, the developer stressed.

So, does the tech demo reflect what players can expect from The Witcher 4? CD Projekt said the visuals “reflect the direction we’re taking with The Witcher 4 — but it doesn’t fully represent the final game.”

CD Projekt continued: “Production is still underway, and we have a great deal of work ahead. That said, our goal is ambitious: to create one of the most visually advanced role-playing games to date.”

The developer also explained why it chose PS5 over a high-end PC for the tech demo: “Because optimizing for consoles early helps us future-proof performance across all platforms. Consoles come with tighter constraints, and meeting them pushes us to make smarter, more efficient tech choices — the kind that benefit every version of the game.”

One of the big questions about The Witcher 4 is target launch platforms. With this tech demo on PS5, the suggestion is it will be a cross-gen game that also runs on the next-gen consoles (PS6 and the next-gen Xbox). But if it’s due out on current-gen, does that also mean it will be available on the underpowered Xbox Series S?

It’s worth remembring that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto VI is, as it stands, also due out on current-gen consoles including the Xbox Series S. So if GTA 6 is possible on Microsoft’s cheaper console, perhaps The Witcher 4 is, too.

CD Projekt has indicated The Witcher 4 won’t be out until 2027 at the earliest, so it may be some time before we find out.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.