CD Projekt Red Showcases The Witcher 4 in Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo

CD Projekt Red has given fans their first look at Unreal Engine 5 powering The Witcher 4 through a new tech demo featuring Ciri, the game’s protagonist. The demo, which runs at 60 frames per second on PlayStation 5, showcases the studio’s partnership with Epic Games to push open-world game design to new heights.

While this isn’t actual gameplay from The Witcher 4, the demo tells a story following Ciri as she takes on a dangerous monster contract in Kovir, a previously unseen region known for its trading cities that stay away from northern military conflicts.

One of the standout features is Ciri’s horse Kelpie, which is much more advanced than Roach from previous games. The team used ML Deformer technology to make Kelpie’s muscles move and flex realistically in real-time. This creates lifelike movements without hurting the game’s performance.

The demo also shows off Fast Geometry Streaming, which loads everything from snowy mountains to deep valleys and forests without any stuttering or objects suddenly appearing. This technology works behind the scenes to smoothly load and unload parts of the world as players move through it, keeping performance steady throughout.

Two new systems make the world feel more alive. The Unreal Animation Framework powers more complex character interactions, letting many NPCs react to what’s happening around them instead of just standing still or repeating simple actions. Meanwhile, the Mass Framework handles large crowds and AI behavior, managing thousands of characters with minimal impact on performance.

The demo shows these systems working together in Valdrest’s busy market, where Ciri bumps into a man carrying apples. He doesn’t just react to the collision – he stumbles, drops his apples, which then roll down a hill and cause chain reactions as children grab them and pigs look for food.

CD Projekt Red plans to share these new tools with other game developers through Unreal Engine 5, potentially improving games across the industry. The studio says this technology will help make The Witcher 4 the most immersive game in the series.

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