The Witcher 4 wants to "at least live up to" The Witcher 3's legacy, but it's not "out to beat" CD Projekt Red's past RPG

News
By published

The devs just want to "create the best game possible"

The Witcher 3 screenshot showing Geralt, Ciri, and the RPG's cast standing and smiling together while drinking
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Following director Sebastian Kalemba's announcement that The Witcher 4 has now "entered the full-scale production phase" and an accompanying teaser, the community has wondered whether the new RPG will live up to its predecessor's stellar reputation - but CD Projekt Red says it isn't "out to beat" The Witcher 3.

Speaking in a recent response to a fan online, narrative director Philipp Weber explains in a post that the upcoming game's developers aren't looking to "beat" The Witcher 3 - they're just hoping to "live up to that legacy" left by the beloved 2015 RPG. "We're not out to beat it, since we're still so proud of what we did then," writes Weber. Instead of focusing on living up to expectations set by the series' last game, devs are trying to make "the best" one they can.

"Our goal is to at least live up to that legacy," says the director, "and the only way we can is to stay true to what makes The Witcher what it is, and to simply create the best game possible!" It's a good attitude to hear during development, especially with little public information about the new game. The studio's joint CEO Michał Nowakowski recently said CDPR will stay pretty quiet before release, but he wants to "drop crumbs" to "whet the appetite" of fans.

As a longtime Witcher stan myself, I'm more than ready for some of these crumbs to fall my way. It's an exciting time to be a fan with upcoming CD Projekt Red games like The Witcher 4 in full swing, and other titles like the codenamed Project Sirius, a Witcher entry that developers say will "differ from past productions" at CDPR, in the works.

The Witcher 4 will be "better, bigger, greater" than The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077: "We don't want to go back"

Anna Koselke
Anna Koselke
Staff Writer

After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.