At the State of Unreal 2025 event, CD Projekt Red presented an impressive tech demo for the upcoming The Witcher IV. This demo is offering a first look at the direction they are taking with the game, and the technological advancements that allow them to make something impressive.
Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo
The demo is developed in collaboration with Epic Games and powered by Unreal Engine 5.6. Notably, the demo ran at 60 frames per second with ray tracing enabled on a standard PlayStation 5, which shows the games intend to fully take advantage of the power of the current-gen consoles.
You can take a look at the Tech Demo here:
Key highlights from the demo include:
- Immersive Environments: You can see Ciri exploring wild realistic forests and crowded marketplaces. Everything looks like it comes straight out of reality, with dynamic environments, weather, NPC’s, and more.
- Advanced NPC Interactions: Talking about NPC, the demo showcases up to 300 animated NPCs on screen simultaneously, making it feel even more real.
- Natural Transitions: The Tech Demo makes the shifts between cinematic sequences and gameplay feel very smooth. It highlights the game’s narrative depth and technical accomplishments.
Not Exactly Witcher IV Gameplay
While we could think this is exactly how the game will look like, it may not be. Following a lot of confusion from players, CD Projekt Red has confirmed to VGC that what was shown was not Witch IV gameplay, but really just a Tech Demo set in the Witch IV world.
“This is a tech demo, and a first look at the cutting-edge technology powering The Witcher 4 – but not The Witcher 4 itself,” a spokesperson told VGC.
“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.”
While it only a Tech Demo, it still shows how far you can go on a standard PlayStation 5 console. The only thing players are hoping now, is that CD Projekt Red will not deliver anything less for the actual game.
We are definitely ready to begin a new Witcher saga, with Ciri stepping into the protagonist role, exploring what it means to truly become a Witcher.
For more information about your favorite games, check out our latest news!
