CD Projekt Red Wants You To Stop Calling It "The Witcher 4"

Old, resurfaced Tweets by The Witcher 4 developer CD Projekt Red reveal that the upcoming project wasn't always labeled as a direct sequel. The Polish developer revealed the first details of its next project after Cyberpunk 2077 in a dramatic narrative trailer during The Game Awards last night, leading players to speculate on everything from potential release windows to the identity of its protagonist (yes, that was Ciri). But lest players forget, the next Witcher game was actually announced a long time ago, in a far more cryptic manner that implied it might not have been a direct sequel.

The Witcher 4 was originally announced in a promotional image posted on social media, depicting what looks like an amulet of representing a Witcher school (pictured below). It was originally captioned, "A new saga begins." On that occasion, CDPR's PR Director Radek Grabowski posted on X (then called Twitter) to remind fans not to call the upcoming game The Wticher 4, as that wasn't what it had announced.

CDPR's full press release from that day made it clear: this was "the first official confirmation of a new game in The Witcher series," not the announcement of The Witcher 4. But last night, we all saw a trailer that ended with a title card reading "The Witcher 4," and Grabowski walked his initial clarification back in the quote Tweet above.

Why CDPR Changed Its Mind On The Witcher 4

Has Anything Really Changed About The Witcher Sequel?

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But beyond the title, it doesn't seem like anything's actually changed about The Witcher. The original reveal for The Witcher 4 shows a medallion, decidedly feline, but definitely different from the School of the Cat one Ciri wears in The Witcher 3 (see above). The amulet has longer tufts of fur extending from its chin, and more upright ears compared to the Cat School medallion's folded back ones.

This led many players to speculate that the next Witcher game would focus on a new school never before seen in canon, perhaps the School of the Lynx, and perhaps featuring an all-new cast of characters. The former theory was seemingly confirmed by CDPR's Global Community Director Marcin Momot.

But if you look very closely at the trailer, you'll notice that Ciri is wearing a similar amulet to the one pictured in the original promo, not the cat one she's typically known for. So, other than the actual name of the game, it doesn't seem like this was a last-minute rewrite. CDPR probably wanted to keep its options open in those early days - it may always have known it was going to make a Ciri-focused spinoff, and simply left the title blank until it decided on something final.

Although some fans have attempted to fill in the gaps on the School of the Lynx, keep in mind that there's no canon material on that aspect of Witcher lore (yet).

The real question is what this means for The Witcher 4's story. Ciri may discover or even establish a new Witcher school in the sequel, expanding on the lore more than the first three games have already done. Only time will tell whether that theory's true, though.

Our Take: The Witcher 4 Name Is Probably A Practical Decision

Marketing Conquers All

Again, I doubt anything about the-game-formerly-not-known-as The Witcher 4 has fundamentally changed since its initial announcement. My best guess is that CDPR might have originally been considering a different title, but ultimately settled on The Witcher 4 because it's simple and recognizable.

Related The Witcher Season 5 Must Fix The Show's Biggest Character Complaint To Nail The Books' Ending The Witcher has some work to do if it wants to nail the books' ending - season 4 must start moving the series' plot in the right direction.

The total shift in perspective from Geralt to Ciri does mark the beginning of a new saga, so it would justify the switch to a hyphenated title - something like The Witcher: Ciri would make perfect sense. But with the wealth of Witcher content available out there - books, TV shows, comics, et cetera - that might get confusing. Simply following the games' established naming convention and calling it The Witcher 4 is the easiest way to ensure that every single fan knows exactly what it is the moment they hear of it, even if it's not a direct sequel.

Sources: Radek Grabowski/X, CDPR, The Witcher/YouTube, Marcin Momot/X