The Witcher 4 — Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo

The Witcher 4 Unreal Engine 5 tech demo, showcased at the State of Unreal 2025 event, offers a glimpse into the upcoming game’s open-world capabilities, running on a base PlayStation 5 at 60 FPS with ray tracing enabled. Developed by CD Projekt Red (CDPR) in collaboration with Epic Games, the demo features Ciri as the protagonist, exploring the never-before-seen region of Kovir and the bustling port town of Valdrest. It highlights advanced Unreal Engine 5.6 features like Nanite Foliage for high-density, realistic vegetation, Fast Geometry Streaming for seamless world loading, Unreal Animation Framework for lifelike character movements, and MetaHuman technology with Mass AI for dynamic crowd interactions. Ciri’s horse, Kelpie, showcases improved physics with ML Deformer for realistic muscle movement. While not actual gameplay, the demo reflects CDPR’s ambition to create an immersive open-world RPG, with tools being developed for broader Unreal Engine use. The Witcher 4 is targeting a release no earlier than 2027.