The Witcher 4 Finally Addresses Ciri Controversy

CD Projekt Red has finally addressed The Witcher 4 Ciri controversy after it recently evolved and grew this week. When The Witcher 4 was first revealed back in December, one of the big talking points was how different Ciri, its protagonist, looks compared to how she looks in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. And much of the chatter was negative, slamming the tweak designed and criticizing it for making the character less attractive, or at least that was the prevailing argument coming from parts of social media and gaming forums.

Fast-forward a couple months, and CD Projekt Red released a “Behind the Scenes” video for the cinematic trailer. The video itself is not that consequential, but it shows a Ciri that looks quite different than the Ciri shown in the cinematic reveal trailer. This has led some fans to believe that CD Projekt Red heard the aforementioned criticism and made changes to the design of Ciri based on said criticism.

That said, while there are no doubt some surface level differences between Ciri in the cinematic trailer and Ciri in the new behind the scenes video, a developer on the game has confirmed this is not the result of any feedback-driven design change, but just a product of development.

More specifically, using social media platform X, Sebastian Kalemba, a director on the upcoming Witcher game, addressed this speculation head on and squashed it, noting the models are the same.

“The behind-the-scenes video features the same in-game model of Ciri as seen in the original trailer. We have not modified it,” writes Kalemba. “What you’re seeing is raw footage — without facial animation, lighting, or virtual camera lenses. While it’s still in-engine, it represents a work-in-progress snapshot taken before we applied cinematic touches for the purpose of that video. This variation is a natural part of the game development process. At this point, any character’s appearance may vary depending on the medium — whether it’s in a trailer, a 3D model, or in-game.”

It’s important to remember not just everything above, but more specifically as it relates to The Witcher franchise, Geralt in the cinematic reveal trailer for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt looks quite different than how the monster hunter looks in the game. To this end, it should come as no surprise that Ciri is going to look different from the point of reveal to release. Whether the final product will massage the aforementioned concerns, remains to be seen.

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