See the future of The Witcher with the latest Tech Demo that has been shown off for the upcoming The Witcher IV
We all lost our minds when The Witcher IV was announced and all we had was a very basic cinematic and then a title card. Fast forward just about half a year, and here we go with some new updates from CD Projekt RED and Epic Games on how things are going for the game. Not only for the game, but also with how some of the features of the Unreal Engine have been altered for all to use and to make this title look and run smoother than it could have in the past. Sadly, though, this is all a tech demo for The Witcher IV and not true gameplay to behold. Keep that in mind, as none of what you are about to see could make it into the game. That or all of it could, who knows when it comes to these kinds of demos out there. One this it does well, is show off how good the game could look on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC when it launches, as well as some of the world features we might be able to expect as long as the team is given the proper time to build it all.
Now that we have that business out of the way, let us look at how The Witcher IV is helping to shape the engine and then using some of these new features to help keep the game looking good and at 60fps with no slowdown on the PS5. Yes, you are about to see this all running on the PS5. Things like how the game is rendering skin and muscle for the running horse, so that it all looks more realistic than we could have expected out there. This goes for all of the characters and creatures, too. Then there is a new foliage system that uses the Nanite system so that each leaf or needle can be rendered, and then keep the lighting as the camera swings in and out of the game world. Along with all of that, the ability to render about 300 full skeleton NPCs with custom animations, and the ability to react to the environment as the game plays live. Things that we would expect to see only in animation scenes for The Witcher IV, but can see it all flow as Ciri makes her way about the world. In this instance, hunting down the Manticore we have seen in all of the cinematics for the game up to now. Have a look, and please remember this is all a tech demo and not a final build of the game.
The Witcher IV — Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo
CD Projekt RED and Epic Games come together at the State of Unreal to show an early development Unreal Engine 5 tech demo for The Witcher IV — showcasing some of the innovative technology and features that will help bring the game’s open world to life. Keep in mind this isn’t gameplay of The Witcher 4 itself, but a deep dive into the technological foundation of the new Witcher saga.
Are you impressed with all you have to see here, and will it make the world of The Witcher feel vastly richer? Will you even be able to notice the fine details of the animation unless it was pointed out, and will more studios look to use this moving forward? Do you think we really need to have the Nanite system working for the leaves and pine needles in the world, or will that somehow build a more immersive world for us all when all is said and done? Take to the comment section to discuss all of this and everything else that we have going on out there. Of course, we are going to have a lot more for The Witcher IV as the team keeps on working on the game. It looks like they are making some big strides and pushing the industry forward just a bit more. I have a feeling that all of the assets we saw will be in the final build of the game, in some way, but all of it might be used to tell a completely different story. Maybe even set up a different list of events. Make sure to keep on checking in here to see all of that flow out there, as you will not want to miss a thing.