The Witcher 4 made its surprise debut at The Game Awards with a gorgeous trailer starring Ciri, now a full-fledged Witcher, chopping down a monster that had been terrorising a village. But with Ciri confirmed as the leading lady, there’s one important question left: will Geralt appear?
Yes. Yes, he will. That’s according to CD Projekt who confirmed it to IGN, stating that “Geralt will appear in the game, but we don’t want to spoil his role precisely. You’ll have to wait to learn more for now.”
Of course, the trailer did hint that Geralt would return as it ended with the gravelly voice of Geralt saying “Time for a new saga. See you on the path.”
The last we saw of Geralt in the games was in The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine. The white-haired man was in semi-retirement at his vineyard in Toussaint. And we also know from the books that Geralt is alive and well some hundred years after the events of The Witcher 3.
Meanwhile Geralt’s voice actor Doug Cockle got himself in some minor trouble with CD Projekt earlier this month when revealed that he would appear in the new game but not as the main character.
“Witcher 4 has been announced. I can’t say anything about it. What we know is that Geralt will be part of the game, we just don’t know how much, and the game won’t focus on Geralt,” said Cockle as downed several potions and prepared to fight a monster. “So it’s not about him this time. We don’t know who it’s about. I’m excited to find out. I want to know! I have not seen any script yet — I mean, I couldn’t tell you if I did. This is the thing, so I could be lying through my teeth. But I’m not. Or am I?”
As for Ciri, there’s a lot the trailer sets up that the main game will need to answer. For example, Ciri is seen downing the special Witcher potions which would presumably mean Ciri has undergone the Trial of Grasses, despite not being able to previously. She is generally considered a Witcher even though she didn’t go through the usual process, and the book’s author Sapkowski also refers to her as a Witcher. Still, there’s a lot of questions waiting to be answered.