The Witcher 4: Is Tech Demo the Final Look? CD Projekt Weighs In

The Witcher 4 tech demo showcased breathtaking visuals, though CD Projekt Red emphasizes it remains purely a technical showcase—not actual gameplay footage. As IGN previously noted, this demo doesn't reflect the final product. Yet witnessing this Unreal Engine 5 preview set in The Witcher universe inevitably sparks speculation about the upcoming title, still years away from launch.

Running at 60fps on PlayStation 5, the demo follows Ciri through Kovir—a newly revealed region confirmed as playable in The Witcher 4—during a monster-hunting mission.

The demo's staggering detail level redefines current-gen console expectations, featuring seamless animations that elevate environmental interactions. From Ciri and her mount Kelpie navigating Kovir's rugged terrain to Valdrest's lively port, every movement feels organic. A marketplace teeming with 300 individually animated NPCs demonstrated the tech's crowd rendering capabilities, culminating in the reveal of Lan Exeter—Kovir's winter capital.

CD Projekt Red understands the perils of mismanaged expectations, having weathered Cyberpunk 2077's turbulent launch. This context raises the critical question: Does this tech demo accurately represent The Witcher 4's final visuals?

When we posed this to CDPR's Cinematic Director Kajetan Kapuściński at Epic's State of Unreal 2025 event, his response acknowledged the demo's aspirational nature: "What you've seen today demonstrates our technological ambition and artistic direction—but everything remains subject to change."

Kapuściński clarified:

"This Unreal Engine 5 collaboration with Epic represents our cutting-edge co-developed technology, not finalized gameplay. It illustrates our creative approach while emphasizing that all elements are still in development."

Epic Games' Senior Director Wyeth Johnson confirmed the demo's PS5 performance targets—60fps with ray tracing—reflect their console optimization goals: "We're pushing aggressively for higher fidelity at locked framerates across all hardware."

This breakthrough challenges current-gen limitations, particularly regarding open-world ray tracing. Johnson explained their parallel processing innovations in Unreal Engine 5's animation framework and geometry streaming systems enable previously unreachable performance levels.

Their technical approach focuses on:

- Maximizing hardware utilization through parallel workloads

- Streamlined environment rendering at variable speeds

- Continuous bottleneck identification and optimization

The Witcher 4: Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo Gallery

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While Kapuściński remained guarded about specifics, he highlighted key technological advancements:

"The demo's environmental scale—particularly Nanite-enabled forests and 300-actor crowds—reveals our technical priorities. These systems will fundamentally expand our world-building capabilities."

Release platforms remain uncertain, though the PS5 demo suggests current-gen compatibility. The Xbox Series S question persists, especially given Rockstar's similar approach with GTA VI. With CD Projekt Red targeting a 2027 release at earliest, concrete answers may wait years.