The morning after The Witcher IV was officially revealed at The Game Awards, GameSpot had the chance to sit down with the game director Sebastian Kalemba and executive producer Małgorzata Mitręga. Although the interview was primarily focused on the reveal trailer, we did speak about Gwent, in-game romance, side quests, and the gameplay.
The trailer officially revealed that Ciri will be the protagonist for the new Witcher saga. In the video, she hunts a new monster based on Serbian folklore called the Bauk–a spider-like creature that gets in the heads of its victims before killing them. As part of our interview, we also got to hear a little about the inspiration for the new monster and more of what to expect from the much-anticipated sequel.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
GameSpot: How are you both feeling after the reveal?
Sebastian Kalemba: I feel relieved, super excited, and happy. A little bit tired, but that’s good, to be very honest, because we just entered production. But I’m super, super, super happy with the reaction we got so far, and we’ve been preparing for this moment all year and it was a really, really exciting experience. I was visualizing this moment for months and finally it blew up and I’m super happy. The team is excited and the team really deserves this moment. We finally don’t have to talk about this project with the codename Polaris. We can call it Witcher IV. We can say it aloud that Ciri is the main protagonist and it’s a new saga and it will take place in new regions of the world. These things we can finally reveal, and focus on the production and kick off a new year in the second with great energy.
To speak on Ciri a little bit, was that a hard decision to go with Ciri as the protagonist or was that pretty obvious from the beginning?
SK: It was an obvious choice, and I remember nine years ago we already made this call. […] So it wasn’t a hard choice. We decided [to] put the spotlight on Ciri because she deserves it. She was running most of her life and this is the moment for her to define herself. This gives us more room to expand the franchise here and there, but also to be able to tell the origin stories so new players will be able to experience this world from a different perspective but in a very appealing way.
Małgorzata Mitręga: This is a new protagonist–a new adventure–and it’s the beginning of the saga, right? So this is a fresh start [that pays] a lot of respect to the sentiment to the previous installments.
Can you talk about the regions where it takes place or at least one?
MM: We can refer to the trailer, right? It’s far north, in an isolated village. The trailer is showing the experience of what you [can expect] for the side content for the game. It won’t be one-on-one because it was custom-created for having a consistent story that shows everything we want to show to the world [at this time]. But a lot of that comes from the game itself, and the assets are actually from the game. So it’s a pre-render on the custom build, but it’s an engine [with assets] from the game.
Can you talk a little bit about shifting the focus to Ciri, in terms of storytelling?
SK: So let’s look at Ciri also through the prism of the trailer because when you look at this, there are no surprises. We specifically wanted to tell the story of a young girl that is not able to confront her destiny, [something Ciri can relate to]. Ciri was running for almost her whole life, and she finally found peace in Kaer Morhen. […] That’s why she’s the very first witcher by choice. She decides to become a witcher because [she enjoys it]. It gives us a lot of room to explore some really cool emotional stakes, and some cool tropes to tell some great stories. There are common denominators [between her and Geralt] like the way she fights and the way she behaves, but she’s also very passionate, very determined, and very engaged in anything she encounters and this is what we love [about her].
MM: She’s [also] younger [and] more agile. Of course she [can also do more magic than Geralt] so it gives us [more to work with] when it comes to the gameplay. And you can see a glimpse of it in the trailer. We introduced a chain, so there are different tools and there will be more of them.
SK: Małgorzata [also] mentioned the spell. Ciri is not a regular human being. She’s a source.
That makes her a special and super-powerful being. What does it mean? It means that you can control or at least sense the magic in the world. So in the trailer, she is simply using [the water as a source] to create a powerful spell.
I haven’t read the books in a while, but when she trained at Kaer Morhen, she never actually went through witcher school, and never underwent the Trial of Grasses.
MM: Yes. We cannot explain what happened [yet], but for those who played the previous game, know she was not mutated back then, [but she has] definitely passed the Trial of Grasses [at this point in the story]. This also gives us a lot of possibilities for her to become a true Witcher and still find how she wants to perform that on her own terms. And the player will be able to grow with her and help her to make those choices.
I imagine balancing gameplay will be an interesting challenge considering how powerful she is canonically.
SK: Yeah, that was one of the things that we solved at the very beginning of pre-production. Yes, she was OP in Wild Hunt and there was a purpose behind this, but here [we want to give] you an opportunity to build her up in your way, with the tools we’ll give you and with the stories you will be able to experience.
Can you talk a little bit about the monster that was shown? I know that’s a new monster for the Witcher, but I think it’s based on Serbian folklore.
MM: Yeah, it’s based on Serbian folklore. It’s more than a little bit [inspired actually].
SK: We pay a lot of attention to everything but [especially] to the monsters. That’s at the center of [a monster slayer’s world], right? And Ciri is a monster slayer. The Bauk is a very special being. It is a deadly monster that’s complex and intelligent. He senses your fears and he’s able to play with your mind. He makes you dizzy [and] lost. Then he attacks in a moment when [you’re confused]. You can experience it while watching [the initial confrontation in] the trailer.
MM: We wanted to show that the Bauk is a very complex monster and you can experience more creatures like that during the game. We want to introduce new monsters, for sure, but of course, there will be a variety of them. [Monsters are one of the] most important elements of the Witcher world, right? But they’re always connected to the region, to the location, to the people around them, to the environment, [and] to the story.
Gwent?
SK: I’ll be honest with you, I was impressed by the amount of people that said, “Gwent 2.0.” [There’s been] so much positively [around] Gwent. And what I can say is, it’s a part of this world.
MM: We love it and it’s important. And also we love our community.
SK: It’s very important and we hear you guys. We hear you and don’t worry, all right?
When it comes to romance, what can fans expect? Will there be any in The Witcher IV?
SK: Absolutely. It’s a part of the way we make games. It is a part of human nature. It’s a very normal thing. Without that I think we wouldn’t be able to tell the very full story.
MM: It’s an important part of life.
SK: But as always, we want to pay a lot of attention to it and make it super compelling and very meaningful. So it’s not just to make a romance for the sake of making a romance. That’s not the CDPR way.
CD Projekt Red is known for their side quests. Have you guys thought about how you plan to push side quests even further?
MM: Yeah. We are always pushing further with each and every game. We will learn from the previous games and also look at what’s happening in the market. You can expect us to. With our ambition, it will be nothing less. But yeah, we are looking forward [to exploring choices and consequences further]. To surprise the player, and to show them you don’t really have control of [everything]. You think you’re doing something and then it’s the other way around. We also want to push how the side content and main content [are connected]. And also with Ciri herself [and how her growth is affected], right? For sure, we will look there to push the boundaries further.
SK: Yeah, exactly. We want to make them meaningful, and we want to make sure that the consequences are visible. So you [feel as though] you had an impact either on an NPC or world in general. [These complex decisions are] why our games have long tails, right? Because of these choices and consequences [add a lot of] re-playability. You can experience the game a little bit differently here and there.