Summary
- The Witcher 4 has seen a little bit of pushbabck about Ciri being the protagonist, but it’s something the devs expected.
- Narratvie lead Phillip Weber has stated that CD Projekt Red knew the change “could be controversial”, but will work to make Ciri a worthy protagonist.
The Witcher 4 is currently in development, and it will feature Ciri as the main character. While minor details about the game like map size have been revealed, that’s pretty much all we know about the game’s plot so far, and the vast majority of Witcher fans saw it coming.
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Ciri has been considered a secondary protagonist by author Andrej Sapkowski for quite some time, while The Witcher 3’s widely accepted canon ending has Ciri on the path to becoming a Witcher. She was seen as a natural replacement for Geralt by many, but there’s a subsection of fans upset with her inclusion as The Witcher 4’s main character.
CD Projekt Red apparently even knew that pushback could happen, as narrative director Phillip Weber recently explained in an interview with VGC that the devs “knew it could be controversial”, despite how obvious it seems to so many.
The Witcher 4 Lead Addresses Negative Reactions To Ciri As The Protagonist
“I think we definitely knew it could be controversial for some people because, of course, in the previous three Witcher games, Geralt was the protagonist and I think everyone really loved playing as Geralt,” says Weber. “I really loved playing as Geralt, so I think we’re aware that if some people think right now that they would still prefer to be Geralt, I do think that’s a legitimate concern, so if this is where that concern is coming from, that’s valid.”
We all know that the best way to drown out that kind of noise is to silence those doubts with action, and Weber states that “a lot of interesting things” can be done with Ciri to make her worthy of the game’s main character. Hen then goes on to stress that the decision to make Ciri the protagonist of The Witcher 4 wasn’t a whim, and it was made “a very long time ago”.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that a lot of noise was always going to be made from a certain crowd thanks to the fact that Ciri is simply a woman. Arguments about her appearance swiftly appeared on social media after the reveal, as were the claims that The Witcher is now woke and that Ciri is ugly. Thankfully, the more normal among us are just thrilled to be getting another Witcher game in the near future.
The Witcher IV is a single-player, open-world RPG from CD PROJEKT RED. At the start of a new saga, players take on the role of Ciri, a professional monster slayer, and embark on a journey through a brutal dark-fantasy world. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it aims to be the most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date.