CD Projekt RED just showcased a spectacular tech demo of their upcoming epic fantasy RPG The Witcher 4 running on a PS5 with full Raytracing enabled. Besides showing incredibly lifelike and realistic visuals, the tech demo also highlights some of the latest features of the Unreal Engine 5 which is powering the upcoming The Witcher 4 and one of them is the Nanite Foliage which makes for insanely detailed in-game natural vegetation as seen in the demo during many instances.
The tech demo of The Witcher 4 was part of Epic Games’ State of Unreal keynote at Unreal Fest 2025, and although it wasn’t really a gameplay demo, it does showcase some of the new Unreal 5.6 features that will be running under the hood in the upcoming fantasy RPG. The demo was created by both CD Projekt RED and Epic Games specifically for the conference.
And the visual realism on display is phenomenal and barring the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 6, which is still close to a year away, this footage is as close to a ‘next-gen’ looking title as you can get right now. What’s more impressive is the fact that it’s running on the PS5, which indicates that the game might be capable of even greater degree of visual realism when it launches in the next 3-4 years.
The demo also introduces Kelpie, Ciri’s horse companion featuring incredibly realistic animations with individual muscles visibly flexing and stretching as she gallops, all in an uncanny level of physical realism and accuracy.
We also see densely populated regions with incredibly lifelike crowd A.I that behaves realistically along with a staggering amount of reactivity and responsiveness. Then there’s also the stunning natural vegetation and foliage renderings that are brought to life by the Unreal Engine 5 in ways that have never been seen in a videogame before.
While The Witcher 4 is still years away, the new tech demo does give a spectacular glimpse of the upcoming RPG and how ambitious it’s turning out to be in every possible way.
