Yesterday CD Projekt RED shocked the world with their tech demo of The Witcher 4 showcasing incredibly photorealistc visuals along with several groundbreaking new elements in Unreal Engine 5 that’s going to be in the upcoming game such as Nanite Foliage which allows insanely detailed and lifelike natural vegetation that have never been seen in gaming till date.
In fact the overall level of detail plus the character interactions at several in-game areas had many mistook the tech demo as actual gameplay footage, which might seem at first sight as the demo also had one of the developers ‘playing’ through a controller and that does hint at the entire video being part of gameplay. However, CD Projekt RED themselves have confirmed that the Unreal livestream demonstration doesn’t represent the final version of the game, though the devs are certainly aiming for that kind of visual fidelity and realism in The Witcher 4.
“It’s important to keep in mind that this tech demo isn’t meant to represent The Witcher 4 – it’s a showcase of the tools we’re developing together with Epic Games. That means specific visuals like character models and environments may be different to The Witcher 4.”
“This tech demo runs at 60fps on PS5, and that’s the performance we’re aiming for in The Witcher 4,” said a representative from CD Projekt. “It’s still too early to confirm exact specs for every platform, but we’re working closely with Epic to create an open-world experience that’s both beautiful to look at and smooth to play.”
Sebastian Kalemba, VP and game director at CD Projekt Red also stated that they’re “making this game to be the most immersive and ambitious open world Witcher game ever, and we’re making this a reality thanks to our work on Unreal with the team at Epic.”
It’s important to note that while the demo doesn’t represent what Witcher 4 will look like when it arrives, the game is still around 4 years away and by that time visuals in gaming is sure to undergo massive changes and overhauls as everything in the tech industry does with time. So there’s still a chance that The Witcher 4 could potentially match the tech demo or may even surpass it in some ways, especially when running on PC.
If you haven’t watched the demo yet, it’s highly recommended that you do as it represents a generational leap in videogame graphics that you won’t find anywhere else right now. So check it out here.
