Summary
- The Witcher 4 is confirmed with Ciri as the new lead.
- The Witcher 4 must avoid lengthy delays between announcement and release.
- The Witcher 4 needs to maintain momentum with timely reveals.
After countless rumors and supposed leaks confirming that The Witcher 4 would soon make itself known, it finally did at the 2024 Game Awards ceremony in the form of a full-length trailer that cryptically introduced the game's setting and firmly established Ciri as the new lead protagonist. It's exciting, to say the least, knowing now that The Witcher 4 is on the horizon, and the hope is that the excitement surrounding the sequel isn't squashed by any unfortunate events between now and its release. Of course, The Witcher 4 could potentially avoid such disappointment and keep up its momentum by following Cyberpunk 2077 as an example of what not to do.
There are plenty of negative things that can be said about Cyberpunk 2077's launch, as it infamously holds a leading position in the most disastrous launches in video game history. However, while The Witcher 4 undoubtedly needs to avoid repeating such a catastrophe, Cyberpunk 2077 did something else that The Witcher 4 should avoid altogether as well. Specifically, The Witcher 4 needs to take note of the length of time between Cyberpunk 2077's announcement and its eventual release and then refuse, by all means, to replicate it.
Why Geralt Possibly Playing a Mentor Role in The Witcher 4 Could Leave a Sour Taste
While it might be nice to see Geralt back in The Witcher 4, his potential mentor role could end up backfiring for Ciri, the protagonist of the story.
The Witcher 4 Can't Leave Too Much Time Between Reveals
Cyberpunk 2077 Wasn't Released for Nearly Nine Years After Its Announcement
It's not too uncommon these days that a new game gets announced and then doesn't show itself again for quite some time, with games like Hollow Knight: Silksong and Grand Theft Auto 6 being among those titles. While fans have now made countless memes about the currently non-existent release dates of Silksong and Grand Theft Auto 6, they are far from the first games to take years to give any substance to their announcements. Cyberpunk 2077 is one such game, which didn't even receive its first substantial update until a little over 5 years after its announcement.
Cyberpunk 2077 was officially announced by CD Projekt Red on May 30, 2012. The first major teaser trailer for the game followed on January 10, 2013, giving fans a brief glimpse of the game's world and overall tone. However, after this initial reveal, CD Projekt Red went largely silent on the game for several years before finally showing off a more detailed look at the game at E3 2018, during Microsoft's press conference on June 10, 2018. As if that wasn't enough, Cyberpunk 2077 wasn't even released until December 10, 2020, putting its launch date just 5 months shy of the 9th anniversary since its announcement.
The Witcher 4 Needs to Keep the Reveals Coming
Thankfully, CD Projekt Red's Witcher series gives The Witcher 4 a good foundation for it to ride in on, but after how much time it took the developer's last major game, Cyberpunk 2077, to come to fruition, there's reason to hope against hope that The Witcher 4 won't fall into the same pit. If The Witcher 4 followed in Cyberpunk 2077's footsteps, that would put its release window in 2033, which seems unlikely. Still, for CD Projekt Red to wait even another three years before finally launching The Witcher 4 might feel like too long of a wait, so it might be better done in less than that.
Cyberpunk 2077 wasn't even released until December 10, 2020, putting its launch date just 5 months shy of the 9th anniversary since its announcement.
At the very least, The Witcher 4 needs to keep the reveals coming. If CDPR can maintain the momentum established by The Witcher 4's 2024 Game Awards reveal, the wait for its release might not feel too long, even if it is longer than anticipated. That being said, there needs to be a balance struck between the length of time it takes for The Witcher 4 to launch and the number of reveals between now and then, as continuing to show it off without just giving it to players might make it too much of a meme. Hopefully, the next Witcher 4 reveal will happen within the next year, and the wait for its release won't last too much longer after that.
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Publisher(s)
- CD Projekt Red
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- The Witcher
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Open-World
