The Witcher 4 might not end up looking as pretty as its reveal trailer, but at the very least CD Projekt Red says it represents an "overall feel" the devs wants it to have

The Witcher 4's reveal trailer was quite a looker, and it turns out CD Projekt Red is hoping it'll capture that in the full game too.

We all know that whenever a cinematic trailer is released for the reveal of a game that the final thing won't end up looking that good. It's never happened, obviously because of the fact that pre-rendered trailers can just have a heck of a lot more detail than a game that's rendering in real-time. The reveal trailer that was shown off for The Witcher 4 at The Game Awards last week was no different, it was pre-rendered, but it was also made in Unreal Engine 5. As spotted by GamesRadar, a slideshow for the game's reveal offered up a few more details about the trailer specifically, and how CD Projekt Red is actually hoping that this is how the final game will look.

"The trailer is a cinematic look at the kind of experience The Witcher 4 is aspiring to give to players," the developer wrote. It is not rendered in real-time, but it is powered by the same tech that The Witcher 4 is being built on, which is Unreal Engine 5. The trailer is pre-rendered in our own custom build of the engine, using assets and models from the game itself. As such, it represents a look that we're targeting. This is a showcase of what this tech can do to bring out the style, atmosphere, and overall feel that we want The Witcher 4 to have."

Slides from the Witcher 4 press kit
byu/FlorpCorp inwitcher

Obviously this is always the kind of thing any developer hopes to do with a new project, but it might be best to take it with a pinch of salt until we see some gameplay. At the very least, despite only formally starting production last month, that does mean CD Projekt has a strong idea of how it wants new protagonist Ciri to look - who yes, was always going to be the next main character, even if she does have a new voice now.