The Witcher 4 Dev Explains How the Team Prepared to Work on the Long-Awaited Title

A Witcher 4 Genesis: How a Witcher 3 Side Quest Prepared the Team

The development of The Witcher 4, featuring Ciri in the lead role for a new trilogy, began surprisingly with a seemingly unrelated task: a side quest for The Witcher 3. This initiative served as a crucial onboarding experience for new team members joining the Witcher 4 development cycle.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, initially released in May 2015, already featured Ciri as a playable character. However, the December 2024 Game Awards trailer confirmed her starring role in the upcoming sequel. The bridge between these two milestones was the In the Eternal Fire's Shadow side quest, added to Witcher 3 in late 2022.

This quest, ostensibly promoting the game's next-gen update and providing in-game justification for Henry Cavill's Netflix armor, served a more significant purpose. Philipp Webber, former Witcher 3 quest designer and now Witcher 4's narrative director, revealed on social media that the quest acted as an initiation for new team members. He described it as "the perfect start to getting back into the vibe," perfectly aligning with the March 2022 announcement of The Witcher 4.

While some pre-announcement planning undoubtedly occurred, Webber's statement sheds light on the practical onboarding of new developers. It's speculated that some of these individuals transitioned from the Cyberpunk 2077 team, given its 2020 release. This timeline also fuels speculation about potential similarities between The Witcher 4's skill tree and that of Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion. Though Webber didn't name specific individuals, the side quest's role in the larger narrative of The Witcher 4's development is undeniable.