- Friday, June 06, 2025
CD Projekt Red impresses fans with a stunning Unreal Engine 5 tech demo for The Witcher 4, running at 60fps on a standard PlayStation 5. The demo highlights the studio’s commitment to optimization and next-gen open-world experiences.
By: Vibhuti Pathak
At Epic’s recent State of Unreal keynote, one of the most talked-about moments was the unveiling of The Witcher 4’s technical demo, built in Unreal Engine 5. The demo offered a tantalizing glimpse into the future of CD Projekt Red’s beloved RPG series, showcasing a richly detailed port city market, lush forest landscapes, and even a remarkably lifelike horse—all running at a silky 60 frames per second on a standard PlayStation 5.
Julius Girbig, senior technical animator at CD Projekt Red, explained the significance of this hardware choice in an interview with The Verge. “Everyone has the idea of how fast a PS5 is and what kinds of games it can run,” Girbig noted. “That’s why we specifically wanted to go that route of: let’s start with the consoles, let’s show how much we can optimize this engine together with Epic and make it work on current gen, instead of running it on some high-end hardware.”
It’s important to clarify that the Unreal Engine 5 demo isn’t a direct slice of The Witcher 4’s final gameplay. Rather, it serves as a showcase for the tools and visual direction CD Projekt Red is developing for the upcoming title. Girbig describes it as “a demonstration of the tools that we are currently building that will eventually power The Witcher 4,” highlighting the style, fidelity, and technical ambitions the studio is targeting.
The Witcher 4 marks a pivotal moment for CD Projekt Red. After years of developing open-world epics like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 on proprietary technology—sometimes with mixed technical results—the studio made the bold decision in 2022 to transition to Unreal Engine 5.
Girbig, who joined CDPR after this shift, emphasized that UE5 “across the board, gives us what we’re looking for.” This includes the ability to create vast, living worlds with hundreds of non-playable characters, each powered by more sophisticated AI, and a streamlined production pipeline for managing multiple ambitious projects. Notably, the upcoming remake of the original Witcher game is also being developed in Unreal Engine 5.
From an artistic standpoint, the move to Epic’s cutting-edge engine is equally transformative. “It allows an artist to express themselves much more easily when the engine isn’t a limitation anymore,” Girbig said. “As an artist, for me, this unlocked myself to think bigger, and on bigger scales.”
While the tech demo is not a promise of exact final gameplay, it sets high expectations for what fans can anticipate from The Witcher 4. With CD Projekt Red’s renewed focus on optimization and creative freedom, the next chapter in the Witcher saga is shaping up to be a true next-gen experience—one that will run beautifully even on current-gen consoles like the base PS5.
