"Witcher 4 Director Clarifies: Ciri's Face Unchanged"

The director of The Witcher 4 has clarified that a new video features the same in-game model of Ciri after some had thought her face looked different. Yesterday, CD Projekt released a behind-the-scenes look at The Witcher 4's cinematic reveal trailer, and fans noticed two brief clips that show new looks at Ciri up close. These clips, at the 2:11 and 5:47 marks, zoom in on Ciri's face as the camera spins around her character model. The comments are packed with fans highlighting how Ciri looks slightly different in the face in these moments than she does in the cinematic reveal trailer itself. One commenter called Ciri at the 5:47 mark the "perfect representation of a slightly older Ciri. I'm well happy! She looks fantastic!"

This initial speculation tapped into a response from some corners of the internet that Ciri looked "ugly" in The Witcher 4, based on her appearance in the reveal trailer. The response to the two new clips was overwhelmingly positive from commenters, and some reports suggested CD Projekt might have changed Ciri's face after this supposed "backlash." Not so, according to CD Projekt. Taking to social media, The Witcher 4 game director Sebastian Kalemba said the developer had not modified Ciri's in-game model, and clarified that these new looks were a "snapshot" taken before the developers applied the cinematic touches we see in the reveal video.

"The behind-the-scenes video features the same in-game model of Ciri as seen in the original trailer," Kalemba said. "We have not modified it. What you're seeing is raw footage — without facial animation, lighting, or virtual camera lenses. While it's still in-engine, it represents a work-in-progress snapshot taken before we applied cinematic touches for the purpose of that video. This variation is a natural part of the game development process. At this point, any character's appearance may vary depending on the medium — whether it's in a trailer, a 3D model, or in-game."

Or, as commenter Fehndrix put it on the Witcher subreddit: "Redditor discovers the effect that lighting can have on an in-game face model, is confused."

The Witcher 4 is the first in a new trilogy of Witcher games set after the events of The Witcher 3. But rather than star Geralt as protagonist, Ciri is the main character this time around. Speaking exclusively to IGN ahead of the reveal, executive producer Małgorzata Mitręga said Ciri was "the very organic, logical choice."

"It was always about her, starting from Saga when you read it in the books. She's an amazing, layered character. And of course, as a protagonist we said goodbye to Geralt previously. So this is a continuation. I guess for all of us it's like she was meant to be. That was always her."

Kalemba added that because Ciri is younger than Geralt, players will have more freedom to define her character in a way they couldn't with Geralt. This also affords the developers more space to explore her character.

While both Mitręga and Kalemba acknowledged a potential backlash from some corners of the internet at Ciri's role as protagonist in The Witcher 4, they insisted Ciri was always going to be the game's main character. "There was an intention behind this choice," Kalemba said. "It was far from roulette. It wasn't random. I remember we had discussions nine years ago, we were talking about who's next? The very, very instant answer was Ciri. There are many reasons behind that. We've already mentioned a few. But she really deserves a stage and we want players to really experience her story because she has so much to tell, so much to prove. The amount of challenges that are in front of her give us so much amazing energy and fuel to create an epic saga that we had no choice but to go with it. We all felt that this is the way. I believe this is the super right choice."

In January, speaking to IGN as part of a wider interview on Netflix's upcoming animated film, The Witcher: Sirens of The Deep, Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle backed CD Projekt's decision, even though it sees Geralt take a back seat. "I'm really excited," he said. "I think it's a really good move. I mean, I always thought that continuing the Saga, but shifting to Ciri would be a really, really interesting move for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because of things that happen in the books, which I don't want to give away because people, I want people to go read. So yeah, I think it's really exciting. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what they've done."

We've got plenty more exclusive content on The Witcher 4, including a trailer breakdown and an interview with CD Projekt where the developer explains why The Witcher 4 will avoid a Cyberpunk 2077-style launch disaster.