Non-playable characters (NPCs) will play a big role in the next game from CD Projekt RED (CDPR).
According to CDPR, The Witcher 4 will feature better NPCs than previous games. The reason? The Polish studio wants to ensure the greatest possible immersion. CDPR’s games are known for providing excellent narrative experiences, but they have been a bit lacking when it comes to NPCs. It seems that this is exactly what CDPR wants to change with its next game (which will be developed using Unreal Engine 5 instead of its in-house REDengine).
The development of The Witcher 4 (then codenamed Polaris, although that covers the entire new trilogy) was confirmed by CDPR back in 2022, and the Polish team finally christened the game at this year’s The Game Awards, as we expected. In an interview with Gamertag Radio (and embedded below), Sebastien Kalemba, director of The Witcher 4, revealed some interesting details about the NPCs. According to him, the developers want to take NPCs to a new level by making them unique in their own way.
They want to be seen as alive and have their own stories. This would be a big change from Cyberpunk 2077, where fans didn’t like how monotonous and lifeless they all were, and CDPR wants to change that in The Witcher 4. At the beginning of the trailer, Kalemba says there’s a girl who’s forced to pray in the forest because the villagers want to protect the village that way. Each character will have a unique role in the game. We can expect something similar for other NPCs, as Kalemba says that CDPR wants to push the boundaries on all fronts (both in terms of combat and graphics).
We’ll see how far they can go with this, but it’s a good bet that it will be another 1.5 to 2 years before The Witcher 4 is released, and by then next-gen platforms could be a possibility.
Source: GameRant
