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 quest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Two years prior to the Witcher 4's announcement, a special side quest, "In the Eternal Fire's Shadow," was added to Witcher 3. This quest, initially conceived as promotion for the game's next-gen update and a way to canonically explain Henry Cavill's armor from the Netflix series, served a crucial behind-the-scenes purpose.
Philipp Webber, former quest designer for Witcher 3 and now narrative director for Witcher 4, revealed on social media that this quest acted as an onboarding experience for new team members. It provided a crucial entry point, allowing them to immerse themselves in the Witcher universe and its development processes before fully engaging with Witcher 4's production cycle. Webber described it as "the perfect start to getting back into the vibe," perfectly aligning with the March 2022 announcement of Witcher 4, approximately nine months before the side quest's release.
While the exact identities of these initiated team members remain undisclosed, speculation points towards some being transferred from the Cyberpunk 2077 team, given its 2020 release. This timeline also fuels theories regarding potential similarities between Witcher 4's skill tree and that of Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion. The side quest, therefore, wasn't just a minor addition to Witcher 3; it served as a vital bridge, seamlessly transitioning talent and setting the stage for the next chapter in the Witcher saga.
