CD Projekt Red explains why The Witcher 4 is The Witcher 4. Many factors influenced game's final title
The first announcements suggested something else, but in the end, the beginning of the new Witcher saga was titled The Witcher 4.
Since the release of Andrzej Sapkowski's new novel, Crossroads of Ravens, the bag with the info about the Witcher saga has been opened, bringing forth a wealth of information about the fourth installment of the popular game series from the CD Projekt Red studio. In an interview for GameStar, Miles Tost (lead level designer) and Philipp Weber (narrative designer) from CD Projekt Red revealed why the new chapter of the saga was titled The Witcher 4. This involves both respect for the series and pragmatism.
- Although the answer to this question may seem obvious, let me remind you that in the promotional materials from 2022, the devs didn't decide to include "four" in the title. Instead, they limited themselves solely to the word Witcher and the slogan "A new saga begins," somewhat suggesting a departure from the fates of known characters, or at least pushing them into the background. Despite this, it turned out that the decision about the number "four" in the title wasn't spontaneous and was made long before the launch of the trailer.
- As Philipp Weber emphasized, the studio didn't want to break with its previous achievements or suggest that the game is a reboot. Maintaining the sequence of numbering (similar to giving the main role to Ciri) was something natural. For the developers, this is the next "big" The Witcher, which doesn't require knowledge of previous installments but also doesn't forget about them.
- According to Miles Tost, the decision was also dictated by pragmatism. The producers didn't want the absence of numbering to require providing the year of release during discussions, as was the case with the first installment of the Witcher series. A similar fate befell Tomb Raider mentioned by Tost, as well as the God of War series. Internet search engines have also proven to be significant, as they have become accustomed to specific phrases and certainly respond well to the title The Witcher 4.
It's also hard not to get the impression that in this case the title is an extremely important sales asset. CD Projekt Red studio experienced it firsthand after the release of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales. The ambitious title did gather positive reviews, but its sales didn't meet expectations. Perhaps with a different title more closely related to the original series, it would have been easier for it.
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Author: Krzysztof Kaluzinski
At GRYOnline.pl, works in the Newsroom. He is not afraid to tackle various topics, although he prefers news about independent productions in the style of Disco Elysium. In his childhood, he wrote fantasy stories, played a lot on Pegasus, and then on a computer. He turned his passion into a profession as an editor of a gaming portal run with a friend, as well as a copywriter and advisor in a console store. He doesn't care for remakes and long-running series. Since childhood, he wanted to write a novel, although he is definitely better at creating characters than plot. That's probably why he fell in love with RPGs (paper and virtual). He was raised in the 90s, to which he would gladly return. Loves Tarantino movies, thanks to Mad Max and the first Fallout he lost himself in post-apo, and Berserk convinced him to dark fantasy. Today he tries his hand at e-commerce and marketing, while also supporting the Newsroom on weekends, which allows him to continue cultivating old passions.
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