CDPR Reforms Ciri For The Witcher 4

Almost three years after it was initially revealed to be in development, The Witcher 4 received a cinematic reveal trailer during The Game Awards 2024 in December. The six-minute clip confirmed Ciri as the protagonist of the new RPG. Several Witch fans on Reddit and X, including some online forums, voiced against CDPR's decision and were not happy with how Ciri looked in the trailer, saying that CDPR changed her model too drastically from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

The Witcher 4 reveal trailer utilizes the same Ciri model applied in its accompanying behind-the-scenes video, a senior CD Projekt RED executive said. This was revealed with a potential reason why some fans speculate that the developer changed Ciri's face between the first two The Witcher 4 promo videos.

Later, in February 2025, CDPR published a second behind-the-scenes video of The Witcher 4 reveal trailer. From the YouTube comments, this trailer received a generally more positive response, and some fans mentioned there were a few moments where its Ciri model was closer to the appearance of the character in The Witcher 3. While this led to speculation that CDPR did alter the model in response to the initial backlash, game director Sebastian Kalemba quickly closed out that possibility.

On February 27, Kalemba reported on X that the behind-the-scenes video is evidence that the same Ciri model that appeared within the TGA 2024 reveal trailer has been used. However, the close-up shots of Ciri around the 2:11 and 5:47 mark are not given post-processing treatments like lighting, face animation, and virtual camera lenses. He described that the variations seen were from these "cinematic touches," deflating rumors of the developer altering her face in accordance with fan reaction to The Witcher 4's depiction of Ciri.

Kalemba mentioned, "This is the normal course of game development", adding that the looks of characters naturally vary depending on the medium. CDPR's track record would suggest so, as the cinematic reveal trailers for the first three The Witcher games each featured a slightly differently appearing Geralt than their respective in-game models. Ciri could, therefore, also look different in the actual game from the way she appears in the first trailer for The Witcher 4.