Based on Andrzej Sapkowski's books of the same name, CD Projekt Red's The Witcher series has been a critical and commercial success and has served as the inspiration for the popular Netflix adaption as well. Though it already has three mainline games under its belt, The Witcher franchise has been a little quiet after the release of the beloved third entry, The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, in 2015. However, fans of the series were excited when it was finally confirmed in March of this year that The Witcher 4 was in development.
While this was an exciting announcement, CD Projekt Red did clarify that it was still very much early days for the game, even though the gap between entries is now almost the same as the time between the first game's release and the third. Fans will undoubtedly have to wait awhile yet for more news about the upcoming Witcher game, but there are a few tasty details that the developer has let slip in the meantime. Although not much has been revealed yet about The Witcher 4, CD Projekt Red has said that the next game will focus on a "new saga" and will feature the School of the Lynx. A new Witcher school will be intriguing, but some fans think The Witcher 4 shouldn't stop there and should instead introduce a bunch of new schools to freshen up the franchise.
Introduction Of The Lynx School
Players are already speculating heavily on what the new Witcher game will entail, and that includes theories around the new School of the Lynx. While the school has not been featured in the games before, there are plenty of fan-made stories about it that the developer could technically pull from. All that CD Projekt has revealed so far about the new school is its medallion when it first announced The Witcher 4, so fans don't really have anything to go on at the moment.
Even though details are scarce and more news is not necessarily on any nearby horizons, players have already started to make their own assumptions about the new school. Some believe it could be linked to the School of the Cat in some way, which offers up some interesting possibilities. As a more independent Witcher school, the School of the Cat is the only one that will teach women and demi-humans the ways of a Witcher, which could open up the options when it comes to the playable protagonist if the School of the Lynx has similar philosophies.
Taking It A Step Further
The lore in The Witcher games is as expansive as the environments, and there is a lot that players can learn about the world as they explore. While the games mainly focus on the School of the Wolf – the school of protagonist Geralt and his mentor Vesemir – there are other Witcher schools that are mentioned or featured throughout the series. Each school is characterized by its own animal, and while they all have the same goal to train up Witchers to become monster-slaying machines, each one has a unique outlook, skill set, and training method.
There are infamous examples like the School of the Cat, which was founded after a massive mutiny, or the by-the-book School of the Griffin. There are highly remote and militaristic institutions like the School of the Bear, or the reclusive and mysterious School of the Manticore that dwells in the desert. Needless to say, there are already a diverse group of schools that produce very unique Witchers. Still, while there is a rich, established lore around Witcher schools, The Witcher 4 could offer something different.
Gamers already know, from the very limited glimpse that CD Projekt Red has given of the game, that the developer is taking The Witcher 4 in a new direction. This most likely means leaving characters like Geralt behind, but it could point to an entirely new world from the one that players have previously encountered. Starting a new saga could mean wiping the slate clean, with the chance to introduce a whole new generation of Witcher schools with their own distinct personalities. If The Witcher 4 goes down the character creation route, it could even give players the chance to choose a Witcher school themselves and truly customize their combat and gameplay style alongside their appearance.
Fans won't know what CD project Red has planned just yet, but giving The Witcher 4 a distinct direction away from the previous games in the franchise could be a controversial move. Nevertheless, change can be good, and shaking things up in the Witcher world could lead to some really fascinating new schools and storylines.
The Witcher 4 is currently in development.