The Witcher has become a smashing success for CD Projekt Red. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt exploded the popularity of the series, leading to a Netflix series, a next-gen upgrade, and a mobile spin-off title. However, now that CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 has been released, many fans of the series are curious about what the future holds for The Witcher games.
CD Projekt Red has confirmed the series will continue, but that it will no longer follow the story of Geralt of Rivia. While that may come as a disappointment to many fans, the world of The Witcher has proven it can still be worthwhile without Geralt. There is very little other information to go on in regards to The Witcher 4, other than the fact that multiplayer will come to the series in some fashion, since CD Projekt Red has said it wants to implement multiplayer modes in all of its series moving forward. However, there are some big things that fans could enjoy seeing in The Witcher 4.
A Different Time Period in The Witcher's World
By the time that fans are introduced to Geralt in The Witcher series, the time of witchers is on the way out. Fewer and fewer monsters are in need of being hunted, and the various witcher schools have all but stopped making new witchers as people have become distrusting of them. This gives The Witcher 4 an opportunity to show fans an entirely different time period, potentially one where witchers and monsters are much more common.
This could be done either by setting the new title before the timeline of current books and games, or it could be set after, as The Witcher video games have hinted at another Conjunction of the Spheres that would introduce tons of new monsters and magic to the world. The prequel setting is one that many Witcher fans have voiced their interest in, but both options are solid continuations of the story.
More Player Creation and Customization Options
The Witcher series is great for how it pushes players to roleplay the character of Geralt of Rivia so they can fight like a true witcher. Players get options for how exactly to approach each situation and their builds, but the options are a bit more stringent than most other RPGs. With The Witcher 4 not following Geralt, The Witcher 4 should greatly expand the options that players have. Players could have their choice of one of the witcher schools to help define how their character plays, which could work similarly to backgrounds in Dragon Age: Origins or even Cyberpunk 2077.
Polishing a Solid State at Launch
CD Projekt Red's Cyberpunk 2077 is now notorious for its poor launch condition. The game ran so poorly on consoles that it had to be delisted from the PlayStation Store until it received numerous patches and fixes. Understandably, this launch has left a stain on CD Projekt Red's name, and the company needs to do everything it can to ensure that The Witcher 4 does not come out in a similar state. Cyberpunk 2077's condition has slowly improved since launch, but there are some issues in Cyberpunk 2077 that need player-built mods to be fixed. It would be a massive shame if The Witcher 4 was released in a similar state, so hopefully CD Projekt Red won't make the same mistake twice.