The Witcher 4 Unreal Engine 5 Tech Demo Unveiled on PS5 – PlayStation.Blog

Shout-out to the folks like CD Projekt Red. Partnering with Epic Games? I mean, woah. They’re kinda shaking up how we look at open-world games. So, they dropped this tech demo for The Witcher 4 — not the actual game, mind you, but like a peek into what’s cooking behind the scenes. It was cool seeing how they want to make the world feel more alive and, I dunno, responsive? Almost like the game’s breathing with you. Sounds wild, right?

But here’s the thing — they didn’t show gameplay, but totally sneaked in some storytelling. Ciri’s back, hunting down this beast that had me on edge. And then, we get to check out Kovir. Ever heard of it? It’s this rugged place, kinda like, I guess, focused on trade and staying out of all that nasty war business the north can’t seem to avoid.

Now, let’s unpack the tech bit. They went all out presenting it at 60 frames per second on a PS5, no less. Not just for Witcher 4 but a gift to the gaming dev community. Our pals at Epic are in this too, making it a goodie bag for the whole industry. Sounds idealistic, maybe? Or is it just a shared dream of epic proportions, haha?

Picture this: Ciri’s on her horse, Kelpie. And Kelpie — way more sophisticated than Roach ever was. The deets on muscle movement and real-time deformations are unbelievably detailed. Not even kidding, the tech they’re using is like hocus pocus for gaming. You know, the kind of stuff that doesn’t slow your game down but still brings everything to life? Epic-level wizardry there.

And jumping to some serious techy stuff — fast geometry streaming. So, what’s this mumbo jumbo? It’s like strolling through snowy mountains and forests without hitting annoying loading screens or ghost-like object pop-ins. Imagine weaving through environments, smooth as peanut butter. Unreal.

Oh, we gotta talk foliage. Imagine you could feel the trees swaying or hear the leaves rustling. Unreal Engine 5’s got this ‘Nanite Foliage’ that just, like, explodes into lush greenery without your system gasping for air. It’s art meeting tech, shaking hands with Mother Nature. Does that even make sense? Whatever, it works!

What’s next? Unreal Animation Framework. It’s what makes towns feel like they’re buzzing with real life. Like, imagine a band playing and the crowd totally vibing, not just standing there with blank stares — every NPC living their little lives. It closes the gap between them and Ciri in ways we have never seen before. Or maybe we have but, well, not like this!

And now, Mass Framework. Picture a busy market where stuff just happens. Ciri bumps this dude with apples, and it’s chaos in the best way. Apples go rolling, kids snatch them up, and pigs join the party. It’s all these unscripted moments that, I think, bring you into the story like never before.

So yeah, from AI to poetic chaos — The Witcher 4 is bubbling into something magical. Can’t wait to get lost in it.