巫师 4 开发者详解团队如何备战这款万众瞩目的作品

A Witcher 4 Genesis: How a Witcher 3 Side Quest Prepared the Team

The development of The Witcher 4, featuring Ciri in the lead role for a new trilogy, began surprisingly with a seemingly unrelated task: a side quest for The Witcher 3. This unique approach, revealed by narrative director Philipp Webber, served as an onboarding experience for new team members.

Initially released in May 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt established Ciri as a key character, though not the protagonist. The December 2024 Game Awards trailer, however, confirmed her starring role in The Witcher 4.

The pivotal side quest, "In the Eternal Fire's Shadow," added to The Witcher 3 in late 2022, served multiple purposes. It promoted the game's next-gen update and provided in-game justification for the armor worn by Henry Cavill in the Netflix series. Crucially, Webber highlighted its role in integrating new developers into the Witcher universe, acting as their initiation before commencing work on The Witcher 4.

Webber described this approach as "the perfect start to getting back into the vibe," aligning neatly with the March 2022 announcement of The Witcher 4. While pre-announcement planning undoubtedly existed, the side quest offers insight into the team's practical onboarding process.

While Webber didn't name specific individuals, it's plausible that some team members transitioned from the Cyberpunk 2077 team (released in 2020). This timing fuels speculation about potential similarities between The Witcher 4's mechanics and Cyberpunk 2077's "Phantom Liberty" expansion, particularly regarding skill trees.