The creators of The Witcher and Cyberpunk 2077 kicked off the summer 2025 video game events by agreeing to show off their mastery of Unreal Engine 5 during a conference organized by Epic Games. And for that, what better way than with a taste of The Witcher 4? Just when we didn't think we'd see so much so soon, the studio offered a technical demo lasting over 10 minutes. A video that takes place in the universe of the next game and runs on a simple PS5.
CD Projekt Red explains the demo of The Witcher 4
If you've been following the news closely, you can't have missed yesterday's event. And no, we're not talking about the official State of Play this Wednesday, June 4th at 11:00 PM. No, we're talking about the appearance of The Witcher 4 during the State of Unreal 2025 conference. A presentation to discuss the technical advances of the engine created by Epic Games. CD Projekt Red therefore invited itself to this conference and did not arrive empty-handed. Against all expectations, we had a major technical demo of The Witcher 4 that everyone agreed on.
For many, it's a technical and artistic slap in the face, even though the release isn't scheduled until 2027. What was even more impressive was that this technical demo runs at 60fps with ray-tracing enabled on PS5 and not PS5 Pro. However, be careful what you saw and what you can see again below. CD Projekt Red confirmed to our colleagues at VGC that this is not a true gameplay video of The Witcher 4 or the game itself.
"This is a tech demo and a first look at the cutting-edge technology powering The Witcher 4, but not The Witcher 4 itself. It showcases the solid foundation we're building in close collaboration with Epic Games to push open-world design further than ever before, as well as the key systems and features we're developing using Unreal Engine 5."
A downgrade to be expected like Cyberpunk 2077?
After the slap of this The Witcher 4 technical demo, it's already a cold shower for some because of Cyberpunk 2077 in particular. While it is undeniable that CD Projekt Red offers superb games, technically and artistically, we still have in mind the CP2077 presentation at the various trade shows (E3, Gamescom). Many people were indeed dazzled... before returning to reality with the final game. Between the broken promises and the hyper-violent downgrade for the PS4 and Xbox One console versions, Cyberpunk 2077 disappointed at its launch.
Some are therefore wary and fear that the same thing will happen with The Witcher 4. "It will run well on the PS6 and poorly on the PS5"; "You keep falling for it"; "Fake, technical demo"; "CD Projekt Red taught me to be skeptical when it comes to gameplay demonstrations" can be read in reactions to this technical demo of TW4. Others even point out that The Witcher 3 wasn't honest at the time either... What do you think?
Source: VGC.
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