"Witcher 4 Director Denies Ciri's Face Change Rumors"

The director of The Witcher 4 has clarified that a new video features the same in-game model of Ciri, despite some fans believing her appearance had changed. Yesterday, CD Projekt released a behind-the-scenes look at The Witcher 4's cinematic reveal trailer, showcasing two brief clips that offered a closer look at Ciri's face.

These clips, found at the 2:11 and 5:47 marks, zoom in on Ciri's face as the camera rotates around her. Fans quickly took to the comments to discuss how Ciri's facial features seemed slightly different from those in the cinematic reveal trailer. One fan praised the depiction at the 5:47 mark, calling it the "perfect representation of an older Ciri," expressing satisfaction with her fantastic appearance.

This initial speculation followed some online chatter suggesting Ciri looked "ugly" in The Witcher 4 based on her reveal trailer appearance. The response to the new clips was overwhelmingly positive, with some media reports suggesting CD Projekt might have altered Ciri's face due to the backlash.

However, The Witcher 4 game director Sebastian Kalemba took to social media to clarify that no modifications were made to Ciri's in-game model. He explained that the behind-the-scenes video showed raw footage, a "snapshot" of Ciri before applying cinematic enhancements such as facial animation, lighting, and virtual camera lenses.

"The behind-the-scenes video features the same in-game model of Ciri as seen in the original trailer," Kalemba stated. "We have not modified it. What you're seeing is raw footage — without facial animation, lighting, or virtual camera lenses. While it’s still in-engine, it represents a work-in-progress snapshot taken before we applied cinematic touches for the purpose of that video."

He further noted that variations in appearance are a natural part of the game development process and that any character's look may differ depending on the medium, whether it's a trailer, a 3D model, or in-game. A commenter on the Witcher subreddit humorously noted, "Redditor discovers the effect that lighting can have on an in-game face model, is confused."

The Witcher 4 is the first in a new trilogy set after the events of The Witcher 3, with Ciri taking the lead role instead of Geralt. In an exclusive interview with IGN before the reveal, executive producer Małgorzata Mitręga explained that Ciri was a "very organic, logical choice" for the protagonist, emphasizing her complexity and the natural progression from the books.

"It was always about her, starting from Saga when you read it in the books," Mitręga said. "She's an amazing, layered character. And of course, as a protagonist we said goodbye to Geralt previously. So this is a continuation. I guess for all of us it’s like she was meant to be. That was always her."

Kalemba added that Ciri's youthfulness allows for more player freedom in shaping her character compared to Geralt, and provides the developers with more room to explore her story. Both Mitręga and Kalemba acknowledged the potential for backlash regarding Ciri's starring role but affirmed that she was always intended to be the main character.

"There was an intention behind this choice," Kalemba explained. "It was far from roulette. It wasn't random. I remember we had discussions nine years ago, we were talking about who's next? The very, very instant answer was Ciri. There are many reasons behind that. We've already mentioned a few. But she really deserves a stage and we want players to really experience her story because she has so much to tell, so much to prove. The amount of challenges that are in front of her give us so much amazing energy and fuel to create an epic saga that we had no choice but to go with it. We all felt that this is the way. I believe this is the super right choice."

In January, speaking to IGN about Netflix's upcoming animated film, The Witcher: Sirens of The Deep, Geralt's voice actor Doug Cockle expressed excitement about CD Projekt's decision to focus on Ciri. "I'm really excited," he said. "I think it's a really good move. I mean, I always thought that continuing the Saga, but shifting to Ciri would be a really, really interesting move for all kinds of reasons, but mostly because of things that happen in the books, which I don't want to give away because people, I want people to go read. So yeah, I think it's really exciting. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what they've done."

For more on The Witcher 4, check out a trailer breakdown and an interview with CD Projekt discussing why The Witcher 4 will avoid a Cyberpunk 2077-style launch disaster.