The Witcher 4 Unreal Engine 5 Demo Showcases PS5 Optimization

At Epic’s State of Unreal keynote, CD Projekt Red unveiled a stunning technical demo of The Witcher 4 running on Unreal Engine 5. This demo, showcasing a lively port city market, lush forests, and realistic horse animations, ran smoothly at 60 frames per second on a base PlayStation 5 console. This performance was no accident but a deliberate showcase of optimization capabilities.

Julius Girbig, senior technical animator at CD Projekt Red, explained that choosing the base PS5 was intentional to challenge assumptions about the console’s power and demonstrate how well Unreal Engine 5 can be optimized for current-generation hardware. This approach emphasizes practical performance rather than relying on high-end PCs.

It’s important to note that this demo is not a direct slice of the final game but a demonstration of the tools and technology powering The Witcher 4. It hints at the artistic style, fidelity, and scale the studio aims to achieve, setting expectations for a visually rich and expansive open-world experience.

The Witcher 4 represents a major shift for CD Projekt Red, moving away from their proprietary engine to Unreal Engine 5. This transition, announced in 2022, was driven by UE5’s ability to handle large-scale open worlds, support complex AI for hundreds of NPCs, and streamline production workflows across multiple projects.

From an artistic standpoint, the move to Unreal Engine 5 removes technical barriers, allowing artists to think bigger and create more ambitious environments and characters. Girbig highlights that the engine’s flexibility unlocks creative potential, enabling the team to deliver a richer and more immersive game world.

This demo not only excites fans but also signals a new era for CD Projekt Red’s development philosophy. By leveraging Unreal Engine 5’s advanced features and optimizing for accessible hardware like the base PS5, the studio is poised to deliver a technically impressive and artistically ambitious Witcher 4.