Tomasz Wadowski
Ciri, Kelpie, Kovir mountains and 60 FPS on PlayStation 5. This is what the opening show of Unreal Fest 2025 looked like. CD PROJEKT RED teamed up with Epic Games on stage during the State of Unreal and showcased the first fragments of The Witcher 4 to the world. And no – it wasn’t a CGI trailer, but a live demo built in Unreal Engine 5.6.
No one expected such a presentation.
What’s under the hood? Unreal Engine 5.6 in action
What’s really under the hood of The Witcher 4? It’s powered by Unreal Engine 5.6, and the demo ran smoothly at 60 frames per second on PlayStation 5 – without drops, even in a fully detailed open world. The key role here is played by the new Unreal Animation Framework, which is responsible for realistic character movements, even in scenes with a large number of NPCs. The natural and dense environment is handled by Nanite Foliage – a technology that allows forests and fields to be filled with fine details without taxing the hardware.
CD PROJEKT RED also utilizes the MetaHuman system with integration of Mass AI, ensuring that crowds in the game are not just a backdrop – each character looks and moves like a living being. FastGeo Streaming provides instant world loading – without the classic “streaming” during gameplay. All of this is complemented by ML Deformer, which allows for the capture of subtle body movements and muscle work, adding depth and believability to the characters.
All these elements not only look impressive but are also optimized to run smoothly on all platforms the game will be released on. This is not a showcase of graphic tricks – it’s technology ready for action in a real game.
Check out this demo if you haven’t seen it yet. And if you’re planning a hardware upgrade – you’d better get ready for a new generation of RPGs.
Not just for The Witcher
The best part? These technologies won't be locked away at CDPR's headquarters. The tools from the demo will be available to other developers – Epic has just released Unreal Engine 5.6, which includes some of these solutions.
This means that more studios will be able to create open worlds with a similar scale – without compromises between quality and performance.
What do the creators say?
Michał Nowakowski, co-CEO CD PROJEKT RED:
“Collaborating with Epic Games aimed to push open world technology forward. The fact that we can showcase a demo at 60 FPS on PS5 is a huge step – but just the beginning. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are heading in the right direction.”
Tim Sweeney, CEO Epic Games:
“CDPR are masters of open worlds. Working with them on The Witcher 4, we are developing Unreal Engine in a direction that will benefit the entire industry.”
In summary: the hype is deserved
The Witcher 4 is being developed. Unreal Engine 5.6 is functioning. Kovir looks like it's straight out of Sapkowski's illustrations, only better. And all of this in real-time and at 60 frames. CDPR is making a game that the whole world will talk about again – and this time it’s clear that the engine won't be a limitation, but a springboard.
