Tomasz Wadowski
Ciri, Kelpie, the Kovir mountains and 60 FPS on PlayStation 5. This is how the opening showcase of Unreal Fest 2025 looked. CD PROJEKT RED alongside Epic Games took to the stage during the State of Unreal and presented the world with the first fragments of The Witcher 4. And no – this was not 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 really lies beneath the hood of The Witcher 4? The whole thing is powered by Unreal Engine 5.6, and the demo ran smoothly at 60 frames per second on PlayStation 5 – without drops, even in an open world full of details. A 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 Nanite Foliage technology ensures a natural and dense environment, allowing forests and fields to be filled with fine details without straining the hardware.
CD PROJEKT RED also utilises the MetaHuman system with Mass AI integration, making sure that crowds in the game are not just background – each character looks and moves as if they were alive. Meanwhile, FastGeo Streaming provides instantaneous world loading – without the classic “streaming” during gameplay. Completing the package is the ML Deformer, which allows for the replication of subtle body movements and muscle work, adding depth and credibility to the characters.
All these elements not only look impressive, but are also optimised to run smoothly across all platforms the game will reach. This is not a showcase of graphic tricks – it's technology ready to function in a real game.
Check out the demo if you haven't seen it yet. And if you're planning an upgrade – you'd better get ready for the new generation of RPGs.
Not Just for The Witcher
The best part? These technologies will not be confined to CDPR's headquarters. 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 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 the technology of open worlds forward. The fact that we can showcase a demo at 60 FPS on PS5 is a huge step – but just the beginning. We still 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. By working with them on The Witcher 4, we are evolving 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 from one of Sapkowski's illustrations, but better. And all this in real-time and at 60 frames per second. CDPR is once again creating a game that the whole world will talk about – and this time it’s clear that the engine will not be a limitation, but a springboard.
