In 2020 hint that Ciri will be The Witcher 4 protagonist was published, but it was disguised as joke
In 2020, we reported that Ciri could become the main character of The Witcher 4. Although it looked like a joke at the time, we already knew that the information was true.
Yesterday, during The Game Awards 2024, many gamers held their breath when the words "CD Project RED presents" appeared on the screen. The first trailer for The Witcher 4 was officially presented to the world, with the well-known Ciri as the main character. While this has only just been confirmed, rumors about it first appeared in 2020. Oddly enough, our editorial team already knew at that time that they were real. Our fraternal Polish page knew about this and that already in 2020 and described it in the news that was a "joke on April Fools."
Seems like a joke, but it's not
The whole situation was explained on X by Krystian "UV" Smoszna, until recently the editor-in-chief of Gry-Online.pl. He revealed that although the text published on April 1 looked like just an April Fool's joke, it actually contained a secret message.
Krystian reported that this message was obtained in 2019 from an anonymous but trusted source. The matter of Ciri was supposed to have been settled long ago, and the game was meant to be a prequel. Ciri is already a real monster-killing machine in The Wild Hunt. However, there wasn't much that could be done with this information, so Krystain came up with the idea to present it as an April Fool's joke.
There was little that could be done with this information at that time. Rumors about Ciri being the main character had already been circulating online, so further revelations from another anonymous source wouldn't be believable. But April Fool's Day was approaching, so I came up with the idea that we would sell this info as bullshit news on April 1st because no one would believe it anyway, which turned out to be true.
Krystian noted, however, that the mention of a prequel ultimately turned out to be false. From an interview that IGN conducted with the director of the new Witcher, Sebastian Kalemba, we know that Ciri underwent the Trial of Grasses after the events of Wild Hunt. So, the fourth installment will be a full-fledged sequel.
When and did the original plan change at all? I don't know, but in 2019 I had no reason not to believe a colleague who shared information about the prequel.
If you are curious about why CD Projekt RED chose Ciri, this issue has also been explained by Sebastian Kalemba and described in our previous news.
More:CD Projekt Red explains whether The Witcher 4 has anything to do with Netflix series
