The Witcher 4 Demo Looks Unreal—But Is It Too Good to Be True?

CDPR's Witcher 4 Showcase Raises Eyebrows: Is It Real Gameplay?

When CD Projekt Red dropped their first “look” at The Witcher 4, the internet did what it always does when a new AAA RPG gets teased: it lost its collective mind.

And honestly? Fair enough. From the glint of Ciri’s sword to the insane detail in a random market vendor’s face, the whole showcase looked like a dream. Or maybe… a dream someone rendered with a thousand RTX cards and a prayer. As fans gawked over pine needles swaying in the breeze and near-photoreal animations, there was this weird feeling lingering in the back of some players’ minds: Wait—can it really look this good when I actually play it?

That’s the question. And it’s one we’ve been asking for years.

A Demo Too Perfect?

The visuals were jaw-dropping. Whether it was the lighting, the depth of field, or the fluidity of Ciri’s movement as she tossed a coin mid-dialogue, it felt next-gen in a way most games still don’t. CDPR even claimed the tech demo ran on a standard PS5—cue jaws hitting floors.

But as the dust settled, CD Projekt Red clarified something important: what we saw wasn’t actual gameplay. Not a real slice of the game. It was a tech demo built to show off the possibilities of Unreal Engine 5, created in collaboration with Epic Games.

Not The Witcher 4 itself.

Which begs the question: is this our first real look at the game? Or just a highly polished illusion designed to wow, impress, and—dare we say—secure funding and hype?

Not the First Time

Let’s be clear: CD Projekt Red is an incredibly talented studio. The Witcher 3 is a landmark game, and Cyberpunk 2077—after a very rocky start—has grown into something far better than what it launched as. But therein lies the issue.

This isn’t the first time we’ve been dazzled by a trailer or demo only to be handed something far less polished at launch. Anyone who remembers Cyberpunk’s original trailers—those lush, cinematic promos full of Blade Runner vibes and pristine performance—knows how far off the final game was, especially on base consoles.

To be fair, CDPR isn’t alone here. Ubisoft’s infamous Watch Dogs reveal comes to mind, and so does just about every E3 demo before 2020. Vertical slices, bullshots, “target render” footage—call it what you will, it’s been a trend for years.

But shouldn’t we be past this by now?

Why It Happens

Here’s the tricky part: it’s easy to point fingers. “They lied,” “They overhyped,” “It’s marketing spin.” And sure, there’s some truth to all of that. But the bigger picture is more complex.

AAA games are expensive. Like, hundreds of millions expensive. Demos like the one CDPR showed aren’t just for fans. They’re for investors, too. They’re a proof-of-concept, a pitch, a “look at what we could make if you just keep believing in us (and funding us).”

It doesn’t excuse the practice, but it does explain it.

And, to be fair, CDPR didn’t hide that this was a tech showcase. The confusion came from how it was framed and shared across the internet—through headlines, tweets, YouTube clips, and reactions. Many fans were led to believe this was actual gameplay. Some outlets even called it “our first look at The Witcher 4.”

And that’s where the disappointment kicks in.

Ciri's Close-Up: Real or Rendered?

The moment that really stuck out in the showcase was Ciri’s conversation with a trader at the docks. Her face was ridiculously expressive. The trader? His stubbly, sweat-glossed face was more detailed than most main characters in full games. The animation was so fluid, so subtle, that it almost looked like performance capture straight out of a movie.

It was too good. Suspiciously good.

Not because CDPR can’t do it. But because they probably can’t do it like that—consistently, across an 80+ hour open-world RPG filled with thousands of characters, dynamic environments, and branching narratives. We want to believe. But belief is easier when we know we’re not being pitched a dream that might never exist.

Is Unreal Engine 5 the Magic Bullet?

Another wrinkle in this story is the engine itself. This is CDPR’s first major game using Unreal Engine 5, having left behind their in-house RedEngine (which powered Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk). And while UE5 has done wonders for smaller scope titles and cinematic indies like Hellblade II, it’s still relatively untested in large, systemic open-world games.

Rumors—even from fellow developers like Kingdom Come: Deliverance’s Daniel Vávra—suggest that making UE5 work for open-world games is, well, rough. Issues like lighting, rendering huge areas, and maintaining performance have reportedly made life harder for teams transitioning from custom engines.

So while UE5 can look amazing in demos, turning that into a stable, playable game is another matter entirely.

More Than Just Pretty Pixels

Let’s be real: most of us aren’t looking for the best-looking game. We want the best-playing one. Flashy visuals are great, but they fade. What sticks is gameplay, storytelling, immersion, and systems that work. The Witcher 3 is still beloved today—not because it pushed pixels better than anyone, but because it told unforgettable stories, built a rich world, and gave players choices that mattered.

So if CDPR is spending time on making faces photorealistic but forgetting how to animate believable NPCs, or creating scenic villages that load in chunks and tank performance… what’s the point?

The AAA Cycle: Hype → Disappointment → Patch

This isn’t just a Witcher 4 problem. It’s a AAA industry problem.

Too many big-budget games launch with massive hype, only to underdeliver, get review-bombed, and slowly claw back goodwill through patches and post-launch support. Cyberpunk 2077. No Man’s Sky. Even Halo Infinite. It’s become a pattern.

And that’s why people are skeptical. Because we’ve seen this movie before. We know how it ends—or at least how it begins. And we’re tired of being the test audience for “what if this works?”

Final Fantasy XVI Got It Right

As a comparison, look at how Final Fantasy XVI was marketed. The trailers looked amazing—because they were built directly from the actual game. No fancy renders. No tech demo sleight of hand. What you saw was what you got. And fans appreciated that.

Was the game perfect? No. But it delivered what it promised. And in this industry, that’s rare.

Is There Still Hope?

Absolutely. CD Projekt Red still has time to course-correct. The Witcher 4 is likely years away from release. If anything, this early showcase gives them room to set expectations clearly now, rather than risk a Cyberpunk-style blowback later.

And who knows? Maybe some of what we saw will make it into the final game. Maybe Ciri will flip that coin with the same swagger. Maybe that village will feel alive. We want to believe.

But this time, we’re asking questions first.

The Witcher 4 might still become something incredible. CD Projekt Red has the talent, the world, and the fanbase to make another masterpiece. But if the past has taught us anything, it’s that beautiful demos aren’t promises—they’re possibilities. And unless studios are honest about what they’re showing us, it’s hard to get excited without a little doubt creeping in.

We’re not saying don’t be hyped. We’re saying: be informed hype. Ask the questions. Demand transparency. And cheer for your favorite devs when they show you something real.

The next-gen fantasy RPG we all want? It’s within reach. But it can’t be built on pixel-perfect dreams and soft-focus trailers alone.

CDPR, we’re rooting for you. Just don’t sell us the idea of The Witcher 4—sell us the game.

Keep your hype grounded and your swords sharp with more gaming insights at Land of Geek Magazine!

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