First The Witcher 4 footage looks stunning even on a base PS5

PlayStation 5 owners can breathe easy knowing they won’t need a new console to enjoy The Witcher 4 with amazing graphics.

While we finally got our first look at The Witcher 4 during The Game Awards 2024. It was via an entirely pre-rendered trailer, without so much as a whiff of gameplay.

Today, however, as part of a State of Unreal presentation showing off the capabilities of Unreal Engine 5 (which is being used for The Witcher 4 as part of a multi-year deal), CD Projekt took to the stage to show what The Witcher 4 will actually look like in action.

Although it’s technically not gameplay and more of a tech demo (so don’t expect this exact section to appear in the final game) this is the first real in-engine glimpse at The Witcher 4 and it looks remarkably good in terms of visuals.

Things begin with a cut scene of a wagon being attacked by monsters, with new protagonist Ciri investigating it sometime afterwards, before transitioning to gameplay of her running through a mountainside, riding her horse, and strolling through a busy town (the whole thing starts at the 30:10 mark in the video below).

There’s talk of realistic muscle movement for horses, faster rendering for foliage, and densely populated towns, but the most impressive detail is that this demo is running smoothly on a standard PlayStation 5 – not a PS5 Pro.