The Unreal Engine 5 demo for The Witcher 4 exhibited the capabilities of the engine on a standard PlayStation 5, presenting vibrant environments and realistic animations. Senior technical animator Julius Girbig emphasized the decision to utilize console hardware for the demo, demonstrating the potential optimizations achievable with current gen technology. While the demo is not part of the final game, it illustrates the design philosophy and technical aspirations for The Witcher 4, a critical project for CD Projekt Red following their switch from proprietary engines to Unreal Engine.
"Everyone has the idea of how fast a PS5 is and what kinds of games it can run," he tells The Verge. "That's why we specifically wanted to go that route of: let's start with the consoles, let's show how much we can optimize this engine together with Epic and make it work on current gen, instead of running it on some high-end hardware."
Girbig describes it as "a demonstration of the tools that we are currently building that will eventually power The Witcher 4," and something that "does show the style and direction that we're going for, and the fidelity that we're aiming at with the final game."
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