Revision 8

Map size and setting

The open world is set in Kovir and Poviss, a northern kingdom in the Witcher universe. The map is "more or less the same size" as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's world, which measured roughly 142 square kilometers. CDPR clarified it could be "90, 85, or 100 percent" of that size. Not identical, but in the same ballpark.

The world is bounded by natural borders:

• The Dragon Mountains to the north

• The sea (North Sea / Gulf of Praxeda) along the southern coast

• The kingdom of Redania to the southwest

• Creyden to the west

Confirmed locations

NPC behavior

The world reacts to Ciri's actions in granular ways. Bump into a townsfolk and they react. Knock over a crate of apples and a chain reaction can unfold. These are not scripted events; they are physics-driven interactions with systemic NPC responses.

The State of Unreal 2025 tech demo showed up to 300 individually unique NPCs in a single scene. Each had distinct appearance, clothing, and behavior. Sebastian Kalemba stated: "We have this rule to make every single NPC looking like they're living, with their own story."

Kelpie

Ciri's horse is Kelpie, a black mare from Sapkowski's novels. This is Kelpie's first appearance in any Witcher game (Geralt rode Roach in previous entries). The name comes from a Scottish water spirit, which Sapkowski used as an in-world name.

Technical details from the tech demo:

• Seamless mounting from any angle (no fixed mount point)

• Realistic muscle simulation via ML Deformer (muscles flex and shift under the skin during movement)

• Full integration with the Unreal Animation Framework for smooth transitions between gaits

Roach, Geralt's horse in The Witcher 3, became an unintentional comedy icon because of her tendency to spawn on rooftops and get stuck on geometry. CDPR appears to be investing heavily in making Kelpie more polished.

Density over raw size

The decision to keep the map at roughly the same size as TW3 rather than making it larger is telling. Open-world games have trended toward ever-bigger maps, but the common criticism is that bigger maps often mean more empty space. CDPR seems to be prioritizing density: more NPCs per location, more reactive systems, more things to do per square kilometer.

This philosophy mirrors Philipp Weber's quest design approach: no filler, no fetch quests, every piece of content worth the player's time.

New Movement Abilities

The Witcher IV introduces two movement features absent from The Witcher 3: a dedicated jump button and underwater swimming.

The jump button allows Ciri to leap freely during exploration, a feature that was notably absent from The Witcher 3 (where Geralt could only vault over specific obstacles). This was confirmed in the AnsweRED Podcast in March 2026.

Underwater swimming has also been confirmed. While The Witcher 3 allowed Geralt to swim on the surface and dive using a crossbow-triggered mechanic, The Witcher IV will offer a fuller underwater exploration experience. Details on underwater combat or how long Ciri can remain submerged have not been revealed.

NPC Variety and Crowd Technology

CDPR has implemented a Mass AI crowd scaling system for populated areas like Valdrest and Lan Exeter. The State of Unreal 2025 tech demo showcased crowds in Valdrest's market district with individual NPCs performing contextual animations. The March 2026 AnsweRED Podcast confirmed that CDPR is investing heavily in NPC variety to ensure towns feel distinct and populated. MetaHuman technology is used to bring NPC visual quality closer to protagonist-level fidelity.