The core rule
Narrative Director Philipp Weber put it simply: "We don't do fetch quests." He elaborated: "A quest has to be something interesting. I have to feel, as a player, that if I played that quest, my time was well spent and not just spent."
That philosophy defined The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which became famous for the quality of its side quests. Missions like the Bloody Baron questline or the quest to lift a curse from a tower were full short stories with moral ambiguity, memorable characters, and consequences that echoed through the rest of the game. CDPR is aiming for the same standard.
Choice and consequence
Branching choices have been a Witcher trademark since the first game. Weber has emphasized that maintaining this standard is non-negotiable. Players should face decisions where there is no obviously correct answer, and the results of those decisions should ripple outward.
How this works with Ciri as the protagonist, rather than Geralt, is not yet clear. Geralt was a defined character with his own moral compass. Ciri could be played as a wider range of personalities depending on how CDPR structures the dialogue system.
Creative process
Weber described the team's creative approach as: "Do it immediately, do it fast, do it dirty." The idea is rapid iteration. The quest design team produces roughly ten times more ideas than the ones that actually land in the game. Most concepts get prototyped quickly, tested, and either refined or discarded.
This method favors quantity of experimentation over perfection in early stages. A quest idea might go through dozens of versions before it reaches its final form. The approach is designed to prevent the team from over-committing to ideas that do not work.
Karel Kolmann joins CDPR
In November 2025, Karel Kolmann joined CDPR as Senior Quest Designer. Kolmann spent eight years at Warhorse Studios, where he was a lead designer on Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. That game is known for its historically grounded quest design and non-linear mission structures.
The hire signals that CDPR is investing in quest design talent from studios with similar values around player agency and narrative depth. Kolmann's experience with open-world quest systems in a medieval setting translates directly to the kind of work The Witcher IV demands.
What this means for the game
If CDPR delivers on Weber's stated goals, every side quest in the game should feel like a self-contained story worth experiencing. Combined with the Romance System, Ciri's unique abilities, and the open world, the quest design philosophy suggests a game where off-the-beaten-path content is as compelling as the main storyline.