CD Projekt Red has announced that The Witcher 4 is currently under development. The fact that a new Witcher game will be released at some time in the future, despite the fact that they’ve been explicit that it won’t be named The Witcher 4, is comforting.
Currently, in production, The Witcher 4 will mark the start of a new chapter in the series’ history. How we know this is the teaser image posted by the Global Community Director Marcin Momot at CD PROJEKT RED.
Witcher 4 Teaser Image Contains the School of the Lynx Medallion
A picture of a medallion and the words “A New Saga Begins” are seen in the teaser for the new game. After this first announcement of a new Witcher story, no other information was given, such as a release date, plot, or even the name of the series.
The medallion used in the announcement image of Witcher 4 is interesting and is the only piece of information that can tell the fans of the series what to expect. The die-hard fans of the series will know that there are seven main Witcher schools:
- School of the Wolf
- School of the Cat
- School of the Griffin
- School of the Bear
- School of the Viper
- School of the Manticore
- School of the Crane
The students of these schools then spread and made their own schools. Hence, the above-mentioned schools are the predecessors of 40+ schools. All these schools have their own medallions like the Geralt of Rivia from Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt wears a Wolf medallion. However, none of the seven main medallions match the one shown in the Witcher 4 teaser.
How We Know that Witcher 4 Image is the School of the Lynx Medallion
Fortunately, there are two hints about this secret school medallion which tell us a lot about what one can expect from the next chapter in the Witcher series.
The first hint about the Witcher 4 medallion is from Marcin Momot who posted the teaser image on Twitter. Among a few comments on his tweet was a person saying “Looks like a Lynx” to which Mamin replied with a nodding GIF.
One of the Witcher Schools is the “School of the Lynx” and the Global Community Director’s nod confirms that the Witcher 4: A New Saga Begins will be of the School of the Lynx.
Another hint comes from the website CGTrader where one can buy and sell 3D Models. One of the models by “muninn-studio” looks exactly like what Marcin Momot posted in the Witcher 4 teaser.
The description of the model is “Hey! This is my School of the Lynx Witcher medallion. It has one set of 4k textures. And It comes with a highpoly obj file straight out of Zbrush.” The model is for sale at the price of $24.99.
It confirms that the Witcher 4 logo features the School of the Lynx medallion. Another neat detail here is that the School of the Cat and School of the Wolf are the predecessors of the School of the Lynx.
Witcher 4: Story, Protagonist, Characters & More
After Vesemir’s death, the surviving members of the School of the Wolf, including notables like Eskel, Geralt of Rivia, and Lambert, separated, only then the School of the Lynx appeared.
The creation of the Lynx School in the Witcher series was due to the aim of veteran cat witchers to recover their caravan which got captured by soldiers. After the school’s creation in 1273, it was never discontinued, and started creating Witchers.
There are a few possibilities on who might be the protagonist, the NPCs, the story, and more. Let’s explain it from the start.
Important NPCs and their story
The founders of the School of the Lynx are Joël, Gaetan, Dragonfly, Lambert, and Keira Metz. They created the school after their attempt to retake Dyn Marv Caravan from Nilfgaardian soldiers. Of the five of these only three of them appear in The Witcher 3:
- Lambert
- Keira Metz
- Gaetan
As Witcher 3 game gives users a lot of various outcomes depending on their choices, all three mentioned characters can die at the hands of Geralt. However, the presumed storyline that the Witcher 4 series will continue from is that Lambert and Keira Metz fall in love with each other, and Gaetan will be spared by Geralt.
During the DLC quest Take What You Want a letter can be found in Gaetan’s stash written by Joël which states that the soldiers have taken their school and informs him of the status of his fellow witchers. As Keira Metz is affiliated with the School of the Cat, Gaetan and Keira Metz team up to recapture their school. However, Keira’s partner lambert, who is affiliated with the School of the Wolf also joins her partner in this quest.
Possible Build-Up on Characters
The most critical thing to note here is that there are only two missing characters here: Dragonfly and Joël. They have never been seen ever in The Witcher video game series. Given Dragonfly’s age born in the 1150s and the formation of the School of the Cat in 1273 seems unlikely that she will appear in the game.
Protagonist: Joël & His Story in Witcher 4
If we line up the story and connect the dots, it seems that the last character Joël will likely be the protagonist of the Witcher 4: A New Saga Begins. Reasons why Joël might end up as the protagonist in the new Witcher series:
- Joël is a student of the School of the Cat, which means he is young. A younger character would be the likely choice to start a new story.
- A New Saga Begins suggests the beginning of a new story which is highly likely to start with someone who has started their life. Joël is the only likely Witcher here, as all others are too old (Dragonfly) or have had a rather complete past (Lambert, Keira Metz, and Gaetan).
The story of Witcher 4 will likely start with every teacher or older member away from their school leaving Joël and a couple of others. During this period they get attacked by the soldiers in which Axel and Cedric die and Schrödinger goes missing. The only survivor here is Joël.
As the School of the Cat is captured by the soldiers the veteran members and Joël decide to make a new school called the School of the Cat. From here onwards the story will continue.
Witcher 4: A New Saga Begins Made with Unreal Engine 5
Epic Games and CD PROJEKT RED have announced a multi-year strategic relationship that will see CD PROJEKT RED move to Unreal Engine 5. Since the release of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings in 2011, CD PROJEKT RED has developed its games using its proprietary REDengine technology.
With the use of Unreal Engine 5, as well as any prospective future versions of the engine, this new connection with Epic includes not simply licensing, but technical development as well. Developers from CD PROJEKT RED and Epic will work together to improve the engine’s open-world capabilities, starting with the creation of the next Witcher game.
