While the visuals of The Witcher IV were undoubtedly the cinematic trailer‘s most impressive thing (although pre-rendered on NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5090), long-time fans of the series may have also noticed that new protagonist Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon, known colloquially as Ciri, was voiced by a new actress.
CD Projekt RED later confirmed the fact to The Gamer, revealing that Ciara Berkeley had replaced The Witcher 3’s Jo Wyatt.
Ciara Berkeley was cast as Ciri for The Witcher IV Cinematic Reveal Trailer. Ciara is a talented actress who impressed us with her enthusiasm and vocal acting skills, and in this trailer, we believe she truly brought Ciri to life in a way that is both faithful to the character and exciting for fans of the series.
This statement did not provide certainty regarding the character’s portrayal in the actual game. However, The Gamer subsequently received confirmation that Ciara will also voice Ciri in The Witcher IV. Berkeley is a young actress with a very short career. So far, she’s credited for taking on small roles in the TV miniseries Normal People and The Deceived, both released in 2020. This may turn out to be her breakout role, although it may be at least a couple of years before we actually get to experience her work – after all, The Witcher IV entered full production not long ago.
Speaking of the character Ciri, CD Projekt RED has recently discussed why she was the obvious choice for the new saga’s main character. The studio said Ciri deserved her own journey, and as she’s just starting in her new role as a Witcher, this also means players will have much greater agency in defining her choices as a character compared to Geralt in the previous games.
The developers also said they wanted to increase the gameplay variety available to players in comparison to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, taking a cue from Cyberpunk 2077 in that area. It might mean Ciri could sneak up on her enemies, unlike Geralt, though this is just speculation on our part for now.
