The Witcher 4 is doing what Assassin's Creed, GTA and DmC did — with very different results
Geralt is hanging up his sword, and it’s far from the first time a legendary video game hero has been forced into retirement. Passing the torch is a delicate art: when Red Dead Redemption 2 made the whole world cry, DmC nearly buried its own franchise. The Witcher 4 is heading down the same path—now the only question is which side of history it’ll land on.
Ever since Philipp Weber’s comments earlier this week, the Geralt-versus-Ciri debate has been lighting up social media. But CD Projekt Red isn’t the first studio to swap out a beloved hero for a new face. From Assassin’s Creed to GTA to Metal Gear Solid, the next Witcher, slated for 2028, is following a well-worn industry playbook. Here’s a look at the franchises that dared to make the big switch—and what their results might mean for the Witcher saga.
Image credit: CE Projekt Red
Franchises that swap heroes every game: the Assassin’s Creed method
Replacing a fan-favorite protagonist isn’t just a writer’s whim. It’s a tried-and-true strategy for keeping long-running series fresh. Assassin’s Creed is the textbook example: except for the Ezio trilogy, every entry introduces a new face—Altaïr, Connor, Edward, Bayek, Kassandra, Basim. This constant turnover lets the series explore wildly different eras without burning out a single character. Stealth gameplay is the thread that ties it all together, but the hero is designed to be disposable.
The same logic drives other giants. Final Fantasy has reinvented its cast with every numbered entry since 1987, making protagonist swaps part of its DNA. Grand Theft Auto jumps from Claude to CJ, from Niko to Trevor, and nobody’s clamoring for the old guard to return. Metal Gear Solid bounced between Solid Snake and Big Boss for two decades, keeping players off-balance to serve the story. In all these cases, changing the hero is as much a narrative tool as a business decision. CD Projekt Red is now applying this recipe to The Witcher 4, with the Witcher 3 remaster dropping September 29 and the Songs of the Past expansion coming in 2027 as a gentle transition.
When change makes the story stronger: the triumphs of Red Dead 2 and God of War
Swapping heroes isn’t just about freshening up the roster—it can be what turns a good game into a masterpiece. Red Dead Redemption 2 is the ultimate proof. In 2018, Rockstar pulled off a mid-game handoff: you ride with Arthur Morgan for dozens of hours before stepping back into the boots of John Marston, the original game’s hero. Far from frustrating players, this shift supercharged the story’s emotional punch. Arthur didn’t even exist before RDR2, yet his death is one of the decade’s most unforgettable moments.
Other franchises have eased into the transition. God of War Ragnarök (2022) gave players plenty of time with Atreus, slowly getting fans used to the idea that he might one day take over from Kratos. Devil May Cry 5 (2019) let Dante and Nero share the spotlight, setting up Nero as the rightful heir. The common thread: the new hero never arrives out of nowhere. They’re introduced, tested, and embraced before taking the lead. That’s exactly the playbook CD Projekt Red seems to be following with Ciri.
The Witcher 4: a changing of the guard years in the making
Switching from Geralt to Ciri isn’t a wild swerve. Back in 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt already let players step into Ciri’s shoes for a handful of segments, with her own unique gameplay and powers. These scenes were narrative tools, but they also quietly got players used to controlling someone else in the Witcher universe. Eleven years later, that seed is finally sprouting—and a hidden trick even lets you play as Ciri in Geralt’s quests without mods, as if the 2015 game was already looking ahead.
This week, one player summed up the skeptics in a single blunt line—“I want witcher 4 with GERALT. not ciri.”—and Philipp Weber himself replied:
I understand that many people feel like this (I even felt like that as well at the start!), so it’s our job to prove with W4 that Ciri will be a worthy main character for the game. We take that task very seriously! That said, Geralt will always have an important role.
— Philipp Weber (@PhiWeber) date
That answer is worth pausing on. First, because a narrative director admitting he shared fans’ doubts—“I even felt like that at the start!”—defuses tension instead of lecturing, a far cry from the defensive stance that haunted DmC in 2013. Second, because Weber flips the burden of proof: it’s not up to players to trust Ciri, it’s up to the studio to show she’s “a worthy main character for the game,” a task he says they take “very seriously.” And finally, the real news: “Geralt will always have an important role.” The witcher isn’t being written out. Like John Marston in RDR2 or Dante in DMC5, the old hero sticks around to legitimize the new—classic passing-the-torch done right.
And this isn’t CD Projekt Red’s first radical protagonist switch. Between The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, the studio went from Geralt—a fully defined character with his own voice and backstory—to V, a totally customizable avatar. That leap, way riskier than the Geralt-to-Ciri handoff, proved the studio could adapt its writing to a new lead. With Ciri, it’s almost the reverse: taking a character who’s already written and loved, and finally putting her in the spotlight.
What investors’ reactions reveal: the risks of changing leads
It’s not just gamers who are anxious. According to Notebookcheck, CD Projekt’s stock dropped 7% after the 2028 release window was announced, with no firm date in sight. Behind that dip lies a bigger question: does the market see the new protagonist as a risky bet? History offers at least one painful counterexample: DmC: Devil May Cry (2013), where a radically redesigned Dante triggered massive backlash and sales far below Capcom’s hopes. And CD Projekt Red has scars of its own: the disastrous Cyberpunk 2077 launch in December 2020, plus the exodus of several key directors to rivals like Rebel Wolves and Blank, have shaken trust among both players and investors.
The studio does have one concrete answer for the doubters. The Unreal Engine 5 tech demo shown at State of Unreal in June 2025 starred Ciri—and only Ciri—riding Kelpie through a Kovir village, running at 60 frames per second on a standard PlayStation 5. Not a final game sequence, as CD Projekt Red stressed, but a power move and a statement: she’s the hero now.
Jan Hermanowicz, head of production, urges patience: “When the game releases, you’ll be able to judge for yourself and fully embrace her character and story.” That call for trust hits differently after the promises of 2020. CD Projekt Red has two years, over 500 developers, and the stated goal of shipping at least three games in six years, according to Michał Nowakowski, to turn skepticism into buy-in. The first real test will be Songs of the Past in 2027: can they write a Witcher story without Geralt at the helm, before handing the whole saga to Ciri?
PC, PlayStation 5, The Witcher, Xbox Series X|S
