CD Project Red has admitted it didn’t consult The Witcher series author Andrzej Sapkowski regarding their decision to make Ciri a witcher and turn her into the primary protagonist of The Witcher 4.

In a recent interview with EuroGamer The Witcher 4 game director, Sebastian Kalemba and narrative director, Philipp Weber made it abundantly clear that the direction they’re taking with Ciri’s character is not only controversial, but also seemingly unsupported by Andrzej Sapkowski, the original author of The Witcher saga.

A screenshot from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015), CD Projekt Red

When asked directly about Sapkowski’s involvement in The Witcher 4, Kalemba admitted that the man who created Geralt of Rivia and Ciri had no involvement in the project whatsoever.

“Actually, he’s hands off,” Kalemba said. “But, you know, he’s not [involved] in the form of a consultant or whatever… we have a great relationship with him. So we meet with Andrzej Sapkowski from time to time, discuss things.”

Despite this claim of a “great relationship,” the team’s decision to fully transform Ciri into a witcher stands at odds with established lore.

Ciri as a witcher in The Witcher 4 – YouTube, IGN

The debate centers around whether Ciri can—or should—undergo the Trial of the Grasses, the brutal, alchemical process that creates a witcher. Traditionally, no woman has ever survived this trial, and the very notion that Ciri could casually achieve this feat flies in the face of the franchise’s foundational logic. In the books, women do not become witchers—not because they lack aptitude, but because the gruesome genetic alterations that define witcherhood simply don’t allow it.

This is a long-standing point of canon that fans have come to accept and respect.

Yet, Weber attempts to defend the choice by pointing to ambiguous textual moments.

“In the books, Andrzej Sapkowski called Ciri a witcher multiple times, and Geralt called Ciri a witcher,” he said, failing to reach the straws he was grasping at. “So, I think that basically says what Andrzej Sapkowski thinks about the topic.”

Freya Allen as Ciri in The Witcher: Season 3 (2023), Netflix

But this argument overlooks the contextual meaning behind those references. Being affectionately or symbolically called a “witcher” is not the same as surviving the Trial of the Grasses and being physically transformed into one. The difference between a term of endearment or informal title and an actual, lore-backed metamorphosis is massive and has always been crystal clear to anyone familiar with the series.

Far from a neutral creative decision, insisting that Ciri can be a witcher without Sapkowski’s explicit endorsement feels like the developers are putting words in the author’s mouth.

Kalemba’s admission that Sapkowski is “hands off” in the development process means any supposed approval is purely inferred—and likely misguided. In fact, Sapkowski has repeatedly spoken out against the games and Netflix series that adapt his work.

Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher (2023), Netflix

“How much substance can there be in the lines of text when the hero walks through the woods and talks to a squirrel?” the author said in reference to the games. “Where’s the literature in that? Where’s the room for depth or sophisticated language with which games could elevate culture? There’s none.”

He also repeatedly noted that the Netflix series similarly never asks for or listen to any of his ideas. The show has been heavily panned for switching focus off Geralt and pivoting to Ciri and Yennifer.

The insistence that “the answer is in the books” only works if one willingly misreads what those titles and phrases truly mean. Simply put, the narrative team’s stance treats Sapkowski’s nuanced storytelling and careful world-building as a buffet from which they can cherry-pick convenient elements to justify a radical departure from canon.

A screenshot from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015), CD Projekt Red

By pushing ahead with Ciri’s forced witcher status, The Witcher 4 risks disregarding the logical consistency that made the series so compelling in the first place. Lore enthusiasts who value the integrity of the narrative rightfully question such a move.

Without a genuine, direct endorsement from Sapkowski and with no credible textual basis for Ciri to survive the Trial, the developers’ claims ring hollow. Instead of showing respect for the source material, they are twisting the author’s words to legitimize a decision that undermines the franchise’s core mythology.

Will you play The Witcher 4? Are devs at CDPR willfully ignoring canon and disrespecting the man who created this series? Should The Witcher 4 involve the series author in its development? Sound off in the comments and let us know!