CD Projekt Red Wants You To Stop Calling It "The Witcher 4"

screenrant.com:

Old, resurfaced Tweets by developer CD Projekt Red reveal that the upcoming project wasn't always labeled as a direct sequel. The Polish developer revealed the first details of its next project after in a dramatic narrative trailer during The Game Awards last night, leading players to speculate on everything from potential release windows to the identity of its protagonist (yes, that was Ciri). But lest players forget, the next game was actually announced a long time ago, in a far more cryptic manner that implied it might not have been a direct sequel.

was originally announced in a promotional image posted on social media, depicting what looks like an amulet of representing a Witcher school (pictured below). It was originally captioned, "." On that occasion, CDPR's PR Director Radek Grabowski posted on X (then called Twitter) to remind fans not to call the upcoming game, as that wasn't what it had announced.

CDPR's full press release from that day made it clear: this was "," not the announcement of. But last night, we all saw a trailer that ended with a title card reading "," and Grabowski walked his initial clarification back in the quote Tweet above.

But beyond the title, it doesn't seem like anything's actually changed about . The original reveal for shows a medallion, decidedly feline, but definitely different from the School of the Cat one Ciri wears in (see above). The amulet has longer tufts of fur extending from its chin, and more upright ears compared to the Cat School medallion's folded back ones.

This led many players to speculate that the next game would focus on a new school never before seen in canon, perhaps the School of the Lynx, and perhaps featuring an all-new cast of characters. The former theory was seemingly confirmed by CDPR's Global Community Director Marcin Momot.

But if you look very closely at the trailer, you'll notice that Ciri is wearing a similar amulet to the one pictured in the original promo, not the cat one she's typically known