'We are beholden to the lore': CD Projekt says there are 'valid worries' about Ciri as a witcher, but 'the answers we want to give in The Witcher 4 are in line with this attitude'

pcgamer.com:

So Ciri's a Witcher now, taking the lead in The Witcher 4, and that has resulted in questions. Some of them are the predictable hue and cry about a girl taking over for Geralt—complaints about «wokeness» and DEI and all that sort of nonsense—but there are also legitimate questions about how it all fits with the established Witcher lore. The Trial of the Grasses, for instance, was previously only survivable by young boys (and only a small portion of them), so how did Ciri get through it—or did she at all? And what about the powers enabled by her Elder Blood?

In an interview with Eurogamer, narrative director Phillipp Weber and director Sebastian Kalemba acknowledged that there are «many very valid worries and responses» about what was shown at The Game Awards, but reassured fans that they're not just making stuff up on the fly.

«We are beholden to the lore, the canon of the books by Andrzej Sapkowski, the three previous Witcher games, and we'd want to take that seriously, and we really want to respect that,» Weber said. «So all the answers we basically want to give in The Witcher 4 are in line with this attitude. We're not suddenly making up stuff just because we want to. We really want to take these things seriously.»

Weber said he understands that some fans wanted another game featuring Geralt, and said he «could make games about Geralt until the day I die, and I would probably die happy.» But, he continued, making the game about Ciri provides new opportunities for CD Projekt in terms of both the character and gameplay. «I think the best answer for us, for those people that really are worried right now, is basically to show them, when we are ready, that we really do this well and with care,» he said. «And I think—I hope—we can then convince them with the game itself. Because I think actions speak louder than words.»

He also acknowledged the difficulties and challenges women face in The Witcher's notoriously sexist world, and said developers won't shy away from that