Geralt Voice Actor Fires Back At 'The Witcher 4' Criticism, Tells Angry Fans To 'Read The Damn Books'
Doug Cockle, the voice of Geralt in the Witcher game franchise, has hit back at criticism surrounding the upcoming sequel, The Witcher 4 , which features Ciri as its protagonist for the first time in the series.
Speaking during a video on the Fall Damage YouTube channel, Cockle reacted to the various memes surrounding the game franchise to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Witcher 3's release date. Amidst his hilarious commentary, the subject of The Witcher 4 was brought up, and how the game's shift to focus on Geralt's adoptive daughter Ciri as its protagonist led to anger from some fans online, who denounced the title as being 'woke'.
'There's nothing woke about it. [Ciri]'s a cool character from The Witcher , and they're gonna focus on that character, and that's awesome.' explained Cockle, 'We can't just have Geralt for every single game for The Witcher ad nauseam, out through eternity, We've seen the end of Geralt's journey. Blood and Wine was supposed to wrap up that journey.'
Cockle then proceeded to explain how the upcoming game will focus heavily on Ciri due to its connection to the franchise's original novel series by Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski. 'If you read the books, then you understand why CD Projekt went down this avenue. There's a whole rich world of stuff to explore with Ciri that they didn't do when they put her into Witcher 3 , because the story was about Geralt. But she hints at it.' he added, 'If you think it's woke, read the damn books — they're good, first of all. And secondly, you won't think it's so woke anymore.'
Although the Witcher franchise only follows Sapkowski's novels loosely, and is set after the end of the book's finale, The Witcher 4 might borrow elements from the final novel, The Lady of the Lake , which saw Ciri as a pivotal character and explains why she is the focus this time around. Cockle will still return as Geralt for the fourth entry, although in a limited role as a supporting character.
Despite Cockle's passionate defence, it still remains to be seen if The Witcher 4 would prove to be 'woke' after all, as not much information, apart from a brief cinematic trailer, has been revealed about the game, which is also set to be in development for a long time to come, with previous reports by CD Projekt stating that it will only be released in 2027.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise 'duds' like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3 . He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying. Doug Cockle The Witcher The Witcher 4
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Geek Culture
9 hours ago
- Geek Culture
‘Adolescence' Dethrones 'Stranger Things 4' As Netflix's Second Most-Watched English-Language Series
One-take wonder Adolescence is one step closer to becoming a Netflix chart-topper. The British limited series has racked up a total of 141.2 million views since its debut 80 days ago on 14 March, surpassing its previous fourth-place result of 114 million views to outpace Stranger Things 4 as the second most-watched English-language TV show ever on the streamer. Only Wednesday , starring Jenna Ortega ( You, 2022's Scream ), stands in its way with 252.1 million views in its first 91 days of debut. Still, the numbers fall shy of the current No.1 across both English and non-English language titles, with Squid Game Season 1 scoring 265.2 million views. Season 2, now at 192 million views and counting, is sandwiched between Wednesday and Adolescence . Led by first-time actor Owen Cooper, the latter centres on a 13-year-old named Jamie Miller who is arrested after the murder of a girl in his school. It became known for shooting each of its four episodes in one continuous take, and also stars Stephen Graham ( Gangs of New York , Peaky Blinders ), Ashley Walters ( Top Boy , Doctor Who ), and Erin Doherty ( The Crown , Chloe ) as Jamie's father Eddie, detective inspector Luke Bascombe, and psychologist Briony Ariston, respectively. While hailed as a limited series, the crime drama may land a second season, with Netflix and Brad Pitt's production company, Plan B Entertainment, in early talks about continuing Jamie's story. It's hardly the only name on the list getting a (potential) sequel — as announced during the recent Netflix Tudum event, Stranger Things Season 5 will end things in three parts, scheduled for 26 November, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve. As for Wednesday , Season 2 is arriving in two parts: first on 6 August, then on 3 September, after Squid Game Season 3 debuts on 27 June. Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth's theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia's greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really. Adolescence Netflix stranger things 4
Geek Culture
11 hours ago
- Geek Culture
'The Witcher 4' PS5 Tech Demo Is Stunning But CD Projekt Says 'It Doesn't Fully Represent The Final Game'
CD Projekt and Epic Games have unveiled a stunning tech demo of the long-awaited RPG sequel The Witcher 4 running on Unreal Engine 5, showcasing a gorgeous open world with ray tracing running on a base PS5 at 60fps. The catch? It's not actually gameplay footage. Revealed during Epic's State of Unreal 2025 event, the tech demo follows the game's protagonist Ciri as she explores the brand new region of Kovir while in the process of a monster contract. The demo showcases the latest open-world features of Unreal Engine 5.6, including the Fast Geometry Streaming Plugin to enhance load times, and its character rendering innovations, able to generate 300 individually animated NPCs shown off towards the tail end of the segment. 'As Ciri explores the bustling market of Valdrest, we see how [Unreal Engine] 5.6 handles busy scenes full of high-fidelity characters and visual effects like ML Deformer. The tech demo also showcases Nanite Foliage — which provides a fast and memory-efficient way to achieve gorgeous foliage density and fidelity, slated for release in UE 5.7,' read the official blurb from Epic. As breathtaking as the tech demo might have been, CD Projekt was quick to issue a statement insisting that it was not an official gameplay showcase, and was rather a 'standalone' tech demo built to showcase Unreal Engine 5's features. '[The tech demo] reflects the direction we're taking with The Witcher 4 — but it doesn't fully represent the final game.' CD Projekt explained, 'Production is still underway, and we have a great deal of work ahead. That said, our goal is ambitious: to create one of the most visually advanced role-playing games to date.' CD Projekt also explained why it chose to feature the tech demo on a base PS5 over a high-end gaming PC, saying that 'optimising for consoles early helps [to] future-proof performance across all platforms', and that 'consoles come with tighter constraints, and meeting them pushes [the studio] to make smarter, more efficient tech choices — the kind that benefit every version of the game'. With the tech demo not showcasing actual gameplay footage, it further emphasises how far The Witcher 4 is from launch. And with CD Project previously indicating that the game won't be out until 2027 at the earliest, the suggestion is that the game will probably run on next-generation PlayStation and Xbox consoles alongside the PS5 and Xbox Series X, although its ability to run on the weaker Xbox Series S still remains a mystery. Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise 'duds' like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3 . He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying. CD Projekt Epic Games state of unreal The Witcher 4 Unreal Engine 5
Geek Culture
a day ago
- Geek Culture
‘007 First Light' James Bond Game From Hitman Developer IO Interactive Revealed
Hitman studio IO Interactive has shed new light on its upcoming James Bond game, 007 First Light, with the title getting an official reveal sometime this week. As announced via a post on the game's Twitter/X page, IO Interactive released an image detailing the silhouette of James Bond, unveiling its new name alongside the words 'game reveal this week'. Additionally, the hashtag 'EarnTheNumber' was included, alluding to the fact that the game would most likely feature an origin story detailing how Bond earned his 007 designation. First revealed back in 2020 under the name Project 007 , the upcoming game will feature an original story separate from the events of the films, with IO Interactive CEO Hakan Abrak previously stating during an interview that he hopes the game will kick-start a 'big trilogy' in the future, and create 'a young Bond for gamers', one that they can 'call their own and grow with'. The new game also marks a shift in focus for the studio, as IO Interactive is putting its renowned Hitman franchise on hiatus and instead placing all its bets on the 007 First Light, with chief creative officer Christian Elverdam previously telling Eurogamer that 2023's Hitman: World of Assassination (previously titled Hitman 3 ) will be the last mainline game entry for some time to come, although the title would continue to receive updates down the line. Hitman 3 (2021) For now, fans don't have to wait much longer for the first official game reveal of 007 First Light , as the title would likely make an appearance at either the Summer Game Fest showcase on 6 June or the Xbox Games Showcase on 8 June. Specific gameplay details and the all-important reveal of its release date or window would likely occur then, although the title was already previously confirmed for a release on the Nintendo Switch 2. Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise 'duds' like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3 . He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying. 007 First Light IO Interactive James Bond Project 007
