Doug Cockle, the voice of Geralt in The Witcher games, has called out so-called fans as “stupid” for describing The Witcher 4 as “woke” for having Ciri as the protagonist.
CD Projekt revealed the next game and its protagonist last year, though some have already criticised the studio as “woke” for having a female protagonist.
“That’s just stupid,” said Cockle in a video published by Fall Damage (thanks IGN). “There’s nothing woke about it.”
He continued: “[Ciri’s] a cool character from The Witcher, and they’re going to focus on that character. I think that’s awesome. We can’t just have Geralt for every single game for The Witcher ad nauseum, through eternity. Besides, we’ve seen the end of Geralt’s journey – Blood and Wine was supposed to wrap up Geralt’s journey.
“I celebrate Ciri. I celebrate her being the protagonist. So all you people who think it’s woke… [blows raspberry].”
He added fans of the game should also read the books.
“If you read the books then you understand why CD Projekt went down this avenue,” said Cockle. “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. If you think it’s woke, read the damn books!”
Following the reveal of The Witcher 4, CD Projekt spoke to Eurogamer about the fan reaction to Ciri as the protagonist.
“So I can really understand if some people, you know, might have wished to play another game with Geralt – like I can say myself, I could make games about Geralt until the day I die, and I would probably die happy,” said narrative director Philipp Weber.
“But I think for me, and I think for all of us [at CDPR], it’s also just really exciting to see all the opportunities that Ciri brings us, both with her character, and also by just virtue of who she is, what we can do with her in terms of the gameplay as well. So 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. And I think – I hope – we can then convince them with the game itself. Because I think actions speak louder than words.”
Earlier this year the studio stated it doesn’t plan to release The Witcher 4 by the end of 2026, meaning it could end up being a next generation game.