The Witcher 4
The reveal of The Witcher 4 at The Game Awards confirmed that as some suspected, this would be a game starring Ciri as the lead as the series moves on from Geralt (even though he will still appear). The result is an older Ciri going down the Witcher road, and some watching the trailer noted that she didn’t just look different, she sounded different.
Now, CDPR has confirmed that Ciri has been recast. Ciri is no longer voiced by Jo Wyatt, who played Ciri in The Witcher 3. Rather, she will now be played by Ciara Berkeley, whose voice was in the cinematic trailer. And they confirmed that yes, she will be Ciri in the rest of the game as well.
It’s a bit of an odd situation, as fans have noted that while Ciri now appears to be a decade or so older, at least, Jo Wyatt is now 54. But Ciara Berkeley, though her exact age doesn’t appear to be online, doesn’t look older than 30.
Ciara Berkley
A few things may have happened here, in that just because someone is older or younger that doesn’t automatically make them right for the voicework. It could also have something to do with performance capture, albeit I don’t think Ciri is wearing Berkeley’s face specifically. This is all CDPR had to say about the issue:
“Ciara Berkeley was cast as Ciri for The Witcher IV Cinematic Reveal Trailer. Ciara is a talented actress who impressed us with her enthusiasm and vocal acting skills, and in this trailer we believe she truly brought Ciri to life in a way that is both faithful to the character and exciting for fans of the series.”
It doesn’t sound to me like there’s any sort of bad blood here. Reportedly, Ciri’s Polish voice actress has also been recast and that may be true for other languages. It’s simply been almost ten years since The Witcher 3 and…things change, for one reason or another, either what they’re looking for, the availability of the actors, etc. This is also supposed to be an entirely new trilogy as well, so that’s a huge commitment over the long term, as no doubt you’d be signing a three game deal.
What we do not know is what other Witcher characters may appear in The Witcher 4, be they Yennefer, Triss and so on, and if they will retain their voice actors. Doug Cockle, as we know, is still returning as Geralt, and he could be heard in the reveal trailer.
I thought Ciri looked and sounded great in the trailer, and I’m certainly curious to see more. But it may be a while after this.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
