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A higher powered console generation means The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — the conclusion to a series widely praised for its visuals — can "go nuts" on graphics for all platforms without worrying about performance on one, the game's studio said in an interview.
"Because we are developing the game for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC, we go nuts in terms of visuals. We want the game to look as beautiful as possible," Tomasz Jarzebowski, global head of marketing for CD Projekt Red, told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I think we are in a good moment, we don't have to choose between better graphics or performance on either PC or consoles now, we can just create the best looking game possible."
Asked if that meant Wild Hunt would push the limits of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Jarzebowski wouldn't say for sure. "If it maxes out the consoles? Well, the future will tell," he said. "There are games that are being released for current-gen that look way better than everything created so far. We are always getting wiser and wiser, so I expect our next game will look even better."
The Witcher, a role-playing game based on the fantasy book series of the same name, was a PC-only game when it launched in 2007 (a Mac OS adaptation arrived later.) The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings also launched in 2012 on Xbox 360.
A hands-off preview shown to the Morning Herald was running on a custom PC, which meant a best-of-the-best showcase of all the game has to offer. The world of The Witcher 3 is described as 35 times larger than the map of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, requiring 40 minutes in-world, on a horse at full gallop, to traverse. CD Projekt Red said the game is expected to offer 50 hours of gameplay in its main story and another 50 with its side quests.
Originally slated to release at the end of this year, CD Projekt Red pushed the launch of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to February 2015. For more on The Witcher 3, see Polygon's impressions from the game's first demo at E3 2013.
