The Witcher 4 may not have Geralt after all: his actor was "slapped by CD Projekt" for accidentally sharing a rumor that he'd be in it, just not as the protagonist

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine
(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)

It turns out that everyone's favorite Witcher could, in some far-flung outlier, return as the protagonist in The Witcher 4 after all, or he could be missing from the RPG entirely, as Geralt actor Doug Cockle reveals that he accidentally shared a rumor earlier this year that led to him being "slapped by CD Projekt."

Very little has been revealed about The Witcher 4 and the journey it'll take us on, but back in August, Cockle – who voices Geralt in The Witcher games – said that his character "will be a part of the game. We just don't know how much, and the game won't focus on Geralt, so it's not about him this time." 

Intriguing stuff, but also, it turns out, not necessarily accurate stuff, as in a recent interview at MCM Comic Con Birmingham (shared by Geektown on YouTube), Cockle says he "went off a rumor," and he's now unsure if it's actually true.

"I did go online and I said something about this, and then I got slapped by CD Projekt because… I don't know how true it is," he begins when asked his thoughts about no longer being the main character. "I went off a rumor – I thought I'd seen somebody from CD Projekt say that Geralt will be in Witcher 4 but he won't be the main character, and I don't actually know if that's true now, because they came back and they went, 'We haven't put anything out there, don't say anything!'" 

Doug Cockle, AKA The Witcher's Geralt of Rivia On Voicing The Character - YouTube Doug Cockle, AKA The Witcher's Geralt of Rivia On Voicing The Character - YouTube
Watch On

Continuing, he admits: "I don't know what it's gonna be. I have ideas – I thought I had an idea of what it was – and then I was kind of basically told, 'We haven't told anybody what it is, so where you got that information we don't know.'"

So where did that original rumor come from? Cockle speculates it might have been "from a really, really old statement that somebody who no longer works for CD Projekt actually put out about three years ago," but regardless, it certainly sounds like the current devs aren't ready to publicly commit to the idea one way or the other. 

Either way, it could mean a few things for the upcoming game – Geralt returning as the main character is seemingly back on the cards, though it seems unlikely, and it could also mean he won't show up at all. Regardless, Cockle doesn't appear to be in the loop for the time being: "Witcher 4 is a complete mystery to me," he adds.

As The Witcher 4 enters its "full-scale production phase," fans of the RPG series think a new teaser holds answers about Project Polaris' plot.

Catherine Lewis
News Writer

I'm one of GamesRadar+'s news writers, who works alongside the rest of the news team to deliver cool gaming stories that we love. After spending more hours than I can count filling The University of Sheffield's student newspaper with Pokemon and indie game content, and picking up a degree in Journalism Studies, I started my career at GAMINGbible where I worked as a journalist for over a year and a half. I then became TechRadar Gaming's news writer, where I sourced stories and wrote about all sorts of intriguing topics. In my spare time, you're sure to find me on my Nintendo Switch or PS5 playing through story-driven RPGs like Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 Royal, nuzlocking old Pokemon games, or going for a Victory Royale in Fortnite.