Doug Cockle, the iconic voice behind Geralt of Rivia in The Witcher series, has strongly responded to the criticism surrounding The Witcher 4's focus on Ciri, urging detractors to "read the damn books."
"That's just stupid," Cockle remarked about the backlash against CD Projekt's upcoming game, which will feature Ciri as its protagonist for the first time. He addressed the controversy in a video by Fall Damage, dismissing claims that the game is "woke."
"It's not woke," Cockle emphasized. "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."
Despite not being the main character, Cockle will reprise his role as Geralt in The Witcher 4. However, the announcement last year that Ciri would take the spotlight in the next game—and likely the entire upcoming trilogy—triggered a vocal minority online to label the series as "woke.""We can't just have Geralt for every single game for The Witcher ad nauseam, out through eternity," Cockle explained, advocating for a break from Geralt's storyline. "We've seen the end of Geralt's journey. Blood and Wine was supposed to wrap up that journey."
"I celebrate Ciri. I celebrate her being the protagonist. So all you people who think it's woke... [blows raspberry]."
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Cockle further justified CD Projekt's decision to center the game around Ciri by referencing the rich narrative potential outlined in Andrzej Sapkowski's original novels.
"If you read the books, then you understand why CD Projekt went down this avenue," Cockle stated. "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—they're good, first of all. And secondly, you won't think it's so woke anymore."
CD Projekt's games are set post the events of Sapkowski's novels, yet Sapkowski has always maintained a distance between his work and the video games, which extend Geralt's story beyond the novels' conclusion. Without revealing specific plot details from the final book that might appear in The Witcher 4, it's clear that Sapkowski, like CD Projekt, views Ciri as a central figure ready to carry the narrative forward when Geralt steps back.
IGN previously explored Geralt's return in The Witcher 4 with CD Projekt's franchise and lore designers Cian Maher and Marcin Batylda, who clarified how the game's timeline aligns with established events.
