The Witcher 3 devs debated if Geralt bath scene should go ‘whole hog’

Nov 13, 2023

The Witcher 3 devs had a lengthy discussion over whether or not the Geralt bath scene should show every last inch of the fantasy RPG game's iconic protagonist

Ken Allsop

Published: Dec 1, 2022

A "100+ post" debate among Witcher 3 devs discussed if players should see even more of Geralt in its iconic opening scene. With The Witcher 3 next-gen update on the horizon, promising to overhaul the CD Projekt Red game with shiny new features including ray tracing, Nvidia DLSS, and AMD FSR2. As one of the best RPG games on PC, there are plenty of reasons to check out the shiny new upgrade – but we know exactly what you’re all going to be checking out first.

The Witcher 3 certainly isn't a game that shies away from showing it all, with numerous encounters featuring Geralt's companions Yennefer of Vengerberg, Triss Merigold, and Keira Metz showing off plenty of skin. From frolics in fields to unions atop unicorns, there's plenty of saucy scenes to satiate your carnal cravings. Yet for all the many salacious encounters, the scene of Geralt in the bathtub at the very start of the game remains its most famous.

CD Projekt Red's Philipp Weber, acting narrative director and lead quest designer on The Witcher, who previously worked on both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077, recalls on Twitter a "100+ post thread in the ‘offtopic’ area of our company mail during Witcher 3 where people discussed if we’d show Geralt's penis in the bath tub."

That certainly would have added a little more drama to proceedings – though sometimes less is more, if you know what we mean. In the end, it seems that a decision was made to keep things a little more low-key. Instead, we just had to make do with Geralt's damp, glistening, heavily scarred chest, abs, back, and legs. Blimey. Not to forget the lingering shot of Yennefer's backside as she sits off to the side reading, of course. It's certainly plenty spicy enough as-is, though for Weber's thoughts on revealing Geralt's ‘little witcher,’ he says that "I was in favour!"

With The Witcher 3 next-gen update on the way, there's always a chance for the team to make things right, if they decide to change their minds. In the meantime, if you’re truly desperate to see all of Geralt for yourself, we’re pretty sure the best Witcher 3 mods will have you covered.

If The Witcher 2 or 3 was your introduction to the series, The Witcher Remake moves to Unreal Engine 5, offering an all-new take on the game that took author Andrzej Sapkowski's world and characters and transformed them into some of the best fantasy games around. However, The Witcher Remake release date is set to fall after The Witcher 4 release date, which will see the beginning of the next saga in the series.