Unofficial Witcher 4 prequel: New Wild Hunt mod lets players control Ciri in a new region

The Witcher fans can expect more than just a major Wild Hunt DLC in the coming months – a unique new addition to the series is also on the horizon. For those who can’t wait for The Witcher 4, which CD Projekt says will not be released before 2027, a new mod may help bridge the gap.

Dawn over Kovir is a newly released story mod for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that offers more than just fresh content. It introduces a completely new region, a full questline, and allows players to step into the role of Ciri. Inspired by the official reveal trailer for The Witcher 4, the mod presents itself as an unofficial prequel. As the name suggests, the story is set in the Kingdom of Kovir – a location well known from the lore but never before explored in the game.

On February 6, the mod’s developer released a ten-minute gameplay video offering a closer look at the world design, combat, and quest structure. The footage showcases a compact but detailed area – roughly the size of White Orchard – along with a fully functional combat system that gives Ciri access to a silver sword. The mod is designed for higher difficulty levels, with the developer recommending that enemy level scaling be enabled for the best experience.

Dawn over Kovir was developed by solo creator Alexander Fandera-Maslov, known online as Fandera, who spent around 800 hours working on the project. It relies exclusively on existing assets from The Witcher 3 and does not include any AI-generated content. Early feedback on Nexus Mods has been overwhelmingly positive, and the mod is available free of charge. To install it, users simply need to unzip the file, copy all contents into their Witcher 3: Wild Hunt folder, and launch the game using the next-gen version 4.0.4. The option “Dawn over Kovir Only” will then appear in the main menu.