The Witcher 3 Finally Lets Us Play As Ciri Beyond Her Quests, No Mods Needed

3 days ago 9

Ciri wields her sword next to her face in The Witcher 3.

Published Feb 8, 2026, 12:30 PM EST

Bruno Yonezawa is a Gaming Senior Writer for Screen Rant. He's been practicing professional journalism for over 10 years, and is also a communications specialist. He's played games all his life and turned that passionate hobby into a passionate career, in an industry where he's worked as a writer, editor, analyst, and more.

There’s actually a way of playing as Ciri in The Witcher 3 beyond her established set of quests, without the need for any mods. While Ciri does play a huge role in the game, the main protagonist is still Geralt, whom you control for the majority of the story. It has been confirmed, however, that Ciri is The Witcher 4’s protagonist, so players will be controlling her for the larger portion of the upcoming game, if not more.

Nonetheless, while the game does not arrive, you can, technically speaking, control her. As seen in a post made by user PotentialEmu2367 on Reddit, you can control Ciri in The Witcher 3, deviating from her dedicated story quest called Ciri’s Story: Visiting Junior. The video shows how you can escape the character’s story and take on other main quests that Geralt would normally be responsible for.

The Witcher 3 Fans Can Finally Play As Ciri... Even More

An Exploit Allows You To Tackle Geralt Quests

The Witcher 3 Geralt with Ciri hunting for monsters in the forest

For example, the video shows Ciri leaving Dandellion during her quest and meeting up with Sigismund Dijkstra to take on another quest in Novigrad. It is unclear just how much of the main campaign quests you can play while controlling Ciri, and if this can be done in other instances, too. Even so, the fact is that you can technically control Ciri in The Witcher 3 without mods, even if it is through an exploit.

For players who are bigger fans of Ciri rather than Geralt, this may be a great way of spending extra time with the character without having to download anything else. A Reddit user made a comment in the original post stating that the player in the video “unlocked Witcher 4 Early Access” as a joke, seeing that Ciri will be the main character in the upcoming game.

Seeing Ciri Outside Her Own Quests Is Bizarre

The Witcher 3 Quests Were Designed For Geralt

Ciri wearing a hood in the snow in The Witcher 4's tech demo

The exploit does not come without flaws, however. It is worth noting that in certain cutscenes, Ciri is replaced by Geralt, and once it ends, Ciri returns to the spotlight as a playable character. In other scenes, Ciri’s character model takes on the format of Geralt’s body type, which sees her walking around with widened shoulders. It is a consequence of the exploit, as those scenes were intended to operate with Geralt at the forefront.

It will likely still be a while before we see the release of The Witcher 4, but this is an innovative way of playing with Ciri before it arrives. Be sure to take advantage of the exploit seen in the video if you want to do this in The Witcher 3.