Guilty Gear Devs Wanted Witcher 3 Characters as DLC - Anime Expo Panel Recap

Cale Michael | Jul 4, 2025

Geralt and Ciri from The Witcher 3 / Screenshot via CD Projekt Red

It looks like Arc System Works originally wanted to take its partnership with CD Projekt Red in a different direction when it comes to Guilty Gear Strive’s newest DLC fighter. Instead of initially requesting someone from the Cyberpunk series, the Japanese studio wanted to bring a Witcher into their fighting game. 

During a special Arc System Works x CD Projekt Red panel at Anime Expo 2025, Guilty Gear Strive producer Ken Miyauchi and CDPR Japan community manager, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners producer, Satoru Homma confirmed that Guilty Gear almost had a Witcher representative.

According to the panel, Geralt of Rivia and his adoptive daughter Ciri were the original characters ArcSys requested when approaching CDPR about a partnership. However, because Witcher 4 was already being developed, the studio didn’t want to do that kind of crossover at the time. Instead, Cyberpunk was brought up as a better fit, which led to Lucyna “Lucy” Kushinada becoming developed as the first crossover fighter in Guilty Gear history.

If ArcSys’ original proposal had gone through, this wouldn’t have been the first time Geralt had appeared in a Japanese-developed fighting game. He was previously featured on the launch roster and promotional material for Bandai Namco’s Soulcalibur VI back in 2018. 

“Soulcalibur is well known in the fighting games genre for including iconic guest characters. When we were approached with the idea of doing a crossover, we thought our community would really enjoy playing as the Witcher,” CDPR community director Marcin Momot said back then. “We’ve collaborated with Bandai artists to faithfully recreate Geralt, and shared original Witcher 3 assets like Geralt’s model, animations, and weapons. I think Bandai Namco did an outstanding job of capturing all the details and introducing The Witcher to Soulcalibur in a way fans of both series will enjoy.”

Since Ciri is starring in The Witcher IV, she will likely be considered for upcoming fighting game crossovers as we slowly get closer to its still unknown release window.

Related Article: Street Fighter 6 Season 3 Tier List: Best Characters in the Elena Patch

New Details for Cyberpunk Edgerunners' Lucy and Guilty Gear Strive Patch

Lucy from Cyberpunk Edgerunners in Guilty Gear Strive / Image via Arc System Works

Along with learning about some behind-the-scenes details, Arc System Works shared some new official and concept art for Lucy.

When Lucy is added to the game, music from Cyberpunk 2077 and Edgerunners will also be featured in Strive. ArcSys confirmed Lucy will have a special arcade mode that is expected to be “three times as long as a normal arcade character run,” according to Anime FGC News.

Sketches of various special moves that Lucy will have in Guilty Gear Strive pic.twitter.com/piBbEDXGI6

— Anime FGC News (@AFGCNews) July 4, 2025

A new balance patch will drop with Lucy’s release, which will include balance adjustments for the Strive roster. Her official trailer will drop at Evo 2025 in August.

feed