The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered launches September 29 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 with a free upgrade for existing owners. CD Projekt Red’s official rundown covers visual, gameplay, interface, accessibility, modding, and platform-specific improvements.
Players who previously bought any physical or digital version can upgrade at no cost within the same platform ecosystem when the remaster goes live. On PC, the game will be available through Steam, GOG, the Epic Games Store, and Battle.net, according to the official The Witcher announcement.
Visual upgrades and a reworked skill system
The rendering update introduces an improved shading model, refreshed textures and models drawing on The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project, better foliage lighting, updated Sign effects, and new visual effects for skills. Other changes include native multithreaded DirectX 12 rendering, ray-traced local shadows, updated reflections, new image-based lighting, revised tone mapping, and reworked bloom.
Gameplay changes extend well beyond graphics. Skills are now arranged in a prerequisite-based tree with three ranks each, and CD Projekt Red has rebalanced their values, effects, and synergies. Existing skill points will be reset because of the redesign. Master craftsmen Yoana and Hattori can also Reforge equipment, changing its appearance without altering its stats.
Geralt and Roach receive movement and animation refinements, while many non-boss monsters have updated attacks, reactions, movement, and effects. The remaster also adds new finishers, a wider exploration camera, a dynamic combat camera, better target-lock switching, and an option to disengage from combat quickly.
Interface, Photo Mode, and accessibility changes
Meditation now plays as a time-lapse instead of opening a static interface. Quest tracking has been revised, the map supports more markers, nearby loot can be combined into one window, and an optional loot feed shows recently collected items. Players can also collect loot without dismounting Roach.
Photo Mode gains placeable characters and props, poses and expressions, camera and environment presets, adjustable weather and time of day, multiple aspect ratios, a first-person camera, rule-of-thirds guides, and the option to hide nearby NPCs.
A new Bard’s Ballad accessibility preset is designed to reduce cognitive load. Its individual options include boosted Vitality regeneration, infinite breath, unlimited equipment and boat durability, ignored item weight, faster boats, and toggleable Witcher Senses.
PC, PS5 Pro, and Nintendo Switch 2 features
PC additions include path tracing, Nvidia DLSS 4.5 with Ray Reconstruction, AMD FSR 4 with Frame Generation and Anti-Lag 2, Intel XeSS 2.0, ray-traced HairWorks, and DualSense haptic feedback. CD Projekt Red says the system requirements have changed and provides a new requirements table in its official post.
On PlayStation 5, multithreaded rendering targets better performance. PlayStation 5 Pro adds PSSR, VRR, and uncapped frame rates; the updated Ray Tracing mode targets 60 fps, while Performance mode can reach 90 fps on a VRR-compatible display.
Nintendo Switch 2 features include motion controls, mouse-sensor support, gyroscope aiming, touchscreen input for menus and several game systems, Joy-Con 2 HD Rumble, handheld VRR, and HDR. The remaster also adds Xbox Play Anywhere and cross-platform mod support powered by mod.io, alongside REDkit engine and interface improvements for creators.
The launch builds on CD Projekt Red’s long-running work to modernize the game, including the PS5 and Xbox Series versions first confirmed in 2020.
Which Remastered change gives you the best reason to return to The Witcher 3?
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