The Witcher 3 Remastered Launches September 29 as Free Upgrade for All Owners
CD Projekt Red announced The Witcher 3 Remastered will launch September 29 as a free upgrade for all existing owners, featuring enhanced visuals, combat improvements, cross-platform mod support, and more. The announcement came during Gamescom Opening Night Live.
CD Projekt Red has announced The Witcher 3 Remastered, a comprehensive upgrade to the 2015 role-playing classic, will launch on September 29 as a free update for all existing owners. The announcement came during Gamescom Opening Night Live, where the developer detailed a lengthy list of enhancements spanning visuals, gameplay, and technical performance.
The remastered version introduces notably enhanced visuals, including ray-tracing improvements, a global lighting rework, a new shading model, subsurface scattering, and a new tone mapper. Foliage shading has also been reworked, alongside refreshed motion blur and HDR improvements. On PC, the upgrade supports Nvidia DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4, Intel XESS 2.0, path tracing, ray reconstruction, and ray-traced hair, with native DX12 rendering and rendering parallelization also included.
Beyond graphics, CD Projekt Red confirmed a range of gameplay and quality-of-life changes. Combat has been tweaked, traversal and movement improved, and mount handling revamped. Monster behaviors have been enhanced, the skill tree has been reworked, and new combat finishers have been added. The photo mode has been expanded, and the game now includes cross-platform mod support, a long-awaited feature for the community. Other additions include new quest tracking, immersive meditation, UI improvements, a looting rework, refined animations, updated textures, and improved menu navigation.
The remastered edition also brings new accessibility features and a tutorial modernization. Console players on PlayStation 5 Pro will receive dedicated support, while Xbox owners get Play Anywhere functionality. The Nintendo Switch 2 version will include unspecified exclusive features. The upgrade is free for anyone who already owns The Witcher 3, and it includes the game's first two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.
The announcement precedes the upcoming third expansion, Songs of the Past, which is slated for release in 2027. The expansion has been described as similar in size and scope to the previous two, and it will include more Gwent, the franchise's popular card game. CD Projekt Red has said Songs of the Past will arrive before The Witcher 4, the highly anticipated sequel starring Ciri.
During the same event, CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michał Nowakowski confirmed that The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release window. The game is being developed by more than 500 developers and is described as the studio's biggest and most ambitious project to date. Nowakowski acknowledged the wait for fans but asked for patience, saying the team is working to create something special.
The Witcher 3 Remastered launches September 29 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2.
