The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered is available now, giving CD Projekt Red’s RPG another substantial overhaul more than 11 years after its original launch. The free upgrade introduces improved visuals, reworked skills, combat and movement changes, cross-platform mods, an expanded Photo Mode and numerous quality-of-life improvements.
The Remastered upgrade is free for anyone who previously purchased a physical or digital version of The Witcher 3 within the same platform ecosystem. It launches on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2, with the PC version also becoming available through Battle.net.
The upgrade is around 45GB in size for all platforms except Switch 2, which is 50GB, which we have an analysis of.
What Does The Witcher 3 Remastered Patch Add?
The Witcher 3 Remastered patch makes extensive visual changes, starting with an improved shading model and updated textures and models using assets from the fan-made HD Reworked Project. Grass, foliage, terrain, Signs and other effects have also been updated, alongside improved ambient lighting, reflections, shadows, bloom and skin rendering.
PC players additionally get Path Tracing, Ray-Traced HairWorks, DLSS 4.5 with Ray Reconstruction, AMD FSR 4 and Intel XeSS 2.0 support.
Gameplay receives some significant changes of its own. Skills are now arranged into a more traditional skill tree, with three ranks per skill and prerequisites determining progression. Existing skill points are reset because of the overhaul, while individual bonuses, effects and synergies have also been rebalanced.
Geralt’s movement has been updated with improved jumping, climbing, vaulting and combat animations, alongside new finishers and idle animations. Roach gets revised collision avoidance and smoother mounting, dismounting, cantering and galloping animations. Monster behavior has also been polished, including changes to attacks, movement, counterattacks and reactions.
Equipment Reforging is another new addition, essentially introducing a transmogrification system. Master craftsmen Yoana and Hattori can change the appearance of equipment without altering its stats, with additional appearances unlocked by obtaining equipment and crafting diagrams.
Several interface and quality-of-life changes should also make Geralt’s travels less cumbersome. Nearby loot can be combined into one window, items can be collected without dismounting Roach, quest tracking has been improved and meditation now displays a timelapse rather than its previous interface. A new exploration camera increases the field of view, while a dynamic combat camera is intended to improve visibility during fights.
Photo Mode has received a much larger selection of tools. Players can place different characters and props, change poses and expressions, alter the weather and time of day, save camera presets and change screenshot aspect ratios. There’s even a first-person camera option.
Does The Witcher 3 Remastered Have Cross-Platform Mods?
The Witcher 3 Remastered also introduces the previously announced Cross-Platform Mod Support on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. The feature uses mod.io and adds an in-game Mods menu for browsing and installing player-created content.
Players need to connect their CD Projekt Red and mod.io accounts to use the system. PC players can continue using existing services such as Nexus Mods and Steam Workshop, but mod.io is required for accessing supported mods on consoles.
Not every PC mod will necessarily be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S because console releases remain subject to each platform’s content requirements. CD Projekt Red previously said that console mods containing scripts must also be created using REDkit.
The remaster makes several additional engine and interface improvements to REDkit to help creators build and manage mods. Combined with the shared modding ecosystem, it gives console players considerably more access to The Witcher 3’s long-running modding community than they previously had.
Elsewhere, the update adds a new Bard’s Ballad accessibility preset with customizable options including unlimited item and boat durability, infinite breath, increased vitality regeneration, faster boats and the ability to ignore inventory weight. Xbox Play Anywhere and Ukrainian text localization have also been added.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered releases Sept. 29 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2. PlayStation 5 Pro receives additional PSSR, VRR and performance options, while the native Switch 2 version supports features including motion controls, gyro aiming, touchscreen input, Joy-Con 2 HD Rumble and mouse controls.
