The Witcher 3 Remastered scores higher than the original — and the upgrade is free
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered launches September 29 and has already edged out the original on Metacritic — the PC version scores 94 against the 2015 release's 93. Existing owners on Steam, GOG, Epic, Battle.net, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2 get the upgrade at no cost. New buyers pay $59.99, with both expansions — Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine — included in the base price.
The remaster
The update isn't cosmetic-only. CD Projekt Red rebuilt the lighting system, added ray tracing and path tracing support, upgraded character animations, gave enemies new abilities, and modernized the UI. Geralt's ability progression has been reworked to be clearer, and a transmog system lets you change his appearance without touching his stats. Meditation — previously buried in a menu — now plays out dynamically in the world. The download weighs in at around 45 GB.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered — rebuilt lighting and ray tracing bring the 2015 RPG to current-gen standards.
Critics are responding well to the changes, but reviewers are equally enthusiastic about CD Projekt's approach to pricing. Co-CEO Michał Nowakowski told PC Gamer that charging existing owners "was never a question we asked ourselves." That stance matters in context: CD Projekt spent 2023–24 managing the fallout from Cyberpunk 2077's troubled launch, including mass refunds. A free remaster with no paywalled content reads as a deliberate course correction.
At $59.99 for a new purchase — with two full expansions bundled — it undercuts several current-gen RPGs. That price also positions Wild Hunt Remastered as the definitive entry point before The Witcher 4 (currently targeting 2028) and the third story expansion, Songs of the Past, due in 2027.
What to play it on
The remaster is available across PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, Battle.net), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. If you already own the original on any of those platforms, the upgrade downloads automatically at no charge. The system requirements are worth checking before you dive in — an RTX 3070 Ti handles Ultra settings, per Metacritic aggregate coverage — but mid-range cards from the last few years should manage high without issue.
Songs of the Past arrives in 2027 and will shift the spotlight to Ciri, wrapping another chapter of Geralt's story ahead of the full Witcher 4 handoff. The remaster sets the stage cleanly for both.
