The Witcher 3 next-gen update arrives in December

Shawn Knight

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In brief: It has been more than two years since CD Projekt Red announced it was working on a next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Fortunately, gamers won't have to wait too much longer as the update will be delivered in time for the holidays.

Earlier today, the official Twitter account for The Witcher confirmed the next-gen update would be delivered on December 14. In a separate release, CD Projekt Red said the update will feature dozens of visual, performance and technical enhancements over the original game including support for ray tracing, faster load times on consoles and mods integrated into the experience.

Gamers can also look forward to new content inspired by The Witcher series from Netflix.

The free next-gen update will be available to anyone that owns any release of the original on PlayStation 4, Xbox One or PC. For those that do not yet have the game, a next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition will drop digitally on PS5, Xbox Series and PC, with all free DLCs released to date and both major expansion packs: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. A physical release will follow the digital rollout, but CD Projekt Red did not have a launch date to share.

The studio also mentioned an update for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch version of The Witcher 3 that will include numerous additions and improvements. Additional details on this separate update will be shared in the near future, we're told.

The next-gen update was originally due out in 2021 but got bumped to the second quarter of 2022. In April of this year, the studio behind the popular 2015 action role-playing game delayed the launch until further notice. Less than a month earlier, we learned that a new Witcher game was in development and being built with Unreal Engine 5.

CD Projekt Red will host a Twitch stream next week with more details and gameplay from the next-gen update.

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I wish they give an option to tone down the strength of all leaves and trees swaying like there's a constant hurricane going around the characters. Everywhere you go and everywhere you look, the foliages are swaying like crazy ALL THE TIME.

Come on, it would have been more realistic if there are intermittent winds of diffefent strength. Give some rest for the foliages.
 
I wish they give an option to tone down the strength of all leaves and trees swaying like there's a constant hurricane going around the characters. Everywhere you go and everywhere you look, the foliages are swaying like crazy ALL THE TIME.

Come on, it would have been more realistic if there are intermittent winds of diffefent strength. Give some rest for the foliages.
Hmmm... Wind howling... Looks like it's gonna rain.
 
I put more hours into this game than I care to admit (at least three times more than the next closest campaign) and swore I would not be returning. But... I'm very interested to see the graphical improvements on what I already consider to be one of the, if not THE most gorgeous game I've ever played.

Darn you, Geralt!!
 
Very good news!!!! The original graphics started to look dated. I will replay the game!
 
I only just started the game this summer, almost done at this stage, and now they release this. Timing.....
 
Very good news!!!! The original graphics started to look dated. I will replay the game!
there are several excellent mods, such as the HD Reworked Project (its author was hired by CDProject for this release), or the Ultra quality ("enable" an "Ultra" option in the settings), or even adding raytracing and global ilumination (screen space)
 
I wish they give an option to tone down the strength of all leaves and trees swaying like there's a constant hurricane going around the characters. Everywhere you go and everywhere you look, the foliages are swaying like crazy ALL THE TIME.

Come on, it would have been more realistic if there are intermittent winds of diffefent strength. Give some rest for the foliages.
To be fair, it does look like there is a storm off the coast. And the world is ending, why wouldn't there be storms left and right.

I actually like the excess swaying, it gives the game some character.
 
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