CD Projekt Red has showcased The Witcher 3’s new-gen update

CD Projekt Red has showcased The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s upcoming new-gen update.

Following several delays and a change of developer, it will be released on December 14 as a standalone purchase for PC, Xbox Series X/S and PS5, and as a free update for players who already own the game on PC and last-gen consoles.

It will feature dozens of visual, performance and technical enhancements over the original, including ray tracing support, faster loading times on consoles, and a variety of mods integrated into the experience.

A trailer is viewable above, while a more detailed overview of the update featuring insight from developers can be viewed below.

CD Projekt also detailed the update’s key features in an accompanying blog post. In terms of visual updates, it said the product will feature improved screen space reflections, improved foliage, better textures, plus FSR 2.1 and DLSS 3 support.

It will also introduce “an alternative camera option that’ll bring you closer to the action”, a photo mode, quest fixes, and DLC inspired by the Netflix series, including a new quest, “where you’ll be able to get diagrams for new equipment for Geralt”.

The addition of cross-progression will also enable players to carry over their latest save between platforms.

As of April 2022, The Witcher franchise had shipped over 65 million units, including more than 40 million copies of The Witcher 3, according to CD Projekt.

Further reading

The Witcher 4’s game director has been revealed

Sebastian Kalemba was formerly CD Projekt Red’s animation director

Last month, CD Projekt Red announced plans for a new trilogy of Witcher games, Witcher spin-offs, a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, and the studio’s first original IP.

More recently, it confirmed that a “full-fledged remake” of the original The Witcher game had entered production using Unreal Engine 5.