The Witcher 3: Free Remaster Drops in a Month With These 30 Game-Changing Upgrades
Free, massive, and just a month away: CDPR didn’t just remaster The Witcher 3—they brought it back to life. Over 30 upgrades transform the 2015 RPG into something even Geralt might not recognize.
We thought the 2022 next-gen update was the final word on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. CD Projekt Red had other plans. Unveiled by Miles Tost during Opening Night Live, the remaster promises modernized combat, visuals supercharged with path tracing, and a completely overhauled skill tree. It’s just the first stage of a rocket that’ll launch us to the Songs of the Past DLC in 2027, and then to The Witcher 4 in 2028.
Image credit: CD Projekt Red
September 29: the surprise date that changes everything
September 29, 2026. In just over a month, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered lands on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. The best part? The price tag: zero dollars, no matter your platform. Every owner of the game gets this update for free. Eleven years after its original release, CDPR is giving their masterpiece a full second life—without charging a single cent.
And Switch 2 isn’t left out: the remaster is coming with exclusive features for Nintendo’s new console. PS5 Pro support is also confirmed. After the gutsy but visually limited first Switch port, portable players can finally expect a truly convincing Witcher experience. The timing is no accident—CDPR wants to bring as many players back to the Continent as possible before the big 2027 reveals.
30+ upgrades that transform the game: combat, visuals, skill tree
Miles Tost didn’t hide his pride on the Gamescom stage: “You can really feel the team poured their hearts into this. It’s a huge honor for me to be here representing them.” The remaster’s content backs him up. On the graphics front, the lead level designer detailed: “New textures, updated rendering, advanced path tracing, lush vegetation… Geralt has never looked this good, even after all these years in retirement.”
Combat—the original game’s Achilles’ heel—has been completely reworked. “It’s more modern, fluid, and precise. We’ve revamped the camera, targeting system, added new animations, and—my favorite—brand new finishers,” Tost explained. The skill tree has also been “completely redesigned to give players more options”. Here’s a taste of the upgrades teased in the trailer:
- Path tracing on PC and improved ray tracing on consoles
- Transmogrification (separate armor appearance and stats)
- Immersive meditation and new quest tracking
- Loot and menu navigation overhaul
- Cross-platform mod support
- Nvidia DLSS 4.5 and parallelized rendering
- New monster behaviors and refined animations
- Expanded photo mode, HDR improvements, and a modernized tutorial
Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine go free today
CDPR didn’t stop at announcing the remaster. The two major expansions for The Witcher 3, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, became free as of August 25, 2026—that’s today. Anyone who owns the base game can now download them on every digital platform.
Blood and Wine, released a decade ago, alone offers 30 to 40 hours of adventure in the region of Toussaint. Combined with Hearts of Stone, it’s a colossal amount of content now open to anyone who never took the plunge. CDPR’s goal is crystal clear: make sure everyone has experienced the full Geralt saga before Songs of the Past arrives next year.
The CDPR roadmap: remaster → Songs of the Past 2027 → The Witcher 4 in 2028
This remaster is just the first step in a carefully orchestrated plan. In 2027, Songs of the Past will send Geralt to the new region of Letten, armed with a silver chain last seen in the intro to the very first The Witcher back in 2007. With content on par with Blood and Wine, this expansion will be the witcher’s final adventure before Ciri officially takes the lead in The Witcher 4.
Then comes 2028 and the fourth installment, built on Unreal Engine 5. Since Songs of the Past was announced last May, CDPR has been stacking Witcher projects with one clear ambition: never let the franchise fade from the spotlight for even three years. Free remaster, massive expansion, then a full-blown sequel—each piece fits perfectly to ensure a smooth handoff from Geralt to Ciri.
A 2015 RPG getting this kind of love eleven years later is rare enough to deserve a shoutout. With the September 29 remaster, CDPR isn’t just polishing a classic—they’re laying the groundwork for a trilogy of events that’ll keep Continent fans busy through 2028. The White Wolf’s legend is far from over.
Gamescom, PC, PlayStation 5, Switch 2, The Witcher, Xbox Series X|S
