The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt RemasteredOld Wolf, New Pelt

Can an eleven-year-old game be the most awaited release of the year? It already has been. The last week of the month was pretty busy for the games market, but at the top of the list wasn't a brand-new game. It was an eleven-year-old one with a fresh coat of polish. Hmmm. I think that alone says plenty.

There's nobody left who doesn't know CD PROJEKT RED. The Polish company released The Witcher 3 in 2015. By the company's own figures the game has sold over 65 million copies and picked up more than 250 game of the year awards. The Remastered version was announced on 25 August 2026 on the gamescom Opening Night Live stage and came out on 29 September. Alongside the company, Yigsoft worked on it. This studio has already been a co-developer on both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. So these aren't strangers' hands. Without further ado, on to our game.

Who pays what?

First, the happiest news. If you already own the game, the new version is free. Owners on GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S get it as a free update. Nintendo Switch 2 gets its own native version of the game. That one is free too for anyone who bought the old Switch version. It's also on sale on Battle.net and the Microsoft Store, under Xbox Play Anywhere. Everywhere it's sold, it replaces the Complete Edition.

For new buyers, the company's announcement gives no price. Looking from Japan, the Steam page said 6,490 yen. We couldn't confirm the price in other regions, so check the store page yourself. The Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions are included for everyone. Those who only owned the base game have had both expansions free since announcement day. One warning while I'm at it: Songs of the Past, coming in 2027, is not part of this version. That's a paid expansion made together with Fool's Theory, set in a new region called Letten. And don't go asking "So where's the new region?" right away. It's still on its way.

What changed on screen?

Textures, vegetation and lighting have been redone. There's ray tracing, and on PC path tracing has been added on top (a heavier method that calculates light along its whole path). On PS5 Pro, with Sony's PSSR upscaling, you get 60 frames with ray tracing on, and in performance mode up to 90 frames on VRR screens. The Switch 2 version gets motion controls, gyro aiming, mouse support and the touch screen. That's also the version critics praised most.

The gameplay changes aren't something to wave off, at least on paper. The skill system and the skill tree have been reworked from scratch. Combat gets new finishers and a camera that adjusts to the situation. Geralt can now vault over obstacles and climb ladders. Roach's handling has been redone as well (who ever loved riding a horse in this game anyway?). Monsters supposedly behave smarter, and the effects of the spells (signs) have changed. There's also transmog (changing how your armour looks without touching its stats), an expanded photo mode and redone menus.

To me the real news is mod support. Cross-platform mod support has arrived through mod.io, and this time the consoles are included. But watch out. Don't download mods from anywhere other than mod.io or well-known sources. A "super graphics pack" from a site you've never heard of can turn into a real headache for your account.

What are players saying?

There's a catch on Steam, and you shouldn't look at the numbers without knowing it. The Remastered took over the old game's store page. So the all-time score of 96 percent (248,524 English reviews) includes reviews written since 2015. That number isn't the new version's report card. The place to look is the last 30 days: 81 percent of 17,146 reviews are positive. In KitGuru's launch-day report, recent reviews stood at 92 percent on about 6,000 reviews. So player satisfaction has dropped since launch. Why it dropped hasn't been confirmed, and I won't fill the gap with guesses.

On the critics' side, Metacritic shows 94. But that 94 is partly misleading too. Since the remaster arrived on PS5 as an update, the score sits on the 2022 Complete Edition page, so it isn't just the 2026 average. OpenCritic's picture is cleaner: a score of 91, every critic recommends it, and the scored reviews range from 8 to 10 out of 10. The praise is clear: the world, the writing, the side quests and the two expansions still hold up today. The improved lighting, animations and menus got noted separately too. The complaints are clear as well. Combat and movement still feel old, the controls are heavy, old bugs and visual glitches haven't been fully cleaned up, and the launch was rocky on some platforms. We went looking for patch notes too, but couldn't find any. I can't tell you which bug got fixed.

Verdict

Now let's get to the heart of it. Two things decide what this version is worth. First, the game underneath is still the yardstick of its genre. Even today, anyone making an open world looks at the Bloody Baron's story when they write side quests. And Blood and Wine is as big as a whole game on its own. Second, people who own the game don't pay a single penny for this version. It's hard to be harsh with an update you get for free.

But the word "remastered" isn't enough by itself. The new finishers, the ladders, the vaulting are nice. Still, the shared complaint of players and critics is that the core of combat and movement hasn't changed. So 2015's heavy controls are still sitting under the polish. And there's that 81 percent from the last 30 days. That's not the number of an "almost flawless" launch. Not finding any patch notes doesn't put my mind at ease about the bugs either.

I'm giving it 86. Why not higher? Because anything over 90 would need the new version itself to shine, not just the game's content. Here we have bugs, dated combat and falling player satisfaction. Why not lower? Because this package still holds the best-written game in the genre and its two best expansions. On top of that come modern lighting, mod support on consoles and a free update.

Geralt's sword has been sharpened, but it's the same old hand swinging it.

If you already own the game, there's nothing to think about: download it. If you've never played it, I recommend starting with this version, but keep an eye out for a sale and wait for the first patches. As for those who quit in 2015 because of the combat, I won't get your hopes up too much. Geralt's sword has been sharpened, but it's the same old hand swinging it. What did you run into in this version, which bug got you? Write to me. Good luck...