The Witcher 3 Remastered: what changes, the patches and the Switch 2 version

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered has been out since September 29, 2026 on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, Battle.net), PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2. It is not a new game to buy: it is a free upgrade for everyone who already owns The Witcher 3, with the Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions included. Here is what changes, based on CD Projekt Red's official patch notes, followed by the patches released since launch.

Who gets it, and how

If you bought the game in the past, physical or digital, you can upgrade for free within the same platform ecosystem. The remaster also adds Xbox Play Anywhere support. On PC, system requirements have gone up: check them before installing.

Visuals: a deep rework

CD Projekt Red has reworked much of the rendering:

• a new shading model, improved lighting for grass and foliage, and new terrain and material rendering;
• textures and models updated using assets from The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project, a well-known community mod;
• new visual effects for Signs and skills;
• native DirectX 12 with multithreading, for better performance;
• revised tone mapping, new ambient occlusion (GTAO), ray-traced local shadows, new image-based lighting and reworked bloom.

On PC, the remaster adds path tracing, NVIDIA DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4 (Radeon RX 7000 and newer) and Intel XeSS 2.0, plus ray-traced HairWorks. On PS5, rendering is now multithreaded; PS5 Pro gets PSSR upscaling and VRR support. Ray Tracing mode targets 60 frames per second, and Performance mode targets 60, up to 90 on a VRR display.

Gameplay: skill tree and Reforge

The biggest change is the skill system. Skills now sit in a tree, each with three ranks, and unlocking one requires its prerequisites rather than a set number of points. Your skill points are reset when you load your save: plan to rebuild your Geralt.

Other changes:

• Reforge, offered by the master craftsmen Yoana and Hattori, changes how a piece of gear looks without touching its stats;
• many non-boss monsters fight differently: attack patterns, counterattacks, movement and reactions;
• new animations for Geralt (finishers, climbing, vaulting) and smoother handling for Roach;
• a new exploration camera with a wider field of view, and a dynamic combat camera;
• you can quickly disengage from a fight, and pick up loot without dismounting.

Interface, photo mode and mods

Meditation now shows a timelapse instead of a menu. Nearby loot can be grouped into a single window, a loot feed shows what you just picked up, and the map makes it easier to switch between tracked quests. Tutorials have been shortened.

Photo mode has been heavily expanded: placeable characters and props, poses and expressions, weather and time of day, aspect ratio, first-person camera. Mods can now be installed in-game through mod.io, on every platform. A new Accessibility section includes the Bard's Ballad preset, which simplifies certain mechanics (unlimited durability, ignored item weight, infinite breath, toggle for Witcher Sense) for players who want to focus on the story.

What the Switch 2 version adds

On Switch 2, the game supports four playstyles: handheld, Pro Controller, Dual Grip with motion controls, and Joy-Con 2 mouse controls. Gyro aiming, touch screen controls in menus, the map and Gwent, HD Rumble, plus VRR in handheld mode and HDR are also included.

The patches since launch

CD Projekt Red has been patching quickly.

• Patch 5.00b (October 1): first update for PS5, Xbox Series X|S and the Xbox Play Anywhere version on PC.
• Hotfix 5.00c (October 1, PC): fixes saves failing when the Documents folder path contained special characters, and voiceover becoming too quiet after browsing the pause menu; visual adjustments in Velen (bloom, vegetation, saturation, path tracing); a HairWorks change that hurt performance is reverted.
• Patch 5.01 (October 8, PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S): Bloom, Light Shafts and Depth of Field options on consoles, performance optimizations, a fix for PS5 settings resetting at every launch and for frame rate limits on the base PS5; delayed dodges and Stamina draining when sprinting and dodging fixed; adjustments to bloom, tone mapping, character lighting, ray tracing and path tracing; and a fix for an issue that could affect save files.

Switch 2: a patch on the way

The Switch 2 version has not received patch 5.01. CD Projekt Red says it is working on a dedicated update that will bring it closer to the other versions, with the same global changes, and improve image clarity and sharpness. The studio promised more details in the days following October 8, without giving a date.

Sources

1. www.thewitcher.com/gb/en/news/52041/see-whats-new-in-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-re…
2. www.thewitcher.com/us/en/news/52054/the-witcher-3-the-wild-hunt-remastered-is-a…
3. www.thewitcher.com/us/en/news/52067/patch-5-00b-for-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-rem…
4. www.thewitcher.com/us/en/news/52073/hotfix-5-00c-out-now-for-the-witcher-3-wild…
5. www.thewitcher.com/gb/en/news/52085/patch-5-01-for-the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-rema…