CD Projekt Red closed out Gamescom's Opening Night Live 2026 with the surprise reveal of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, arriving September 29 as a free upgrade for everyone who already owns the 2015 RPG on PC and consoles. Sources describe the release as roughly 11 and a half to 12 years after the original game, and it will also bring The Witcher 3 to Nintendo Switch 2 and Battle.net for the first time, replacing the earlier, reportedly rough Switch 1 port. According to Eurogamer, the remaster was co-developed with an outside studio.
One of the biggest emphases is combat, long considered one of the original's weaker elements. CD Projekt Red's marketing promises revamped animations, new finishers, an adaptive camera, new Witcher sign effects, and enhanced monster behaviors. Level design lead Miles Tost said at Gamescom that combat is now 'more modern, smooth, and precise,' citing updates to the camera, targeting system, and animations. Movement and mount handling have also been reworked, including improved traversal and a revamped feel for riding Roach.
Beyond combat, the remaster includes a revamped skill tree, a new transmogrification system for separating armor appearance from stats, an expanded photo mode, and 'immersive meditation.' A more extensive list teased in the reveal trailer's 'and more' section includes cross-platform mod support, a looting rework, new quest tracking, UI and menu navigation improvements, tutorial modernization, and a wide range of graphical upgrades such as path tracing, ray reconstruction, raytraced hair, new lighting and shading models, and support for Nvidia DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4, and Intel XeSS 2.0, plus PS5 Pro and Xbox Play Anywhere support. PC Gamer noted it remains unclear whether players will be able to toggle some of these changes, such as the combat overhaul, on or off.
Alongside the remaster, CD Projekt Red made the existing expansions Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine free for all Witcher 3 owners starting August 25, and confirmed they'll be bundled with the remaster for newcomers. This is described as the third major overhaul of The Witcher 3, following a year of post-launch fixes in 2015-2016 and the 2022 next-gen update for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S that was later ported to PC.
CD Projekt Red also debuted a trailer for Songs of the Past, a new expansion due in 2027 and co-developed by Fool's Theory. It introduces a new region called Letten, described as an overgrown, forested fantasy land and the homeland of Geralt's friend Dandelion. The story reportedly puts Geralt's friendship with Dandelion at risk as he faces new enemies, including tree-like monsters. Geralt also wields a new chain weapon that CD Projekt Red says connects to both the chain Ciri uses in The Witcher 4 trailer and one Geralt uses in the original Witcher 1 trailer, referencing an early Andrzej Sapkowski short story.
The announcements come as CD Projekt Red continues work on The Witcher 4, planned for 2028 and currently in full production. The Witcher 3's original director has since left the studio to found Rebel Wolves, working on a separate upcoming game, The Blood of Dawnwalker.