The Witcher 3 Remastered Is Available Now — What Changed and How the Free Upgrade Works

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered is available now. CD PROJEKT RED confirmed the September 29 launch for PC through GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store and Battle.net, plus PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2. Existing owners can claim the upgrade for free within the same platform ecosystem. The update also includes Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine for owners on those supported platforms.

The full change overview now spells out more than visual polish: progression has new rules, equipment has a Reforge system, and the game adds mod support, accessibility settings and platform-specific features. The separate paid expansion Songs of the Past still follows in 2027.

Your existing save should still work. CDPR’s support guidance says Remastered keeps current saves and previously earned achievements or trophies. Skills and settings are reset as part of the upgrade, but you can reallocate skill points immediately; story progress is not described as being wiped. CDPR’s separate FAQ says cross-progression continues to work.

The New Skill Tree Resets Your Points

Skills now sit in a tree with three ranks each. Unlocking a skill requires its prerequisites rather than spending a fixed number of points in a category; CDPR has also rebalanced and renamed some abilities. Existing skill points are reset because of the redesign, so returning players should expect to rebuild their selections.

Reforge, Combat and Everyday Changes

The new Reforge service changes equipment’s appearance without changing its stats. Only master craftsmen Yoana and Hattori offer it. Adding gear or crafting diagrams to your inventory unlocks appearances, and dyes from Blood and Wine carry over to reforged equipment.

CDPR says it has revised many non-boss monsters’ combat behavior, added finishers, improved Geralt’s ledge and ladder movement and combat gap-closing, and adjusted Roach’s collision avoidance and riding animations. New exploration and dynamic combat cameras and improved target-lock switching change how encounters are framed. These are documented changes, not a hands-on assessment of how they feel.

Smaller changes include a meditation timelapse, easier quest tracking on the map, optional grouped loot and item previews, quick disengagement from combat, and collecting loot while mounted. Photo Mode now offers placeable characters, poses, camera presets, first-person shots, weather and time controls, and other tools.

Bard’s Ballad and Cross-Platform Mods

The Bard’s Ballad accessibility preset is designed to reduce cognitive load by simplifying selected mechanics. Players can customize options such as vitality regeneration, infinite breath, equipment and boat durability, item weight and toggleable Witcher Senses. It is available when starting a new game on Just the Story difficulty or through the Accessibility settings during play.

The in-game Mods menu uses mod.io and requires a linked CD PROJEKT RED account to install mods. CDPR’s support guide lists PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2, but mod compatibility varies: unsupported console mods do not appear there. Cross-platform saves using mods need the same compatible mods on both devices, and modded saves disable trophies or achievements on consoles. Some older XML, script and w3strings mods also need updating for this release.

How the Free Upgrade and Platform Features Work

CDPR says owners of any previously purchased version, physical or digital, can upgrade within the same platform ecosystem. That does not promise a free copy on a different ecosystem. The Remastered release itself targets PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2, not native PS4, Xbox One or original Switch editions. CDPR previously confirmed that original Switch owners can claim the Switch 2 upgrade, including both expansions.

On PC, the update adds native multithreaded DirectX 12 rendering, path tracing, DLSS 4.5 with Ray Reconstruction, FSR 4 and XeSS 2.0 features; CDPR says system requirements have changed. Xbox gains Play Anywhere. Base PS5 gets multithreaded rendering, while PS5 Pro adds PSSR and VRR support, with a ray-tracing mode targeting 60 frames per second and a performance mode reaching up to 90 on VRR-capable displays. Those targets are CDPR’s specifications, not our benchmark results.

Switch 2 adds handheld, controller, motion-control and mouse-sensor playstyles, gyro aiming, touch support for menus and Gwent, Joy-Con 2 HD Rumble, handheld VRR and HDR. CDPR has not published a Switch 2 resolution or frame-rate target in its change overview.

Songs of the Past Sends Geralt to Letten

The stranger part of this comeback is that Remastered is really the warm-up.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past launches in 2027 as a paid expansion on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2. It is being co-developed by CD Projekt Red and Fool’s Theory, the Polish studio also working with CDPR on The Witcher Remake.

Geralt travels to Letten, a new region described as an idyllic land of harvests, festivals and rural tradition. Naturally, something terrible is hiding underneath all of that.

CDPR’s press material calls Letten the homeland of Dandelion. Xbox Wire adds that Geralt accompanies his old friend there over a personal matter before discovering the problem lurking beneath the region’s peaceful surface.

The expansion introduces new enemies, new abilities and a new weapon: the chain. Long-time Witcher players may recognize the idea from the opening cinematic of the original game. In Songs of the Past, it becomes an actual combat tool, with CDPR highlighting its usefulness for crowd control.

New mutagens are also coming, although the studio has not yet laid out the full progression system for the expansion.

Is This Really Geralt’s Final Witcher 3 Story?

CD Projekt Red is choosing its language carefully, but it is not being subtle.

Its official Press Center describes Songs of the Past as Geralt returning to the Path for “one last adventure” and calls the expansion the final chapter of The Witcher 3.

That does not mean CDPR has sworn never to use Geralt again in any game, cameo or future project. It does mean the studio is positioning this as the ending of The Witcher 3 itself.

CDPR is simultaneously sending Geralt back out for one more contract while preparing Ciri to take over the main series in The Witcher 4. The company has already said that The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release window, which makes the current plan a fairly clean handoff: Geralt in 2027, Ciri after that.

Fool’s Theory being involved adds another wrinkle. The studio is co-developing Songs of the Past while also working on the remake of the first Witcher. A new Geralt expansion gives that team a chance to work inside CDPR’s most successful Witcher game before rebuilding the one that started the series.

What Comes Next?

Remastered is available now, while Songs of the Past remains scheduled for 2027. CDPR has not announced an exact date or price for the paid expansion. The new patch details explain how the base game has changed; they do not establish how the expansion itself will play or perform.

For the earlier reveal and its context, see our Gamescom 2026 Opening Night Live coverage.