The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a story-driven open-world RPG from CD PROJEKT RED. You play Geralt of Rivia, a witcher who kills monsters for money and is searching for his adopted daughter Ciri. The game came out on May 18, 2015, and on September 29, 2026 it got a free Remastered version that includes both expansions. That current version is what we’re reviewing. We’ll tell you what it does well, where it stumbles and whether it’s worth your time.
Review
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
One of the highest-rated RPGs ever, now with both expansions included and as a free upgrade. Remastered adds a new skill tree, a better camera and modern visuals. Points off for movement that feels dated and bugs that survived.
- Genre
- Story-driven RPG, open world
- Developer
- CD PROJEKT RED (Remastered with Yigsoft)
- Release
- May 18, 2015; Remastered September 29, 2026
- Platforms
- PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2 (older version on PS4, Xbox One and Switch)
- Price
- €49.99 / $49.99 on Steam and Microsoft Store
- Players
- Single player
What works
- Story, characters and side quests critics rank among the best in the genre
- Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are included
- New skill tree and a dynamic combat camera
- Remastered is free for owners of the game
What doesn’t
- Some critics find movement and combat dated
- A fair share of old bugs survived into Remastered
- Remastered isn’t coming to PS4, Xbox One or the original Switch
- On PC it needs Windows 11, an SSD and at least a GTX 1660
Rated on player and critic reception as of October 21, 2026 · Steam 96.4% positive (905,848 reviews since 2015) · Metacritic 92 (Remastered 2026, PC, 13 reviews)
What The Witcher 3 is about
Geralt of Rivia is a witcher, a professional monster hunter. The Northern Kingdoms are torn apart by war with Nilfgaard, and the Wild Hunt, a spectral band of riders, roams the land. Geralt searches for Ciri across a huge world: from White Orchard through Velen and Novigrad to the Skellige Isles. The game is single player only.
The world is open, and the main story is woven together with dozens of side quests. Notice boards in villages offer witcher contracts on monsters, which are a good source of money. You fight with a steel and a silver sword, backed by Signs like Quen and Axii, potions, oils and bombs. When you need a break from fighting, you sit down for Gwent, an optional card minigame. Story decisions carry weight: the game has 36 ending variations, and the three main ones concern Ciri’s fate. How to get started is covered in our beginner’s guide.
What Remastered brought
Remastered came out on September 29, 2026 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2 as a free upgrade. Skills now sit in a tree and each has three levels, so skill points were reset when the update arrived. There are new animations for Geralt and Roach, new finishers, a dynamic combat camera and transmog, which changes how gear looks without changing its stats. The game runs on DirectX 12, and on PC it supports path tracing and DLSS 4.5. The new Just the Story difficulty with the Bard’s Ballad preset makes things easier for players who mainly want the story. Saves from the old version still work. The full list of changes is in our Remastered improvements list.
Another new feature is mods through mod.io directly in the game menu, including on PS5, Xbox and Switch 2. On consoles, though, trophies and achievements are disabled on saves with mods. How it works is in our mods guide.
What critics praise and what bothers players
On Metacritic Remastered has 92 on PC (13 reviews), 92 on PS5 and Switch 2, and 94 on Xbox Series X. The original 2015 release holds 92 on PS4 (80 reviews) and 93 on PC. Eurogamer Germany gave it a perfect 100 and writes that the question isn’t whether The Witcher 3 can still compete in 2026, but which comparable game of the last ten years can go toe to toe with it. TechRadar Gaming (100 on PS5) says calling this version a remaster doesn’t do it justice. Windows Central praises the dynamic camera and the overhauled skill trees that make builds feel new again.
Two complaints keep coming up. GameStar (94) writes that Remastered refines combat, skills and controls but largely leaves everything else as it was, and Hobby Consolas had hoped for bigger gameplay improvements. Noisy Pixel (90) notes that combat and movement show their age, and Vandal mentions slightly clunky movement and long initial load times. The second complaint is bugs: Metro GameCentral says the game comes with many of the same bugs, and SECTOR.sk mentions technical issues and visual glitches. Players love it: on Steam it has 96.4% positive out of 905,848 reviews, rated Overwhelmingly Positive. That figure, however, includes reviews going back to 2015.
Expansions: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine
Remastered includes both expansions, which are no longer sold separately. Hearts of Stone from 2015 is a standalone story of more than 10 hours in which Geralt takes a contract from the Man of Glass, Gaunter O’Dimm, on the immortal Olgierd von Everec. Blood and Wine from 2016 takes you to the new region of Toussaint, continues Geralt’s story and is the final expansion for the original game. Both can also be started on their own from the main menu. The order is covered in our expansions guide.
CD PROJEKT RED is preparing a third paid expansion for 2027, Songs of the Past, set in the region of Letten and comparable in scope to Blood and Wine. It will only come to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2. The release window for The Witcher 4, with Ciri in the lead role, is 2028; more in our Witcher 4 article.
Price and platforms
On Steam The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered costs €49.99 or $49.99, and the same on the Microsoft Store (prices as of October 21, 2026). If you own the game on PC, PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, the upgrade is free. Owners of the original Switch version also get the native Switch 2 version for free. On PS4, Xbox One and the original Switch the game stays on the old version without Remastered and without Songs of the Past. We compare versions and prices in our versions guide.
On PC Remastered needs Windows 11, an SSD with 60 GB of space and at least a GTX 1660 or Radeon RX 5500 XT with 12 GB of RAM. It’s Verified on Steam Deck. If your PC doesn’t meet the requirements, you can roll back to an older version on Steam and GOG; details are in our system requirements guide. The game supports 18 languages, with full voice acting in English, German, French, Polish and several others.
Who The Witcher 3 is for (and who it isn’t)
It’s for you if you enjoy story-driven RPGs where side quests aren’t filler and decisions have consequences. If you’ve never played The Witcher 3, Remastered is the best version ever released, and it includes both expansions. If you already own it, the upgrade is free, and the new skill tree is a good reason for another playthrough.
Skip it if you want modern action combat or you’re looking for co-op. Even after the changes, combat plays second fiddle to the story and movement feels dated. And if you play on PS4, Xbox One or the original Switch, Remastered isn’t coming to them.
Verdict: Is The Witcher 3 worth it?
Yes. If you like story-driven RPGs, The Witcher 3 is a must, and Remastered is the best way to play it. We’re giving it 9/10.
Players and critics still rank it at the top of the genre, and Remastered adds exactly what the game was missing: a new skill tree, a better camera and more modern visuals. For €49.99 you get the base game and both expansions. Points come off for movement and combat that show their age, and for bugs that made it into the new version.
Playing The Witcher 3? All our guides are on the Witcher 3 hub. Start with our beginner’s guide, and see exactly what you get in Remastered in our versions and prices guide. You can find people to talk about the game with on the GamersTogether Discord.
FAQ
We’re giving it 9 out of 10. The score is based on player and critic reception: on Steam the game has 96.4% positive out of 905,848 reviews, and Remastered has 92 on Metacritic on PC from 13 reviews. Praise goes to the story, side quests and the new skill tree, criticism to dated movement and old bugs.
For owners of the game, yes. Remastered came out on September 29, 2026 as a free upgrade on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic), PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2. Saves still work, but skill points are reset because of the new skill tree.
€49.99 or $49.99 on Steam and the Microsoft Store (prices as of October 21, 2026). Both expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, are included.
Yes. Remastered includes Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, which are no longer sold separately. Owners of the base game got them for free. The third expansion, Songs of the Past, is coming in 2027.
No. The Witcher 3 is a single-player game. The only multiplayer-adjacent feature is cross progression: after linking a CD PROJEKT RED account, you can continue your saves on another platform.
Remastered is on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2. On PS4, Xbox One and the original Switch the game still works, but on the older version without Remastered. It’s Verified on Steam Deck.
This review is based on player ratings on Steam and critic scores on Metacritic, on reviews from Eurogamer Germany, GameStar, TechRadar Gaming, Windows Central, Noisy Pixel, Vandal, Hobby Consolas, Metro GameCentral and SECTOR.sk, and on official information from CD PROJEKT RED. Information verified on October 21, 2026. All our guides to the game are on the Witcher 3 hub.