The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The remaster update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt went live on September 29 at 10:00 UTC, which was 6am in New York and 3am in Los Angeles[7]. In the seven hours that followed, 2,052 new user reviews were posted on its Steam store page. Of those, 1,318 recommended the game, or 64%[4].

The game's lifetime Steam rating tells a different story: 862,589 of 892,273 reviews are positive, close to 97%[4]. Half of this review is about why those two numbers sit so far apart. The other half is for anyone buying the game for the first time. All figures below were checked on the CD PROJEKT RED site, the Steam store and Steam's public review feed as of 17:00 UTC on September 29, 2026.

A monster hunter searching for his adopted daughter

The Witcher 3 is an open-world RPG released in 2015 by the Polish studio CD PROJEKT RED, set in the world of Andrzej Sapkowski's novels[2]. You play Geralt of Rivia, a witcher who kills monsters for pay, and journey across a dark fantasy open world to find his adopted daughter, Ciri[3].

Fights mix swordplay with simple spells called Signs. In between, you track monsters with your witcher senses, take gear to craftsmen and ride long distances on your horse, Roach[1]. This version bundles both expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine[2]. A new paid expansion, Songs of the Past, is set in a new region called Letten and is due in 2027[5].

An update that resets your skill points

The biggest change in the remaster is how Geralt grows. Skills are now grouped into a tree, and each has three ranks. Unlocking a new one no longer means spending a set number of points; you need its prerequisite skills first. As a result, skill points on existing saves are reset[1].

Gear gets Reforge, which changes an item's appearance without affecting its stats. Only the master craftsmen Yoana and Hattori offer it. In combat, many non-boss monsters have reworked attack patterns and reactions, and Geralt gains new finishers and a dynamic combat camera[1].

There are plenty of smaller changes too. Nearby loot can be grouped into one window, you can pick things up without getting off Roach, and meditation is now a timelapse scene instead of a menu. A new Mods option on the main menu, powered by mod.io, lets you browse and install player-made mods from inside the game[1].

Each platform gets its own extras. The PC version now renders natively in DirectX 12 and adds path tracing. Upscaling options are DLSS 4.5, FSR 4 and XeSS 2; FSR 4 only works on Radeon RX 7000 series cards and newer, and older cards fall back to FSR 2. PS5 Pro supports PSSR, and Switch 2 supports mouse controls and gyro aiming[1]. The Remastered upgrade is available on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2[2].

One purchase, both expansions, half price until October 1

If you already own the game, the remaster is a free upgrade within the same platform. Players who only bought the base game also get both expansions at no extra cost[1][2]. The storefront has changed as a result: the standalone expansions are delisted, and the base game has been replaced by the Complete Edition. You can no longer buy the base game without the expansions[2].

On the US Steam store the game lists at $49.99. As of September 30 it is 50% off at $24.99, with the discount ending on October 1 at 10am Pacific[3]. The only other items attached to the Steam page are the unreleased Songs of the Past and three soundtracks[3]. No price has been announced for Songs of the Past.

The 734 negative reviews from launch night

We downloaded all 734 negative reviews posted in the first seven hours and sorted them by the words they used. One review can fall into several groups. 146 mentioned frame rate or optimization, 144 mentioned AMD or Radeon, 118 mentioned saving, and 40 mentioned crashes[4].

The AMD complaints were strikingly similar: fire, smoke and water rendering as black shapes, or grass and textures failing to appear[4]. AMD's Adrenalin 26.9.2 optional driver notes, updated September 29, list the remaster under new game support[6]. CD PROJEKT RED's own patch notes also ask PC players to install the latest graphics drivers first[1].

Save failures were described most often in Russian-language reviews (54) and Simplified Chinese ones (37), and 7 of the 12 negative Korean-language reviews were about saves that would not write or settings that reset. A few players suspected a conflict with Windows security[4]. As of 17:00 UTC on September 29, we found no separate announcement from CD PROJEKT RED about the save problem.

The PC requirements have changed too. The new Steam minimum spec is 64-bit Windows 11, a Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 2600, 12 GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX 1660 or Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB, and 60 GB on an SSD. The recommended spec calls for 16 GB of RAM and an RTX 2060 Super or Radeon RX 6600 XT class card[3].

New players and returning ones

For a first-time buyer, the terms have never been better: $24.99 gets you the base game and both expansions. The tutorials have been trimmed down to the core mechanics[1]. If combat is what puts you off, turn on the Bard's Ballad accessibility preset, either when starting a new game on the Just the Story difficulty or later from the Accessibility settings. It speeds up health regeneration, removes gear durability and weight limits, and makes boats faster[1].

If you have already finished the game, there is less reason to rush. Applying the remaster means spending all your skill points again from scratch[1]. If you use an AMD card, install the 26.9.2 driver first, and if the screen still turns black, wait for a patch.

The sale ends on October 1. If you are buying for the first time, do it before then, but make your first manual save right away and check that it loads. That is exactly where 118 of the 734 negative reviews got stuck.

Sources

[1] CD PROJEKT RED. See what's new in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered!. September 28, 2026.

[2] CD PROJEKT RED. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt official page (with FAQ). Accessed September 30, 2026.

[3] Valve. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered Steam store page (US). Accessed September 30, 2026.

[4] Valve. Steam user reviews feed (appreviews, 292030). Reviews posted between 10:00 and 17:00 UTC on September 29, 2026, tallied by gamesnapshots. Accessed September 30, 2026.

[5] CD PROJEKT RED. A Look at The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: Songs of the Past. August 25, 2026.

[6] AMD. AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.9.2 Optional Driver Release Notes. Updated September 29, 2026.

[7] IGN. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered Global Release Times Confirmed by CD Projekt. September 25, 2026.