Geralt of Rivia’s 2015 road trip is getting another tune-up. CD Projekt Red has announced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered, a substantial new version of the RPG dropping on September 29 as a completely free upgrade for existing owners and closing out this year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live with a monster-sized “one more thing.” The remaster arrives with both acclaimed story expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, bundled in, turning what was already a hefty package into a definitive edition that also happens to be a no-cost upgrade if you already own the game.
Where the 2022 “next-gen update” focused heavily on adding ray tracing and modern console support, this new remaster digs deeper into the guts of the game. According to early breakdowns, CDPR is overhauling visuals with sharper textures, improved character models, and cleaner performance targets, while also reworking moment-to-moment gameplay. Combat and traversal have been tuned, horseback riding has been revamped, and monster behavior is being upgraded to make encounters feel fresher even for players who have already cleared every contract. Under the hood, Geralt’s entire skill tree is getting a redesign, paired with quality-of-life additions like transmogrification, expanded photo mode options, new finisher animations, and flashier Witcher sign effects.
The best part is that this isn’t a paid “deluxe” re-release. CD Projekt Red is positioning The Witcher 3: Remastered as a true upgrade path: if you already own the game on GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, or Xbox Series X|S, you get the remaster at no additional cost. Coverage from multiple outlets notes that the remaster will also support Xbox’s Play Anywhere program on Microsoft’s platforms, letting players carry progress between Xbox and PC ecosystems. Some reports add that a Battle.net version and support for Nintendo’s next-gen hardware are planned, signaling the studio’s ongoing push to keep Geralt available on as many platforms as possible. In tandem with the announcement, CDPR is also making Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine free across digital storefronts for existing owners, so anyone who somehow skipped those expansions has a clear runway to catch up ahead of the remaster’s launch.
This remaster is not just a nostalgia victory lap; it is strategically tied to the next big chapter of the game. CD Projekt has already confirmed a third expansion, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past, which will return players to Geralt in a new region when it launches in 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The expansion, announced earlier this year, is described as a full-fledged add-on on par with previous DLC in scope and will once again cast players as the White Wolf for a fresh adventure rather than a small epilogue. Internal timelines reportedly shifted the expansion from an initial 2026 window to 2027 in order to give the team more time, a delay CDPR framed as necessary “to achieve the best possible result.” Taken together, the remaster and expansion suggest the studio sees The Witcher 3 as an evolving platform rather than a finished relic.
For long-time fans, Songs of the Past has been pitched as a kind of final curtain call for Geralt’s saga before the franchise pivots toward Ciri as the lead in the next mainline Witcher game, a direction CDPR has openly discussed. The roadmap now looks very deliberate: a remaster in 2026 to modernize the tech and mechanics, a major expansion in 2027 as a farewell tour for the original protagonist, and a new-numbered Witcher entry targeting a launch in 2028 with a new central hero and likely a new saga. Instead of sunsetting The Witcher 3, CDPR is essentially turning it into the bridge between two generations of Witcher storytelling.
From a player’s perspective, this is about as consumer-friendly as big-budget remasters get. Eleven years after its original 2015 release, The Witcher 3 is being reintroduced not as a separate $70 SKU, but as a free, feature-packed upgrade that folds in every major story expansion and tunes the gameplay to contemporary expectations. For newcomers, it means the easiest way yet to experience what many still consider the gold standard for open-world RPGs on modern hardware. For veterans who have already saved Kaer Morhen and retired to Toussaint, the combination of revamped systems, visual upgrades, and the promise of Songs of the Past gives plenty of reason to sharpen their silver swords one more time when the remaster hits on September 29.
