The Witcher 3’s next-generation update is coming in H2 2021
The Witcher 3’s next-generation update is coming in H2 2021
The Witcher 3’s next-generation version will be coming to PC, Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5, offering gamers a “range of visual and technical improvements” that will “take advantage of the most powerful gaming hardware”. These features will include ray tracing and faster loading times (on consoles).Â
These next-generation versions of The Witcher 3 will be developed by Saber Interactive, the CD Projekt Red development partner who created The Witcher 3’s Switch version and the game’s PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X versions.Â
Aside from CD Projekt Red themselves, Saber Interactive are the only developer who has the expertise to guarantee a successful next-generation release of The Witcher 3. Below is what CD Projekt Red’s Adam Kicinski had to say about Saber Interactive back in 2020.Â
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  Regarding The Witcher 3 and its nextgen version: this project is developed outside, with our proven partner who had delivered the 4K version of The Witcher 3 and The Witcher 3 for Switch, so they already know our technology very well – so we asked them to prepare the next-gen port, and as I said during my presentation, we expect a full next-gen experience, with great next-gen features, but it doesn’t interfere with next-gen development of CP (Cyberpunk 2077).
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CD Projekt Red has confirmed that The Witcher 3’s next-generation upgrades will be available for free to all existing The Witcher 3 owners on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. This is especially good news for PC gamers, as PC gamers require no platform upgrades to access The Witcher 3’s next-generation version. That said, hardware upgrades may be necessary to utilise The Witcher 3’s upgraded graphical feature set.Â
Below is what CD Projekt Red’s Michal Nowakowski has to say about The Witcher 3’s PC upgrades. In 2021, The Witcher 3 will look better than ever on PC.
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  So, for The Witcher 3 I believe Adam mentioned that before, there will be update as well – mind you, on PC the situation is a little bit different because there’s no actual switch between platforms or anything of the kind, like with consoles, but there will be a patch adding visual quality and a few extra features and of course we’re not going to charge people for a patch – it’s something they’re going to download and it will upgrade their game; upgrade their experience – but we’re not going to ask them for extra money. If you have your game on PC, you’ll just download an update – and the game will continue to cost what it currently does on the PC market. We consider it an upgrade of the currently existing game. Â
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You can join the discussion on The Witcher 3’s planned next-generation update on the OC3D Forums.Â