The Witcher 3 Remastered: release date, free upgrade, and everything new
CD Projekt Red is remastering its masterpiece, and if you already own it, the upgrade is free. Here is the 29 September date, what actually changes, the Switch 2 version, and how the paid Songs of the Past expansion fits in.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered arrives 29 September 2026, and for anyone who already owns the game on PC, PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X and S, it is a free upgrade. It brings upgraded visuals, a Cyberpunk-style skill-tree overhaul, reworked combat and movement, transmogrification and an expanded photo mode, plus a native Nintendo Switch 2 version. Both expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, are now free to all owners. A brand-new paid expansion, Songs of the Past, follows separately in 2027, so the remaster itself adds no new story.
Eleven years on, CD Projekt Red is giving its best game a new coat of paint, and giving most players it for nothing. Announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live on 25 August, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered launches 29 September 2026. Here is what is confirmed, and what is still trailer-talk.
The headline: it is a free upgrade
If you already own The Witcher 3 on PC (GOG, Steam or Epic), PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X and S, the Remastered version is a free upgrade on that platform. There is one catch worth knowing: ownership does not cross stores, so owning it on Steam does not unlock it on GOG or elsewhere. And on top of that, CD Projekt Red has made the two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, free to every owner as of the announcement, whether or not you buy into the remaster.
There is also a native Nintendo Switch 2 version launching the same day (a separate purchase, with pre-orders open now), and the game is coming to Battle.net for the first time through a new partnership with Blizzard.
What actually changes
CD Projekt Red's own list of improvements is substantial. The confirmed changes include upgraded visuals, enhanced combat, improved traversal and movement, new witcher-sign effects, revamped mount handling, smarter monster behaviour, a Cyberpunk 2077-style skill-tree revamp, transmogrification (so you can change how gear looks without losing its stats), an expanded photo mode and new combat finishers. Those are the studio's words, and they amount to more than a simple resolution bump: this is a gameplay refresh as much as a visual one.
The flashier graphics claims come from the announcement trailer rather than the written press release, so treat them as shown-not-yet-tested. According to that trailer, as picked apart by hardware press, the PC version adds path tracing and support for the latest upscalers (DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4 and Intel XeSS 2.0). Exact console resolution and frame-rate targets have not been confirmed, so be wary of any frame-rate figures floating around, several of those describe the game's 2022 next-gen update, not this remaster.
The paid part: Songs of the Past
The remaster is the free bit. The new content is not. Songs of the Past is a separate paid expansion arriving in 2027, taking Geralt to a new region called Letten, developed with the studio Fool's Theory. CD Projekt Red was unusually clear about this split, so there is no confusion: the remaster overhauls the existing game for free, and Songs of the Past is a brand-new, paid adventure coming later. Its price has not been announced.
What if you do not own it yet?
CD Projekt Red has not published an official standalone price for the remaster. In practice, buying the game now gets you in cheaply: the Complete Edition on PC was recently repriced to around $49.99, and any new purchase automatically includes the remaster on launch day. The Switch 2 version for new buyers has been reported at around $59.99, though that figure is not yet officially confirmed. Either way, for a game routinely called one of the best ever made, now bundling both expansions and a free technical overhaul, it remains one of the easiest recommendations in gaming. For more, see the Gaming section and our look at the biggest games of 2026 and 2027.
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