In the age of next-gen paid upgrades and remasters, CD Projekt Red has once again taken a special approach to customer-friendliness. As confirmed by the Polish studio, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered will be released at the end of September and will serve as a completely free upgrade for all previous owners of the role-playing epic. In a detailed interview, co-CEO Michał Nowakowski made it clear that funding obstacles for existing customers were never discussed internally. This far-reaching revision project is more about thanking a loyal fan base. Instead, the effort will be funded through regular sales to new customers and the upcoming paid story expansion Songs of the Past.
According to the developer, the creation of the remake was not a premeditated business move, but grew organically based on the new expansion pack “Songs of the Past” produced in collaboration with studio Fool’s Theory. During development, the team realized that many gameplay elements of the content were outdated after more than eleven years. What started as minor tweaks to the graphics, mechanics, and combat system grew into a full-blown remaster.
Despite the massive workload, management remained steadfast in its company philosophy of treating the finished package as a revised version for all previous owners of the game.
The technical and gameplay modifications show that the remaster is much more than a simple texture pack. The development team dug deep into the game’s fundamentals: in addition to visual improvements, it also made fundamental changes to the combat system that was often panned by critics, tweaked the behavior of enemy AI, improved riding, and restructured the talent tree. With this all-around hit, the studio hopes to bring the legendary adventure surrounding the witcher Geralt to a modern level without having to hide it in the current new version.
Through a thoughtful hybrid model, the project is financially sustainable for the publisher. While existing customers won’t have to pay a penny extra, the game will be available to new customers as a complete package. CD Projekt Red is also counting on commercial revenue from the main story expansion Songs of the Past, which is scheduled to launch next year. Nowakowski emphasized that the business aspect is entirely dependent on the DLC, but the remaster itself is seen as a pure upgrade.
A free update for the remaster will be released on September 29, 2026 for PC, modern consoles, and Nintendo Switch 2. Anyone who already owns the game on one of these platforms can jump straight into the updated adventure at no additional cost.
