Polish development studio CD Projekt RED has announced a detailed breakdown of all changes, tweaks and technical specifications, just in time for the global launch of the new version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered. Free for owners of the main game on qualifying platforms, this upgrade fundamentally modernizes the award-winning 2015 epic game. The update not only includes a graphics overhaul, such as new textures, DirectX 12 support, and advanced lighting technology, but also digs deeper into the game’s design. A completely restructured skill tree, the implementation of an armor transmogrification system, revised movement and combat animations, and an optional first-person perspective in expanded photo mode significantly enhance the RPG classic on all target platforms.
Technical revisions to KEX and RedEngine infrastructure form the basis of the remaster. The game now uses the native multi-threaded DirectX 12 rendering pipeline on PC to stabilize performance at high frame rates and 4K resolutions. In the visual area, textures and models based on the popular HD Reworked Project assets have been updated, complemented by improved vegetation shading models, subsurface scattering for more realistic representation of skin, and an optimized tone mapping process.
Newly added ground-truth ambient occlusion (GTAO) options as well as ray-traced local shadows provide lighting and shadow effects. The effects of wizard characters and abilities have also been completely redesigned.
In terms of gameplay mechanics, the reconstruction of the skill tree system is particularly prominent. Skills are now organized into vertical talent trees, each divided into three tiers, and unlocking new talents requires meeting requirements rather than just collecting points. Due to the rebalancing, all rewards and synergies have been rebalanced, which is why players must reallocate their talent points when launching the remastered version for the first time.
Another convenient feature is the reforging option for master craftsmen such as Yoana and Hattori: this system allows the visual appearance of armor to be adjusted without changing the base status value.
In addition, the behavior of standard monsters in combat has been refined, with improvements to Geralt’s climbing, jumping and movement animations, as well as the cockroach’s riding behavior, and new finisher animations added. The user interface and accessibility are also undergoing extensive modernization. The meditation screen now transitions seamlessly into a time-lapse view of the environment, while in-game loot is bundled into a comprehensive interactive viewport with preview tooltips. The minimap can be cleared individually by hiding herbs, corpses or ships, and a dynamic camera option allows for a wider field of view when exploring and fighting.
In addition to versions on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series A complete overview of innovation You can find it on The Witcher website.
