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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, complete with the game's two major DLC storylines, will release on next-generation consoles. The sprawling RPG released in 2015, setting a new gold standard for western RPGs and transforming the popular property into a global mega-hit. In the five years since its release, CD Projekt Red has teased information about its forthcoming first-person foray into science fiction with Cyberpunk 2077.
The third and presumably final entry in the mainline Witcher series concludes the story of Geralt of Rivia, a supernaturally enhanced monster slayer. Geralt sets off on a quest to find his ward, Ciri, and gets waylaid by local politics and the ever-pressing threat of the mysterious Wild Hunt. Players have near-free rein of the game's eastern European-inspired world and a sizable slate of fleshed-out side quests.
CD Projekt Red announced the updated version of the game in a Twitter post and update on the company's website. The PS5 and Xbox Series X editions of the game will pack-in everything featured in The Complete Edition, including Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions. Along with the DLC, players can expect some technical upgrades, like ray tracing and shortened loading times, as well. Players who currently own a copy of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on PC, PS4, or Xbox One will receive the updated edition for free.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt catapulted its characters into the mainstream gamer consciousness five years ago, but Geralt of Rivia has been around much longer. The Witcher's now-iconic star debuted in a series of Polish novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. Like the games, the novels focus on Geralt, Ciri, Triss, and Yennefer as they make their way through monster-harried villages and corrupt kingdoms. A Netflix adaptation starring Henry Cavill released last December and a second season is currently in production.
With The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, CD Projekt Red is the latest in a line of developers to make one of its current-gen games next-gen accessible. Major titles like Dead by Daylight and the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War have some systems in place to offer current-gen players a next-gen experience whenever they get around to purchasing a new console. It's encouraging to see backward compatibility, in any form, become more commonplace in the gaming space. Gamers worried about their extensive current-generation collections can take some solace in the slowly growing list of cross-gen titles.
Source: CD Projekt Red/Twitter