At Gamescom Opening Night Live, CD Projekt Red announced The Witcher 3 Remastered is coming out on September 29. It will be free for everyone who already owns The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, or PC – even if you have a PS4 or Xbox One version of the game. And if you own it on Switch, you’ll be able to get the remastered game for free on Switch 2. Oh, and the two existing expansions are also free for all owners of the base game now. It’s madness. The main question I had was, how will all this work? You can find the answers below.
Upgrade on Switch 2
If you own the Switch version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, you’ll be able to get a free copy of The Witcher 3 Remastered for Switch 2.
If you own a digital copy of the game, you should be able to preorder the remaster for free on the eShop right now (see it here).
If you have a physical copy of the original game on Switch, CD Projekt Red said on X, “you’ll be able to claim the free upgrade when Remastered launches on September 29.” So check back then.
If you don’t own the game, the cheapest I could find the original Switch version for is a digital edition for $39.99 at both Amazon and Best Buy.
Upgrade on PS5
If you own The Witcher 3 for PS4 or PS5, you’ll get the remastered version for free when it comes out on September 29.
The two Witcher 3 expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, have been delisted from the PlayStation Store. I expect them to return soon and be available for free, or for everyone who owned the base game to now have access to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition, which includes both expansions.
If you don’t already own the base game and you have a PS5 with a disc drive, the cheapest way to get the remaster is to grab a used copy of the base game (currently $6.99 at GameStop). Put it in your console, update to the latest version, and you’ll be all set for when the remaster arrives.
Upgrade on Xbox Series X|S
If you own The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Xbox, you’ll be able to download The Witcher 3 Remastered for free from the Xbox Store on September 29.
The two expansions are now free on the Xbox Store. If you have the base game but haven’t purchased the expansions, you can add them to your account here:
The expansions are even free on Xbox One if you have the base game — though the Remastered edition will only be available on Series X|S.
If you don’t already own the base game and you have an Xbox Series X, you can buy a used copy of the Xbox One version (currently $4.99 at GameStop). Insert it into your console, update it to the current version, download the expansions if needed, and you’ll be all set for the remaster.
Upgrade on Steam
If you own any version of The Witcher 3 on Steam, you should now have The Witcher 3 – Complete Edition in your library. That includes the base game and the two current expansions. The base game and expansions are no longer available on Steam outside of the Complete Edition. I’m guessing that on September 29, the game will update to the Remastered edition.
The Witcher 3 Remastered on Battle.net
The base game isn’t available on Battle.net, but the remastered edition is coming to that particular PC platform. You can preorder it here. CD Projekt Red says, “Those who purchase the expansion on Blizzard’s platform will unlock a special Geralt-inspired skin in Diablo 4.”
What Is The Witcher 3 Remastered?
The remastered version of the game will feature improvements to the graphics, combat, movement and traversal, mount handling, and photo mode. Some enemies will have new behaviors, and Geralt will get new finishers. The skill tree will be revamped. It’ll have armor transmogrification, so you can use the stats of one piece while maintaining the look of another.
When Does the Songs of the Past Expansion Come Out?
In addition to The Witcher 3 Remastered, CD Projekt Red also showed off a new trailer for the upcoming Witcher 3 expansion, Songs of the Past. No specific release date has been announced yet, but it should be out sometime in 2027.
That DLC will provide a story transition from Geralt to Ciri, who stars in The Witcher 4, which is targeting a 2028 release.
Chris Reed is a senior commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Bluesky.