The Witcher 3 PS5 upgrade details and release date unveiled

By Kes Eylers-Stephenson,

The Witcher 3 is getting an upgrade from PS4 to PS5, so we are bringing you all the details for the next-gen RPG release. Here is your guide to the release date and all the minor details down to a bit of a God of War influence.

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt is getting a free PS5 upgrade, bringing one of the best RPGs and best PS4 games to the current-gen. The upgrade has a December 12th, 2022 release date and will be free for The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt PS4 owners.

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt for PS5 is coming on December 12th, 2022The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt for PS5 is coming on December 12th, 2022

CD Projekt Red releases PS5 free upgrade details

In a live-stream and new trailer, CD Projekt Red announced a slate of technical and content upgrades for the game — though no news on The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt trophies just yet. If you have already bought the game, the upgrade is coming for free and new owners will be able to purchase a stand-alone Complete Edition copy for PS5 (we recommend just buying a discounted PS4 version now). The Complete Edition will include both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions which are both on our best DLC lists, and all the DLC released thus far.

The technical upgrades include better visuals with ray-tracing, improved performance, high-res assets, and high-quality character models. There will be a 30fps quality mode and a 60fps performance mode. CD Projekt Red stated that it is comparable to the Ultra graphics settings on PC. There will be a cross-save function between most systems, it looks like. This, in fairness, does suggest an auto-popped trophy list if there is one for the PS5 SKU (there probably will be).

There is a surprising amount of additional content to note, as well. We have listed it all for you in a neat list below. Here is the bonus content for The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Complete Edition that all existing owners will get for free:

  • A new gameplay camera mode that pushes it in over the right shoulder, much like God of War Ragnarok
  • Sign casting alternate controls — removes the radial wheel and instead uses a trigger pull and the face buttons
  • Gameplay tweaks
  • Rebalancing
  • New walking and running controls, giving you more control over Geralt's movement speed (optional)
  • DualSense support — haptic feedback and adaptive trigger support confirmed
  • Faster PS5 load times used to reduce loading times
  • Netflix's The Witcher series has a new quest
  • More swords, armours, and other items
  • Dandelion has a new outfit
  • A 'fully integrated' Photo Mode
  • New map filter options and a 'hybrid minimap' option allows it to fade with time
  • Larger subtitle options
  • Cutscene pause option
  • More voice-acted languages and improved subtitles for supported languages
What do you think of the upgrade? Will you be checking it out? Let us know in the comments!
Kes Eylers-Stephenson
Written by Kes Eylers-Stephenson
Editor Kes is our resident expert in PlayStation and other gaming news. He writes about exclusives like The Last of Us and Horizon, PS Plus news, and his favourite games — The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and God of War — before an evening swim.
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