The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Developers
	CD Projekt Red
Publishers
	CD Projekt
Engines
	REDengine 3
Release dates
Windows	May 19, 2015
Reception
Metacritic	93
OpenCritic	93
IGDB	92
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, Expansion pack
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Third-person
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Action, RPG, Open world
Art styles	Realistic
Themes	Fantasy
Series	The Witcher

The Witcher
The Witcher	2007
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings	2011
The Witcher Adventure Game	2014
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	2015
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game	2018
Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales	2018
Gwent: Rogue Mage	2022
The Witcher: Remake	TBA

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a singleplayer third-person action, RPG and open world game in the The Witcher series.

The Witcher 3's Next-Generation update released on 14 December 2022 for everyone who owns the game as a free update. This includes DLSS 3, FSR 2.1, ray-traced global illumination, ray-traced ambient occlusion, ray-traced shadows, ray-traced reflections (on some surfaces and bodies of water), dynamic resolution scaling, more broader implemented screen space reflections (previously exclusive to water surfaces), improved texture resolution, improved environmental geometric detail, high-resolution self-shadowing, with a new Ultra+ settings to significantly increase visual fidelity on several fronts: number of background characters, shadow quality, grass density, texture quality, foliage visibility range, terrain quality, water quality and detail level.

The next-gen update also featured a photo mode, cross-platform saves, new DLC quest (In The Eternal Fire's Shadow) and costumes based on the Netflix show, Quick Sign Casting option, tweaked fall damage, easier herb looting, dynamically hidden minimap, minimap filter to reduce icon clutter, scalable subtitles, expanded controller customization, pausable cutscenes, previously pre-rendered cutscenes are now real-time, Chinese Simplified and Korean audio, and several bugfixes related to quests, cutscenes and general gameplay.

The game has received a couple of patches after the next-gen update, adding a performance mode for ray-traced global illumination, motion blur slider and refraction to water reflections. It additionally improved stability and performance, fixed various bugs and more, such as Screen Space Reflection not working, and horizon-based Ambient Occlusion missing on PC.

General information

PC Report

Official Forums

Official Witcher Wiki (Fandom)

Official Witcher Game Series Wiki (Gamepedia)

The Witcher 3 Nexus Mods

GOG.com Community Discussions

GOG.com Support Page

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Initial retail release requires the launch file. Launch file requirement removed in later retail releases. Patches and DLC are only available by activating on GOG.com.
Epic Games Store		Complete Edition.
GOG.com		Complete Edition also available.
Humble Store		Complete Edition also available.
Steam		DRM-free when launched directly from executable. Complete Edition also available.
Origin (unavailable)		DRM-free. Removed on June 13, 2022, but nonetheless received the Next-Gen Update.
Amazon.com (unavailable)
(unavailable)

All the digital distribution versions come with free bonuses that include the soundtrack in MP3 and FLAC formats.

No version of the game requires either GOG Galaxy or any type of authentication, activation, or digital distribution software.

The initial 2015 release has 4 DVDs, while the 2016 Complete Edition release has 6 DVDs.

If you wish to revert to it, the Legacy version (pre Next-Gen) is available on applicable store fronts; on Steam, under the beta branch options; and for GOG.com, offline installers for this version were moved to the Extras section in the library as well.

Monetization

Type	Notes
DLC	The minor DLC include cosmetics, items, quests, or the new game+ mode.
Expansion pack	Expansion packs include campaigns separate from the main one.
One-time game purchase	The game requires an upfront purchase to access.

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
'Ballad Heroes' Neutral Gwent Card Set	Free.
Alternative Look for Ciri	Free.
Alternative Look for Triss	Free.
Alternative Look for Yennifer	Free.
Beard and Hairstyle Set	Free.
Blood and Wine	Included in Game of the Year/Complete Edition.
Elite Crossbow Set	Free.
Expansion Pass	Includes Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions.
Hearts of Stone	Included in Game of the Year/Complete Edition.
New Finisher Animations	Free.
New Game +	Free.
New Quest 'Contract: Missing Miners'	Free.
New Quest 'Contract: Skellige's Most Wanted'	Free.
New Quest 'Fool's Gold'	Free.
New Quest 'Scavenger Hunt: Wolf School Gear'	Free.
New Quest 'Where the Cat and Wolf Play...'	Free.
Nilfgaardian Armor Set	Free.
Skellige Armor Set	Free.
Temerian Armor Set	Free.
REDkit	Official mod toolkit for The Witcher 3. Required to launch mods made with REDkit in mind.

Essential improvements

Patches

The retail release requires a launch file to play. Further patches require activating on GOG.com.

Skip intro videos

Use Skip Movies mod
Download the Skip Movies mod Extract the contents of the archive to <path-to-game>\mods.

Skip loading screen narration videos

Edit user.settings or dx12user.settings config file (depending on whether you run DirectX 11 or DirectX 12 version of the game) Add this setting: [LoadingScreen/Debug] DisableVideos=true It will auto-skip loading screen videos (which you can also skip by pressing space on a keyboard and square/X on PS4/Xbox controllers respectively).

Skip REDlauncher on start-up

Add --launcher-skip command line argument
Do note that this will launch the DX12 version. This can be changed by editing the launcher-configuration.json file. Open <path-to-game>\launcher-configuration.json with a text editor. Change "fallback": "DirectX 12" to "fallback": "DirectX 11".

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/292030/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\gamesaves\
Steam Play (Linux)	<SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/292030/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher
GOG Galaxy
Origin
OneDrive		Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers.
Steam Cloud

Cross-save is available with all console versions of the game.

Video

In-game graphics settings.

Graphics feature	State	WSGF	Notes
Widescreen resolution			See Widescreen resolution for setting a custom resolution if needed.
Multi-monitor			Cutscenes are 16:9. See the related WSGF thread.
Ultra-widescreen			Cutscenes are 16:9. See the related WSGF thread.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Default is 60°. Use FOV Tweak by wghost81.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		Controlled by Texture Quality setting. Low is 1x, Medium 4x, High 8x and Ultra 16x.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		FXAA, TAA
High-fidelity upscaling		TAAU, FSR 2.1, XeSS 1.1, DLSS 2.5 Dynamic resolution scaling is only available when using TAAU or FSR 2. FSR 2 and DLSS are only in DX12 version. DLSS Frame Generation is supported.
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		FPS cap can be configured to 30, 60, 75, 90, 120, 144 or unlimited in options menu.
High dynamic range display (HDR)		Automatically enabled when connected to an HDR screen. A calibration menu was added in Patch 4.04.
Ray tracing (RT)		Ray-traced global illumination, ambient occlusion, shadows and reflections.
Color blind mode		Improves visibility of tracks, marks, footprints and scent clues.

Widescreen resolution

Edit user.settings config file[citation needed]
Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\user.settings with a text editor. Find Resolution=XXxYY and set your resolution (e.g. Resolution=1152x648). If you want to use a resolution lower than 1024x768, also find FullScreenMode=X and change X to 1 or use borderless mode. Save the file and launch the game.

Change in-game cinematic framerate

Modify user.settings file[citation needed]
Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\user.settings with a text editor. Change MovieFramerate to which you desire (e.g. 60 or 120).

Disable Cinematic Supersampling

Modify user.settings file[citation needed]
Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\user.settings with a text editor. Add MovieUbersampling=false under [Visuals] section.

Disable radial blur when using Witcher Senses

Modify user.settings file
Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\user.settings with a text editor. Add MotionSicknessFocusMode=true under [Gameplay] section.

Input

In-game control settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Since version 1.04 all keys can be remapped.
Mouse acceleration		Under Video Options, enable Hardware Cursor to disable mouse acceleration.
Mouse sensitivity		Can only be changed if Hardware Cursor is disabled. Can be set seperately for menus and gameplay.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion		X-axis inversion is also possible.
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Possible by editing the input.settings file or with mods, some user-made presets are available on the Nexus.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion		X-axis inversion also possible.

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

PlayStation controllers		DualShock 4, DualSense
PlayStation button prompts
Light bar support		Blue on the Main Menu, Green in Gameplay, Red on Game Over.
Adaptive trigger support
DualSense haptic feedback support
Connection modes	Wired, Wireless (Bluetooth)

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Digital movement supported
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Rapidly changes button prompts. Prompts can be set to fixed by changing LockControlScheme in <path-to-game>\bin\config\base\hidden.ini to 1 (KB/M) or 2 (controller). 0 enables switching between prompts. Enable Steam Controller support here.

Audio

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Master, music, effects and voice.
Surround sound		Up to 7.1 (no in-game option).
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Loading screens and cinematics (FMVs) do not mute on focus lost.
Royalty free audio

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English				Grammar of the Path (Text Cleanup Mod) by PaulR0013 and Names from the Path (Full Names Mod) by PaulR0013
Arabic
Simplified Chinese				Added in November 7, 2018 with patch 1.32 (announced in their official Sina Weibo). You can enable it from the game settings. Audio added in patch 4.0.
Traditional Chinese
Czech
French
German
Hungarian
Italian
Indonesian				Fan translation by IGTC Team (Indonesia Game Translator Community)
Japanese
Korean				Audio added in patch 4.0.
Polish
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian				Russian Localization Fixes by DJ_Kovrik, download the updated optional file
Spanish
Turkish

Non-English versions also include the English voice files (enpc.w3speech), but those can be safely deleted if another language is used.

VR support

3D modes	State	Notes
Nvidia 3D Vision		new Geo-11 3D Driver (RTX3000/4000 compatible)
TriDef 3D		UI is 2D by default, occasional rendering problems with distance shadows and decals.
vorpX		G3D, Z3D, AFR-3D Enhanced Edition Officially supported game, see official vorpx game list.

Other Virtual Reality

Enable VR

Install Reshade with full Add-On Support, inclusive the complete Effect Package Depth3D BlueSkyDefender In the ingame Reshade menu activate SuperDepth3D_VR, follow instructions (Home-Key on keyboard for Menu) Download Generic_Depth_Mod.Addon64, copy it next to your Game.exe In the ingame Reshade menu install generic_depth_mod.addon64 (Add-On Tab) Launch Side by Side 3D on your 3D Compatible TV/Monitor + 3D Glasses or Install Vorpx Desktop Viewer or Depth3D VR Companion App

Issues fixed

Axii's alternative mode not working

This bug occurs when points are spent both in Delusion and Puppet

Disable the Delusion upgrade[citation needed]

Alter the delay to use a sign's alternative mode for keyboard
Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\input.settings with a text editor. Find every instance of IK_Q=(Action=CastSignHold,State=Duration,IdleTime=0.2) and set 0.2 to 0.05 Save changes. Notes This alters the delay to trigger alternative casting mode from 20ms to 5ms.

Alter the delay to use a sign's alternative mode for gamepad
Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\input.settings with a text editor. Find every instance of IK_Pad_RightTrigger=(Action=CastSignHold,State=Duration,IdleTime=0.2) and set 0.2 to 0.05 Save changes. Notes This alters the delay to trigger alternative casting mode from 20ms to 5ms.

Proper HUD positioning for different aspect ratios

For 16:10 change the value of uiVerticalFrameScale to 1.1253.

For 21:9 change the value of uiHorizontalFrameScale to 1.3125.

Edit user.settings config file[citation needed]
Open %USERPROFILE%\Documents\The Witcher 3\user.settings with a text editor. If your aspect ratio is vertically greater than 16:9 increase the value of uiVerticalFrameScale above 1. If your aspect ratio is horizontally greater than 16:9 increase the value of uiHorizontalFrameScale above 1.

Stutter while using a controller

Edit the config file hidden.ini[citation needed]
Open <path-to-game>\bin\config\base\hidden.ini. Change LockControlScheme=0 to LockControlScheme=2. Save the file. Notes Stutter occurs because the game rapidly changes between controller and keyboard prompts. This forces the game to use controller prompts. There won't be any keyboard prompts even while using keyboard controls.

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	11, 12	Direct3D 12 support added in December 2022 with patch 4.0.
Shader Model support	5

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Physics	PhysX	v3.3.0 Makes use of some Nvidia-accelerated effects (HairWorks) that may cause slowdown on AMD GPUs. See #Improve HairWorks performance on AMD hardware to mitigate.
Audio	Wwise
Interface	Scaleform

Enable Debug Console

Modify general.ini file
Open <path-to-game>\bin\config\base\general.ini with a text editor. Add DBGConsoleOn=true under [General] section. You can open the console with ` (on an US layout keyboard, might differ for other layouts).

Improve HairWorks performance on AMD hardware

Create a profile via Catalyst Control Center
Create a profile for witcher3.exe in the Catalyst Control Center. Set Tessellation Mode to Override application settings. Set the Maximum Tessellation Level to either 2x, 4x, 8x or 16x.

Installing mods

The Witcher 3 Mod Manager by stefan3372, which takes care of DLC/Mods folders and .ini files, is recommended for the not-so-tech-savvy. However, the ideal method is manual installation.

After the Next Gen Update (version 4.00 and beyond) the following mods are now included with the game: The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project, HD Monsters Reworked, Immersive Real-time Cutscenes, Nitpicker's Patch and World Map Fixes.

Brothers in Arms

Definitive collection of 5,700+ bug fixes and restored content from across the entire game.

NPC Physics 60 FPS Fix

Community mod that fixes hair, fur, clothing, medallions, weapons, etc, behavior when the game runs at different than 30 fps speeds. The mod was built to run with the E3 Geralt Hair Physics 60FPS Fix and Hairworks Hair Physics 60fps Fix that fixes the same problem on Geralt's non-HairWorks and HairWorks hair.

True E3 Armour

Aims to bring back the accurate E3 armor textures and mesh for the starting viper armour appearance presented in the pre-release 2014 gameplay demo into the final game. This includes "High definition broken chainmails with accurate leather strings, remodelled boots, pants, gloves, belt, 4k texture maps with realistic leather specular". Also as an optional "shortgloves" are added as dlc.

E3 Roach Collection

Restores the E3 appearance of Roach with Improved skin, Fixed contact shadows, Improved colors & 4k texture maps. Available in multiple variants to choose from.

Performance fix for 2-4 core CPUs

Battle Encoder Shirasé (BES) + instruction - After the patch 1.06-1.07, it's almost impossible to play with 2 core processor. It's a small tool that throttles the CPU usage of the process you “target”: for instance, you can limit the CPU usage of a process which would use CPU 100%, down to 99%, like in this case. As a result, the game becomes playable.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7	8, 8.1, 10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3 GHz AMD Phenom II X4 940	Intel Core i7-3770 3.4 GHz AMD FX-8350 4 GHz
System memory (RAM)	6 GB	8 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	35 GB	50 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 AMD Radeon HD 7870 DirectX 11 compatible	Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 AMD Radeon R9 290

A 64-bit operating system is required.

The system requirements listed above are for the DirectX 11 version. With the release of the Next-Gen Update, CDPR has listed additional system requirements for DirectX 12 and ray-tracing.