Witcher 3 Remastered Claim the Free Remaster Upgrade

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered launches September 29, 2026 as a free upgrade for existing owners on GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Nintendo Switch 1 owners can claim the Nintendo Switch 2 version. Battle.net carries the game for the first time. This page is the claim checklist, not a combat lesson. After the download finishes, go to Getting Started for White Orchard, or What’s New for the feature list. Platform matrix details sit on Platforms. Official storefront buttons live on Official Links.

CD PROJEKT RED is developing the remaster with Yigsoft. The upgrade is not a second SKU you must repurchase on the same store family. It is also not a reason to delete the classic installer the night before launch.

Before September 29: two claims that are easy to mix up

On August 25, 2026, base-game owners gained access to Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine at no extra cost. That grant is separate from the remaster download. If you owned only the base game, check your library now for the two expansion titles or a Complete-style bundle entry, install them if you want Toussaint and Ofieri content on the classic build, and keep playing. The remaster applies the same visual and gameplay pass to those campaigns when it launches; you do not wait until September 29 to “unlock” the expansions themselves. How those two sit next to Songs of the Past is on Expansions.

If the expansions do not appear, sign out and back into the store, restore licenses on console, and verify you are on the same account that owns the base game. Family-share and region-mismatched keys are the usual failure cases.

Witcher 3 Remastered free upgrade details

Steam

1. Confirm The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sits in the library of the account you will play on.
2. On launch day, allow the client to download the remaster depot. If a separate play option appears, choose the Remastered title; do not assume the old shortcut already points at the new executable.
3. In game properties, confirm the install sits on an SSD. The remaster requires an SSD. Mechanical drives are not a supported workaround.
4. Keep the classic build available if Steam exposes a beta or previous-build branch. Players who do not meet the new PC floor can stay on or revert to classic. Do not hide that branch until you have a stable hour in White Orchard.
5. Copy the Documents\The Witcher 3 save folder somewhere dated. Cloud sync is convenient; it is not a migration whitepaper.

GOG

GOG is still the first-party PC home. Update GOG Galaxy, open the Witcher 3 page, and install the remastered build when the client offers it. Offline installers matter here: if you collect classic offline installers, keep them. Galaxy can repair a remaster download; it cannot invent a classic fallback if you deleted the only copy you had. Same SSD rule as Steam. Same save-folder copy.

Epic Games Store

Epic owners are in the free-upgrade set. Open the library, verify the same account that shows The Witcher 3, and install when the remastered package appears. Epic’s launcher is less chatty about classic branches than Steam or GOG. If your GPU is under the minimum, resolve that before you overwrite the only install you have — or keep a Steam/GOG classic copy if you own the game in more than one store.

Battle.net (first listing)

Battle.net is new for this series. There is no “free upgrade from a previous Battle.net copy,” because there was no previous Battle.net copy. Buy the Remastered package on Battle.net if that is the store you want. CD PROJEKT RED stated that purchasing Songs of the Past on Battle.net unlocks a Geralt-inspired Diablo IV skin; further details were pointed at BlizzCon. Songs of the Past itself is a paid expansion planned for 2027 from Fool’s Theory (Letten, a chain weapon, Dandelion). Do not expect that skin or that region to arrive inside the September 29 installer.

PlayStation 5

If you own The Witcher 3 on PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5, you receive the remastered PS5 version at no extra cost when it launches September 29. Check the PS5 game hub for an upgrade / Remastered tile, restore licenses if the tile is missing, and install to internal or officially supported extended SSD storage. PlayStation 5 Pro features are part of the remaster package; they do not require a second purchase. Disc owners still need the disc in the drive to authorize, then the remaster download on top. After install, look for Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine in the add-on list if they were not already on the account from the August 25 grant.

Xbox Series X|S

Xbox One and Xbox Series owners in the existing-owner set receive the Series version as a free upgrade. Use the same Microsoft account, Smart Delivery / upgrade tile, and a Series console. Xbox Play Anywhere is on the remaster feature list, which matters if you bounce between Series hardware and the Microsoft PC storefront — confirm which library owns the license before you assume a second download is a second purchase. Storage must be on a fast drive; do not install the remaster to a slow USB disk and then blame traversal stutter.

Nintendo Switch 2

Switch 1 owners can claim the Switch 2 version. Digital owners should see the claim on the same Nintendo Account. Physical Switch 1 owners can claim when Remastered launches September 29; keep the disc or cart instructions from Nintendo’s claim flow, and do not sell the cart assuming the Switch 2 download is already bound if you have not redeemed it yet. Switch 2 exclusive features are part of that SKU; they are not something you unlock on Switch 1 hardware.

Hardware check (PC) before you hit install

The remaster PC build requires Windows 11 64-bit, an SSD, and DirectX 12 only. There is no DX11 path.

• Minimum: Intel Core i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 2600, 12 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB / Intel Arc A580, 70 GB SSD.
• Recommended: Intel Core i7-8700K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600X, 16 GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Super / AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT / Intel Arc B580, 70 GB SSD.

Path tracing, ray reconstruction, ray-traced hair, DLSS 4.5, FSR 4, and XeSS 2.0 are extra load on top of that floor. If you are at minimum, do not turn path tracing on for the griffin fight and then decide the Combat Guide is wrong. Use System Requirements and Graphics Settings to match presets to the GPU you actually have.

Players who do not meet the spec can stay on or revert to the classic build on Steam or GOG. That is the intended escape hatch. It is not a bug that the remaster refuses a Windows 10 + HDD box.

Classic branch fallback

On Steam and GOG, treat classic as a branch you keep until you have verified:

• The remaster executable boots.
• Saves appear (or you accept a new slot if they do not).
• Frame time in White Orchard is playable at your chosen preset.

If the remaster will not boot, switch the branch back, launch classic, and keep your save folder copy. Do not let a launcher “verify” delete the classic depot if you still need it.

Save compatibility — be cautious

CD PROJEKT RED has not published a full save-migration whitepaper for Remastered. Older Witcher 3 saves have survived previous patches, including the 2022 next-gen update, but that history is not a guarantee for a native DX12 remaster with a skill tree revamp, looting rework, and transmog. Practical rules:

• Copy the entire save directory before the first remaster boot.
• Keep at least one classic-build save that never touches the new executable.
• After launch, test a copy of a mid-game save, not your only Death March file.
• If a save loads with missing items, broken quest flags, or a skill tree that will not open, stop playing that slot and report it. Do not “fix” it by overwriting your backup.
• Console players should keep a USB or cloud download of the save before the upgrade tile applies, then test.

Once the remaster is running, spend ten minutes in Controls and Getting Started before you ride to the griffin. The download is the easy part; White Orchard still expects oils, Quen, and a manual save.