The Witcher 3’s long-delayed upgrade is finally coming

By Joseph Yaden May 19, 2022

The current-gen edition of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which will upgrade the game on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, will now launch in the fourth quarter of 2022 according to a tweet from developer CD Projekt Red.

This comes on the seventh anniversary of the original game’s release in May 2015. It’s still unclear when the current-gen version will launch, but we can expect it by the end of the year — hopefully in time for the holidays.

Let's make this 7th anniversary even better, shall we?

We're delighted to share that the Next Gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is planned to release in Q4 2022.

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See you on the Path, witchers! pic.twitter.com/2wQbxMP4zh

— The Witcher (@witchergame) May 19, 2022

This isn’t the first time CD Projekt Red has announced a release window for the current-gen edition of the game. Initially, The Witcher 3 was supposed to come to PS5 and Xbox Series X in 2021 but was delayed to the second quarter of 2022. This was due to “recommendations supplied by teams supervising the development” of the project.

Then, earlier this year, the developer delayed the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S version yet again, “until further notice,” bringing the project in-house from developer Saber Interactive. This is the team behind the Nintendo Switch version of the acclaimed RPG. Evidently, development wasn’t going as expected, but it seems CD Projekt feels confident enough to commit to a release window later this year.

The current-gen version of the game will support ray tracing and will feature faster load times, along with other visual improvements. Anyone who already owns the previous-gen edition will gain access to the new version at no additional cost.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the most acclaimed games of all time. It also performed well commercially, reaching over 40 million copies sold since its launch in 2015. The new version of the game will bolster its sales even further, whenever it does come to PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

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Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers loves Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides…

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The best live service games of 2022: 10 ongoing games we couldn’t stop playing

A Sea of Thieves skeleton sits in front of text that says 2022 Best Live Service Games.

Some games are meant to be played once, savored, and then shelved for the next one -- not unlike a book or a movie. But many other games are meant to be played and replayed over a long period of time, offering wildly different experiences each time you sit down and boot them up. There were many ongoing games to pick from in 2022, a lot of which include live service elements like online multiplayer, microtransactions, and regular content updates -- though not all are worth investing your time into.

Even though there are plenty of stinkers out there to avoid, there were also several ongoing games that kept our attention in 2022, ranging across several genres. From globe-trotting online roleplaying games to far simpler games you can play at a café bench, here are 10 games that set the bar for live service in 2022.
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God of War Ragnarok shares a key strength with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

The Hafgufa flies away in God of War Ragnarok.

God of War Ragnarok’s main story is memorable, but some of the smaller moments are what have stuck with me most since completing it. I'm not just talking about its moments of quiet, but its optional Favors as well. These sidequests can be entirely ignored, but skipping them is a mistake as they contain some of the game’s best scenes. It's a trait that God of War Ragnarok shares with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, one of the best RPGs of the last decade.
In some large RPGs, sidequests can often boil down to boring fetch quests, or they simply may not have as much polish put into their writing. As a result, they can feel like content bloat that does more harm than good to the game’s pacing. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and God of War Ragnarok avoid this problem by elevating these sidequests, making the entire adventure feel more cohesive and ensuring that the small moments stick out as some of the best.
More than a side thing
Like God of War Ragnarok, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt features a lengthy main story full of memorable characters, set pieces, and boss fights. While those alone would have made it a strong RPG, it’s remembered as an all-time great because of how rich its world is, something that's reflected in its side content. There were quests like Ghosts of Past, which pays off the character arc of Witcher 2 character Letho, but it's entirely possible to finish the game without ever seeing it.

Others, like Return to Crookback Bog, turn what could just be some fun supernatural fights into a chilling tale about abuse and broken families. While The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s main narrative is strong, these side moments are what make it a game that sticks with you years after release. I can already tell the same will be true of God of War Ragnarok, as some of my favorite missions in the game are entirely optional Favors.
An early game Favor called The Weight of Chains sees Kratos, Mimir, and Atreus freeing a giant Lyngbakr sea creature that Mimir imprisoned while working with Odin. They manage to break its chains, but find that it now struggles to move and do what it used to. This sidequest takes a series of somewhat standard combat encounters and puzzles and spins them into critical aspects of a memorable tale. The Weight of Chains reflects on how Kratos and Mimir’s reckless actions have had irreversible consequences, but they now have an opportunity to be better people in the future.
Another standout Favor called Secret of the Sands, where Kratos and Atreus free a trapped jellyfish-like creature called a Hafgufa, is also quite beautiful. The short story shows what Kratos will do to be able to spend more time with his son in the face of Ragnarok. However ordinary these sidequests may be from a gameplay standpoint, their narrative relevance and level of polish are on par with some of God of War Ragnarok’s main quests. This high effort even applies to some side missions that wholly exist with NPCs in the game’s overworld, ones that aren't even built around huge set pieces. For example, there’s The Lost Treasure quest.

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The Witcher 3’s long-delayed current-gen update launches this December

Geralt fighting enemy in The Witcher 3.

As promised, CD Projekt Red will release the current-gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- Complete Edition this year, on December 14. This update will go live across PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and is free to anyone who already owns the game on previous-gen.

The current-gen version of The Witcher 3 has been in the works for quite some time, suffering multiple delays since its initial announcement in 2021. Thankfully, the game's developer will make good on its promise to launch it in 2022.