Witcher 3 remaster is free for owners, and the upgrade list is massive

Saw the Witcher 3 remaster news from Gamescom and figured some of you might care, even if it's not GTA. CD Projekt Red is doing a full remaster of Wild Hunt, launching September 29 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2. If you already own the game, it's a free upgrade. That's the part that got my attention.

The list of changes is honestly ridiculous. Upgraded visuals, enhanced combat, revamped skill tree, transmog, expanded photo mode, new finishers, cross-platform mods, path tracing on PC, ray traced hair, DLSS 4.5, FSR 4, XESS 2.0, native DX12, and a ton more. They even listed GTAO as a feature, but it's ground truth ambient occlusion, not Grand Theft Auto Online. Had to do a double take on that one.

They also showed off the new expansion, Songs of the Past, which is coming in 2027. It's supposed to be similar in size to Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, so a proper expansion, not just a small DLC. Originally planned for 2026 but got pushed. CDPR says it might connect to Witcher 4, which is targeting 2028 and stars Ciri.

I know this is a GTA forum, but the free upgrade thing is worth talking about. Rockstar's remaster track record isn't exactly stellar, and we're all waiting for GTA 6 in November. Would be nice if they took notes on how to treat existing owners. Anyway, anyone else planning to jump back into Witcher 3 when this drops, or are you saving all your gaming time for Leonida?

Source: GameSpot · Curated content.

At least fourteen distinct upgrades listed. Rockstar's trilogy remaster wasn't free for existing owners and lacked transmog.

CDPR gets that existing owners already lived in that world. Preserving an experience is different from just upscaling textures. Rockstar's trilogy felt like a syndication package rushed to market. A proper Vice City restoration deserves better than a port job.

A proper Vice City restoration deserves better than a port job.

Hard to argue with that. I bought Witcher 3 back in 2015 and barely scratched the surface. Free upgrade is generous but my backlog is already a crime scene. With GTA 6 dropping in November I don't know where the hours will come from. Kids own my weekends anyway.

Fourteen upgrades and zero cost. Good logistics, but I'm holding my loadout slots for Leonida.

The GTAO acronym mixup might have been the best part of that whole list. I'm embarrassed by how long it took my brain to catch up. If this remaster introduces new collision oddities or weird terrain seams in Skellige, it could be worth replaying just to poke at the physics. Anyone else hoping they accidentally break something interesting?