detail the visual downgrade from earlier promotional footage to the finished product, which

Iwiński thought effective.[76] The logo was re-designed to make it less obvious that The Witcher 3:
Wild Hunt was a sequel; the number three suggested a claw mark or mask to an audience
unfamiliar with the series, while fans would recognise it as the mark of the Wild Hunt.[77]

Downloadable content[edit]
The developer studied Witcher forums and websites such as Reddit to predict what players
generally desired from downloadable content (DLC). A collection of 16 free DLC was released,
as announced before release by the developers. They included cosmetic and additional
gameplay content and the New Game Plus mode.[51][78] CD Projekt Red announced two expansion
packs: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Hearts of Stone was released on 13 October
2015,[79] and Blood and Wine on 31 May 2016.[80] Hearts of Stone follows Geralt as he contacts a
mysterious entity known as the Man of Glass and an immortal man, Olgierd von Everec. The
expansion was critically acclaimed. The second expansion pack, Blood and Wine, follows Geralt
as he travels to Toussaint (a Nilfgaardian duchy untouched by war) to track down a mysterious
beast which is terrorizing the region. It was also critically acclaimed, winning the Best RPG
category at The Game Awards 2016.[81] A Game of the Year edition, with the base game, both
expansions and all DLC, was released on 30 August 2016.[82]

Re-release[edit]
The publisher announced a re-release of the game planned for the PlayStation 5, Windows,
and Xbox Series X/S. The game will be available as a free upgrade to existing owners on
PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, or to purchase separately. In 2021, video game news
site Kotaku reported that the game would include content from mods produced by fans;
"HalkHogan", creator of a mod that improves the game's textures, announced that the developer
had entered talks to include content from "The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project" in the release.
CD Projekt Red confirmed to Kotaku that they had entered talks with mod creators, prompting
discussion about why the company, which earned $300mil in 2020, sought out community
assistance.[83] The release was scheduled for the second half of 2021,[84] but was later delayed to
the second quarter of 2022.[85] The game is being developed by Saber Interactive.[86] On 13 April
2022, CDPR announced that its in-house development team would be taking over the remaining
work on the re-release, and that its release date would be postponed.[87] In November, a release
date of 14 December 2022 was announced.[88] The next-gen update will include new outfits and a
quest inspired by the Netflix-Series, improved visuals and performance and bug fixes as well as
all previously released downloadable content.[89] The re-release was published on schedule, and
was criticized for introducing performance issues and bugs.[90][91] Later that day, CD Projekt Red
announced that they were investigating the issues and working on fixes.[92]

Reception[edit]
Critical reception[edit]
Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator Score

(PC) 93/100[93]
(PS4) 92/100[94]
(XONE) 91/100[95]
Metacritic
(NS) 85/100[96]
(PS5) 94/100[97]
(XSXS) 94/100[98]

Review scores
 Publication Score

Destructoid 8/10[99]

Game Informer 9.75/10[100]

GameRevolution [101]

10/10[102]
GameSpot
10/10 (Complete Edition)[103]

GamesRadar+ [104]

GameTrailers 9.8/10[105]

IGN 9.3/10[106]

PC Gamer (US) 92/100[107]

Polygon 8/10[108]

Push Square 9/10[109]

Video Games Chronicle [110]

VideoGamer.com 9/10[111]

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt received "universal acclaim" for the PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5,
Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S versions, and "generally favorable reviews" for the Switch
version, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[93][94][95][96][97] Critics agreed that it was an
ambitious action role-playing game which was grand in scale,[106][108][99] but marred by technical
difficulties[111][104] and a lack of innovation.[107] GameSpot and Eurogamer gave the game their
highest rating.[102][112] The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been considered one of the greatest games of
all time.[113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120]