The Witcher 3 Remastered on Switch 2: Everything We Know So Far
At the launch of the Switch 2, I put together a short showing how The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt runs on Nintendo Switch 2 using the original Switch version. I wasn’t expecting it to get quite the response it did. The Short has continued to attract thousands of views, and the comments and interest around it made one thing pretty clear: there are a lot of people wondering what The Witcher 3 could look like if it were properly rebuilt for Nintendo’s new hardware. Well, we don’t have to wonder anymore. CD Projekt Red has officially announced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered for Nintendo Switch 2, and after revealing more about the game at Gamescom, we now know considerably more about what Nintendo players can expect. So, let’s take a look at everything we know so far.
A Quick Note About the Footage
Before we get into the details, the gameplay footage featured here has been provided by CD Projekt Red, but it is not footage captured from the Nintendo Switch 2 version. CD Projekt Red has shown off the Switch 2 version at Gamescom, including off-screen footage. All screenshots in this article are from the Switch 2 Version.
More Than a Switch 2 Edition… This Is a Full Remaster
When rumours first started circling about The Witcher 3 for Switch 2, it would have been easy to assume we were getting the existing game with a few technical upgrades. That’s not quite what we’re getting. CD Projekt Red is calling this The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, and there are changes across the game that go beyond resolution and frame rate.
Gameplay and Quality-of-Life Improvements
There are a number of smaller changes that should make the day-to-day experience of playing The Witcher 3 a little smoother. The remaster adds immersive meditation, refined animations, new quest tracking, UI improvements and a reworked looting system. Traversal has also been improved, with Roach getting some extra help when you’re riding through the world. When you’re charging through a forest, for example, Roach can automatically dodge trees rather than having you slam into every trunk along the way. Cross-platform mod support is also being added, although there are some limitations depending on the platform.
New Accessibility Features
I’m also glad to see new accessibility features being added to the remaster. Accessibility is something I always want to see given proper attention in remasters, because improving how a game looks doesn’t necessarily make it easier for everyone to play. CD Projekt Red hasn’t revealed every detail of these additions yet, so we’ll need to spend some time with the game before we can say how useful they are in practice. Still, it’s good to see accessibility included alongside the visual and gameplay changes rather than being left out of the conversation.
Making Use of Switch 2
Then there are the features that make use of the Switch 2 itself. The remaster supports the touchscreen and Mouse Mode, giving players some additional ways to navigate the game and its menus. There are also motion controls, and CD Projekt Red has done a few fun things with them. You can use motion controls while riding Roach, raise your right hand to call him, and roll your left hand to cast Signs. Whether I’ll actually want to spend 100 hours waving my hands around to cast Igni remains to be seen, but I have to admit, calling Roach with a gesture is a pretty neat touch. These additions make it clear that CD Projekt Red has put some thought into how The Witcher 3 works on Switch 2, rather than simply taking the existing game and moving it across to the new hardware.
How Will The Witcher 3 Run on Switch 2?
Of course, one of the big questions is how all of these improvements are going to affect performance. At Gamescom, CD Projekt Red gave us some numbers for the Switch 2 version, with the game targeting between 30 and 40fps depending on how you’re playing. In handheld mode, The Witcher 3 will target 720p at 30–40fps, with VRR support; that should help smooth things out when the frame rate moves between 30 and 40fps, rather than having the game constantly jump between fixed targets. Docked players will get a 1080p resolution, again targeting 30–40fps. CD Projekt Red says the game can reach around 40fps when played on a 120Hz display, too. Those are the numbers CD Projekt Red has given us, though, and there’s a difference between a target and what the game actually manages to deliver. We haven’t had the chance to test the Switch 2 version ourselves yet, so we’ll have to wait until we can get some hands-on time with it before we can say how well it holds that range throughout the game.
A Free Upgrade for Existing Switch Owners
For anyone who already owns The Witcher 3 on Nintendo Switch, there’s some very good news. The Switch 2 version will be available as a free upgrade for existing owners, including both digital and physical owners. That means if you’ve already invested in Geralt’s adventure on the original Switch, you won’t have to purchase the game again simply to move to the remastered Switch 2 version. For anyone who hasn’t played it before, the remastered version will also be available to purchase, with pre-orders now open. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered will launch on September 29, 2026. As for a physical release, CD Projekt Red hasn’t provided all of the details yet, saying that physical news will come when the time is right. So we’ll have to wait for the developer to provide more information before drawing any conclusions about exactly what the retail release will look like.
The Witcher 3 Story Isn’t Finished Yet… Songs of the Past
Perhaps the most unexpected part of the announcement is that The Witcher 3 isn’t simply returning with a prettier coat of paint. CD Projekt Red has also announced Songs of the Past, a brand-new expansion for The Witcher 3. The expansion is currently planned for 2027, bringing Geralt back for another adventure in a new setting. There’s still plenty we don’t know about Songs of the Past. Originally announced on all other platforms, it’s now confirmed Switch 2 is also going to be home to entirely new Witcher 3 content that didn’t exist when the original version launched. After everything we’ve already seen from The Witcher 3, the idea of another expansion is certainly an exciting one.
The Wait Isn’t Very Long
When I made that original Short showing The Witcher 3 running on Switch 2, I was mostly curious about what people would think. The fact that it continues to attract thousands of views suggests that I’m not the only one who has been wondering what this game could do on Nintendo’s new hardware. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered isn’t simply a Switch 2 edition; it’s a much more comprehensive remaster, with visual improvements, gameplay and quality-of-life changes, new accessibility features, Switch 2-specific controls, mod support and a number of technical improvements.
There are still plenty of things I want to find out for myself. How consistently will that 30–40fps target hold up? How good will the game look in handheld? How useful are the new accessibility options? And how much of this visual overhaul will we notice during normal gameplay rather than looking at screenshots? Fortunately, we don’t have to wait very long to find out.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered launches on Nintendo Switch 2 on September 29, 2026.
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