CD Projekt Red is gearing up to release the long-awaited next-gen update for their tentpole offering – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, a fact evidenced by the recent release of a trailer and a 45-minute-long stream detailing the fresh batch of content coming to the 7-year-old game.

In honor of the upcoming event, we’ve decided to percolate our thoughts on the matter into a brief article, so here we go.

The Witcher 3 next-gen update release date

The Witcher 3 will get its next-gen update on December 14, 2022.

Graphics update

PC players will see the least improvements to The Witcher 3’s graphics merely because of the multitude of mods and the hardware systems this game has already been played on. Still, the next-gen update and its graphics boost are primarily aimed at those who own the title on PlayStation 5 and Xbox One X/S.

There’s no denying, however, that the already gorgeous vistas of Kaer Morhen, Novigrad, Skellige, and more will be greatly improved upon with the update.

The next-gen patch will also land with faster loading times, ray tracing, a photo mode, and more. We’re primarily excited about the faster loading times and the photo mode. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt isn’t exactly GTA V but the loading times can sometimes get a bit annoying, and who doesn’t like snapping some photos of their favorite people and places.

From the Netflix show

Much and more has been said about the Netflix show based on Andrzej Sapkowski’s series of books. Sufficed to say that the show is not warmly received by a certain percentage of the fans of the written material, and Geralt’s forays into the RPG genre, present company included.

That’s not to say that we didn’t watch the currently available episodes and share our sentiments about the particular design choices made by the costume makers regarding the Nilfgaardian armor sets with the general public. The same armor sets will be available when the next-gen update drops, along with Dandelion’s questionable new look.

We do look forward to the new threads destined to be worn by Geralt himself, previously modeled for you by Henry Cavill.

New quest content

New content for a beloved game is always a big deal, and we look forward to the new challenges. Nobody yet knows what exactly the new quest will entail but we do have some guesses we’d like to share with the class.

Players will remember one of The Witcher 3’s locales that felt a bit too empty in the game. The area known as the Devil’s Pit always gave off this vibe that something more was supposed to happen there. Well, something more will probably happen there after the update drops: Geralt is going on a new quest.

The powers that be didn’t specifically name the area during the live-stream, but we’ll have to get the diagrams for the new armors somehow, and who can say no to another quest in The Witcher 3?

Bug fixes

Get ready for the blacksmith in Kaer Trolde to get chatty! This and more bug fixes will be retroactively added to the game, so load up your saves and start enjoying that “meditate for a few days, that fixed it for me”-free life.

More information and Patch Notes for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s free next-gen update will become available in the coming days. While you wait for that, you can check out our wishlist for the upcoming Witcher remake.