GamingBolt is looking back at The Witcher 3:

Why The Witcher 3 STILL DAZZLES GAMERS Even After 10 Years...

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RPGSite reports that CD Projekt Red is celebrating 10 years of The Witcher 3 with concerts in May 2025.

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The Witcher 3 mod HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition has been released:

The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition - Release Preview

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The Witcher 3 - HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition launches on November 23:

The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition - Novigrad Preview / Release Date Reveal

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Couchpotato spotted a new expansion mod for The Witcher 3 on DSOG:

Song of Wind is a new fan expansion for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen

Modder ‘Roi_Jean’ has released a new fan expansion for The Witcher 3 that seems to work with both the vanilla and the next-gen versions. This fan expansion, called Song of Wind, adds two new quests, new dialogues and new game mechanics.

Going into more details, in this mod, Geralt goes on the hunt for Whispering Island, a place that nobody seems to know about. Designed as a new mini ‘expansion’, only the first two quests are currently available.

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VG247 spotted a weathers and seasons mod for The Witcher 3:

New Witcher 3 mod brings full-blown seasons to The Continent, with hopes of making them switch dynamically in the future

Wintery Witcher retextures have been a thing for a bit, but this looks like it's the first crack at doing dynamic seasons, with help from REDkit.

As expected, The Witcher 3's REDkit modding tools have given modders a chance to have a go at doing a lot of complex stuff they couldn't beforehand. The latest of these looks to be the first ever proper attempt at giving the whole map full-blown seasons, and its creator says they're planning to see if they can get the time of year to switch dynamically in the future.

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DSO Gaming reports about the Ciri Witcher Ending Restoration mod:

The Witcher 3: Next-Gen Mod Restores Ciri’s Witcher Ending

Modder ‘merigoldmaribor’ has released a cool new mod for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen that restores the extended ending that was cut off in Ciri’s witcher ending. This is a mod that a lot of die-hard TW3 fans will appreciate. So, if you are one of them, you should definitely get it.

Going into more details, there will now be a cutscene with Ciri’s dialogue after receiving the sword. In the next scene, Geralt and Ciri (depending on your romantic choices) will set off for Ellander and walk towards the inn’s door. The game will then play the ending scene here.

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DSOGaming presents The Witcher 3 mod HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition.

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DSOGaming reports that the Witcher 3 Quests Extended mod adds 15 quests to the game.

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Pawel Sasko reveals the 'Secret Sauce' of CD Projekt Red quests on Gamerant:

The Witcher 3 Dev Reveals the 'Secret Sauce' of CD Projekt Red Quests

HIGHLIGHTS

• CDPR's quest design focuses on empathy, using "play, show, then tell" to create immersive experiences.
• Sasko emphasizes the importance of understanding players' emotions and relating to major story beats.
• Empathy-driven quests contribute to the difference between a good game and a great game, creating authentic experiences.

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DSOGaming reports that the HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition for The Witcher 3 will be released later this year:

The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition will be fully released in Fall 2024

Modder ‘Halk Hogan PL’ has announced that a new version of his HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition for The Witcher 3 will come out in 2024. To celebrate this announcement, the modder shared a new video that you can find below.

This video compares the upcoming high-quality textures that will be featured in the pack with the vanilla ones that The Witcher 3 Next-Gen uses. It also compares the mod with the game’s Complete Edition. And, as you will see, this will be a must-have mod for everyone who wants to replay this title.

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Couchpotato spotted The Witcher 3 REDkit Q&A on Wccftech:

The Witcher 3 REDkit Q&A – CDPR and Yigsoft Confirm Steam Workshop Support; Further Improvements Planned

Today, as promised earlier this month, CD Projekt RED has released The Witcher 3 REDkit to the public. It is now available for free download on PC across GOG, Epic Games Store, and Steam.

The modding tool, created with the help of Hungarian co-development company Yigsoft, was successfully tested with over 18K users before the public release. The goal is to unleash the creativity of modders with a much more robust modding tool than what was previously available for the game.

Ahead of the launch, we reached out to CD Projekt RED's Global Community Director Marcin Momot and Yigsoft's Lead Bence Hambalko to discuss the feature set of The Witcher 3 REDkit (there's full controller support, surprisingly) and what's coming after launch.

The REDkit for The Witcher 2 was released only two years after its launch, whereas nine years have now passed for The Witcher 3. Why the delay?

Marcin Momot: The truth is that, initially, we planned to release it much sooner, but, as usual, reality altered our plans. As we fully transitioned to working on Cyberpunk 2077, we had to adjust our production timeline. After its release, we began reevaluating some of the projects we had in the pipeline beforehand. Around that time, we started forming a closer partnership with Yigsoft, who have been helping us with certain elements of Cyberpunk 2077. As the old saying goes, better late than never, and here we are, releasing The Witcher 3 editor into the hands of players in 2024.

Why did you deem it worthy to release it after all these years?

MM: The Witcher 3 is one of those games that, even nine years later, is still thriving in the modding scene. Every week, new mods keep popping up as people tinker with various aspects of the game. After releasing the next-gen version in December 2022 and all subsequent updates, we offer this as a sort of parting gift — the final touch, if you will. We hope that now, with everyone having access to an editor that’s as close to being on par with what the game’s developers used to make it as can be, the game can continue to live on for years to come, with even more content being added by the community.

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The Witcher 3 REDkit is available now for free for all owners of the game on PC:

The Witcher 3 REDkit - Official Trailer

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Mortismal Gaming reviewed The Witcher 3:

The Witcher 3 - Review After 100%

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Mortismal Gaming checked out The Witcher 3:

The Witcher 3 - 2024 Impressions

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The modding tool REDkit for the Witcher 3 can be tested:

The Witcher 3 REDkit Playtest

Help us test the upcoming modding software!

If you can't wait to get your hands on the editor for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we have some great news for you! Starting today you can sign up to try it out yourself in the official Playtest on Steam.

The Witcher 3 REDkit is a comprehensive modding tool for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt we're currently developing. It is based on the same set of tools that were used by our developers to create the game and should allow for nearly limitless freedom in modding it. REDkit will be available free of charge for all owners of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on PC and it's scheduled to release later this year.

In order to sign up, simply navigate to the store page of The Witcher 3 REDkit on Steam and request access.

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RPG Site reports that The Witcher 3 is very successful:

CD Projekt Red: The Witcher 3 sold over 50 million, Cyberpunk 2077 DLC showing at SGF 2023

According to the latest financial report from developer CD Projekt Red, sales for The Witcher 3 have officially topped 50 million units. The milestone was mentioned in CDPR's consolidated financial report and announced by the company on Twitter. The report covers the period ending in the first quarter of 2023.

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The Witcher 3 got a new patch:

Patch 4.01 — list of changes

Patch 4.01 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is now available! It improves the overall stability and performance of the game and brings various fixes.

Here's the list of changes for this update:

PC-SPECIFIC

• Fixed an issue where the Screen Space Reflections setting wasn't working on PC despite being turned on. Players who had previously set their SSR setting to high may notice a performance impact.
• Added a new performance mode for ray-traced global illumination, which can be toggled by players with compatible hardware. It improves frame rate by prioritizing performance over range and precision.

QUESTS & GAMEPLAY

• Battle Preparations - Fixed an issue where it could be impossible to interact with Avallac'h during the objective "Let Avallac'h know everything's ready."
• Family Matters - Fixed an issue that could cause the game to crash during the transition to Ciri's Story: Out of the Shadows when speaking to the Bloody Baron.
• King's Gambit - Fixed an issue where it could be impossible to participate in the fistfight with the second Vildkaarl due to an invisible obstacle.
• Wine Wars: Belgaard - Added a retrofix for the issue we fixed in 4.00, where the quest couldn't be completed if the player destroyed one of the required monster nests during exploration.
• A Dangerous Game - The armor in Caesar's room should now change its appearance when the Alternate Nilfgaardian Armor is turned on.
• Axii Puppet - Increased the health and damage dealt by the puppet.
• Adrenaline Rush mutation should now work according to its description.
• Various small fixes to quests and cutscenes.

LOCALIZATION

• Fixed various issues with Arabic localization.
• Added the localized versions of Orianna's song "Lullaby of Woe" in Korean and Simplified Chinese.
• Adjusted Priscilla's lip-sync animation to match her voice-over in Simplified Chinese during the song "The Wolven Storm".

Please note: these are only the most notable changes. The patch contains other minor fixes that didn't make it into this list.

The Witcher 3 got a stability and performance hotfix:

Marcin Momot on Twitter:

A hotfix that should improve overall stability and performance of the game has just gone live on PC. Please make sure to update your version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and let us know how you're finding it.

Update size:
STEAM - 3GB update
GOG - 1.9GB update

Thanks Henriquejr!

IGN presents the features of the upgraded Witcher 3:

Witcher 3 Next Gen Upgrade Gameplay - New Armor, New Combat, New Graphics

CD Projekt RED have announced on Twitter that the next-gen edition of The Witcher 3 will arrive December 14th; free for existing owners.

The next-gen update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is coming on December 14th, free for everyone who already owns the game. For more details and gameplay reveal, tune in to REDstreams next week on https://twitch.tv/cdprojektred.

@DSOGaming In some not surprising news the next gen update for The Witcher 3 has been delayed until Q2 2022.

From what we know, The Witcher 3 Next-Gen will feature a range of visual and technical improvements — including ray tracing and faster loading times. These improvements will be present across the base game, both expansions, and all extra content. Furthermore, modder ‘Halk Hogan‘ will be contributing to this new version of The Witcher 3.

Kotaku reports that some fan-made mods are likely to be included in The Witcher 3:

The Witcher 3's Next-Gen Update Might Be Using Some Fan-Made Mods

The Witcher 3 is getting a next-gen re-release later this year, and when it does, some of the “visual and technical improvements” it introduces might actually be thanks to the work of fans in the modding community.

Earlier this week Halk Hogan, the creator of the The Witcher 3 HD Reworked project (which swaps out many of the game’s original textures with much sharper ones), announced that he had been in talks with CD Projekt Red over the upcoming next-gen release, writing:

Hello my dear friends! It’s been a long time since the last video. I know I announced a new HDRP preview in early March but I was silent the whole time. Sorry for that. But in return, I have some good news, and the reasons why I was quiet and why I don’t have too much to show. I think the most important news is that I got an official message from CDPR about cooperation. While it’s not certain yet, it’s very likely that HDRP will be included in the official next generation update. I will inform you what’s next. As always, I would like to thank you for all your support and kind words. 

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Thanks Henriquejr!

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@Radek on Twitter According to the PR manager for CD Projekt RED The Witcher 3 next gen update is coming the second half of 2021.

ICYMI, the next-generation update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is coming in the second half of 2021.

The GOG versions of the Witcher games can now be streamed via Geforce NOW.

We're happy to announce that starting today, you can play the GOG versions of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and selected games from The Witcher universe via GeForce NOW, NVIDIA's cloud gaming service. 

If you want to explore the universe of the legendary Witcher, become a professional monster slayer, or a war-veteran queen of two Northern Realms, you can do it now on almost any device -- including low-powered units, Mac laptops, Chromebooks, and more, thanks to GeForce NOW. 

All GOG owners of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition, The Witcher Adventure Game, and Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales can stream these games across their devices via GeForce NOW with full language support. 

CD Projekt RED has announced that The Witcher 3 will be coming to next gen consoles and PC. It will be a free update if you already own the game.

04.09.2020

 

We’re working on the next generation edition of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt!

Developed to take advantage of the most powerful gaming hardware, the next-gen edition of the game will feature a range of visual and technical improvements — including ray tracing and faster loading times — across the base game, both expansions, and all extra content.

 

The next generation edition of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will release as a standalone purchase for PC, Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, as well as a free update for everyone who already owns the game on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

How can you design meaningful player choices? - CD Projekt Red's Story Director Marcin Blacha has some answers:

How CD Projekt Red Designs Meaningful Player Choices

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VG24/7 has an anniversary interview with CD Projekt RED about The Witcher 3.

How did the game evolve during development – did you move away much from the initial vision?

The high-level vision didn’t change that much. We wanted to make an open world game with an emphasis on storytelling, where players assume the role of Geralt searching for Ciri – and this is the game we released. But finer details changed a lot.

For the longest time, we couldn’t settle on how many Skellige isles we should have, or how big they should be. We initially didn’t plan to have underwater exploration – but ended up adding it quite late in the process and had to retroactively add this gameplay mechanic to already existing quests. Oh, and we also originally wanted players to be able to change horses. Which, in hindsight, would have been a terrible decision – how could we encourage people to get rid of trusty Roach?

Was there anything you changed because it wasn’t possible at the time?

We planned to have a sequence where Ciri fights enemies on a frozen lake, while skating – a reference to a similar scene in one of the books. But preparing that sequence proved extremely complicated. For example, we couldn’t easily record the necessary gameplay animations – imagine recording motion capture for skating sword fighters.

[...]

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Windows Central reports that The Witcher 3 is getting cross saves with Switch.

CD Projekt Red has released a new update for the Nintendo Switch version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, allowing players to take their PC saves on the go with cross-save support. Currently, cross-save support is not available for the other console versions of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

This update also added new graphical options for the game on Nintendo Switch, so while you'll likely be taking your save over to a different platform with worse technical specs, you'll still be able customize some of the graphics to your liking.

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@Green Man Gaming The Witcher 3 has more people playing now than on launch day.

If you head over to Steam Charts, you can check out the concurrency numbers for the action RPG, with it hitting around 92,000 at launch. That has now been beaten, with it hitting 94,601 players in December, up from 26,594 in November.

Why’s that? Well there’s probably two reasons right now. The most obvious is the ubiquity of the Netflix Witcher series which has launched to acclaim both from fans of the series and enthusiast press (though it must be said, a mixed reaction from mainstream press).

[...]

Eurogamer examines the writing of The Witcher 3.

Comedy is not the only challenging factor to implement within an interactive space. In movies and TV shows, we're used to those quiet scenes where characters are seen just relaxing and bonding - these are crucial in revealing the relationships to the viewer while bringing variety to the narrative flow, and the Witcher 3 team wanted to provide similar moments - but they're tough in games, and Szamalek found the team had to find innovative ways to make the player feel and experience camaraderie. "There's the quest where the witchers reunite at Kaer Morhen," he says. At this stage, the player has completed a huge chunk of the story and has a decisive battle looming ahead of her. We felt she deserved a moment of respite, of fun - and meeting with old friends seemed like an ideal opportunity.

[...]

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We usually don't do console games, but as it is about The Witcher 3, here is and exception: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition is available on Nintendo Switch.

Nintendo Switch announced! Watch new trailer and video

CD PROJEKT RED announces that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition for Nintendo Switch will launch digitally and in retail on October 15th, 2019.

In addition to the new trailer, the studio has also released a gameplay overview video, offering an extended look at the Nintendo Switch version of The Witcher 3. Playing the game are CD PROJEKT RED's Community Manager Paweł Burza and Paweł Sasko, Senior Quest Designer on Wild Hunt and Lead Quest Designer on the Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions.

Gamers visiting this year's gamescom, taking place from Tuesday, August 20th through Saturday, August 24th in Cologne, Germany, will be able to check out the title in person. The game will be playable at the Nintendo booth, located in Hall 9 of the entertainment area.

DSOGaming reports that The Witcher 3 now has some unofficial advanced modding tools which allows modders to create whole new storied adventures.

What this basically means is that these modding tools are meant for advanced modders and not for novice. Still, these tools open up a lot of possibilities so here is hoping that we’ll see some cool story-driven quests.

In order to showcase what is possible with these modding tools, rmemr shared a new custom Quest that you can download from here.

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Gamewatcher write what to expect from a possible Witcher 4.

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While the interview came out just after The Witcher 3 was released in 2015, every other interview claimed that the game would be an end to Geralt of Rivia’s story. Seriously, how did we miss this? Now that this new information has been dug up, we think it’s high time we gave our opinion thusly: The Witcher 4 – What To Expect and What We Want to See! We’ll do 5 points each way, shall we?

The Witcher 4 - What To Expect

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1. Geralt Will Not Be The Star

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What Do You Mean?: The Witcher 3 was the last story of Geralt of Rivia. The next game in the series will star a different protagonist, most likely his adopted daughter Ciri.

Why This Will Definitely Happen: Talking to IGN, CD Projekt’s senior writer had this to say: “The Witcher universe is a very big place with a lot of NPCs, a lot of characters, a lot of places we haven't shown yet. So, we might return to it at some point…but we think that this is a good place to let Geralt enjoy his retirement and try something new." In other words CD Projekt wanted to make The Witcher 3 their big send-off for Geralt, the series star since the original books and someone we’ve levelled up three damn times. But who could fill his shoes?

[...]

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A new mod for The Witcher 3, promises a complete overhaul of the combat system.

With the exception of a few tough fights toward the end, you can get away with quite a bit of button-mashing in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. But that’s not the case with a mod called The Enhanced Edition, which retools enemy stats and completely changes the way fighting happens in the game. The final version of the mod, 3.30, is available for download now.

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One of the biggest changes the mod introduces is removing level scaling from all NPCs. Enemies don’t scale anymore, instead each one is given a particular set of stats and abilities, varied enough so that they aren’t carbon copies of each other but that they still manage to make sense with their position in the world and its lore. 

Combat itself is a completely different beast with the Enhanced Edition mod. Designed with keyboard and mouse in mind, the mod adds a staggering amount of depth to The Witcher 3’s combat encounters by giving Geralt a new range of moves - you’ll have to choose whether to attack at close, medium, or long range, and these attacks will allow you to move around the combat space in a way that makes more sense.

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Direct link to the mod, which has the following description, showing it is more than 'just' a combat mod.

Are you tired of the same old banal activities that the vanilla game offers you? Are you looking for complex and challenging gameplay that will stimulate your mind, body and soul? Are you looking for the answers to life's most daunting questions?
Well look no further than the The Witcher 3: Enhanced Edition, the result of years of toil and rumination, all conducted with a burning passion and with one singular purpose in mind: IMMERSION.

W3EE is a complete overhaul of most of the game's mechanics and systems, offering great depth and stimulating gameplay that will keep you wanting for more each time you delve into the carefully crafted world it lays out before you.

The mod was designed with realism in mind, but in keeping with the spirit of actually having fun in a game, thus keeping tediousness to a minimum while simultaneously trying to offer enticing and somewhat realistic gameplay to the player.
Among the mechanical and gameplay changes, it also offers a myriad of bugfixes that the vanilla game sorely needed and a vast options menu where most things can be tweaked to your own liking.

Friendly HUD is also included in the package with some slight modifications and some additional options to complement the new and modified mechanics.
Incidentally, if you are experiencing performance problems, disable the 3D Markers from Friendly HUD.

There is also included support for the hoods and shields from the Shields mod. If you wish to take advantage of it, simply install the DLC part of the Shields mod and nothing else.

Thanks Pladio.

Porcozaur spotted a funny Witcher article on Gamepressure:

50 Shades of Geralt - if The Witcher was made by different developers

Have you ever wondered what would have happened if The Witcher wasn’t developed by CD Projekt RED, but someone else? Nope? Well, we have, and we know exactly what would be the outcome. Here’s a collection of The Witchers from alternate realities!

It’s 2002. Having received a nice, round sum of money – which, however, can now be considered modest to say the least – a popular Polish writer, Andrzej Sapkowski gives his blessing to what was at the time an obscure studio from Warsaw – CD Projekt RED – allowing them to create games set in the world he’d created in The Witcher books. Five years later, The Witcher is released to an overwhelmingly positive reception in Poland. Thirteen years after acquiring the rights, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt launches, also to an overwhelmingly positive reception – this time around on the whole globe. In the meantime – and in order to maintain mathematical cohesion of the trilogy – there’s also the release of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which didn’t quite receive an overwhelmingly positive reception anywhere in particular, but we love it nonetheless.

But get this: imagine that it all never happened.

I assume that our dear readers are familiar with the theory of alternate realities and parallel universes. Whoever had the chance to roam the streets of Columbia with “the false prophet,” Booker DeWitt, certainly knows what I’m getting at. I’ll let you in on a secret. We have (“we” meaning the Gamepressure staff) mastered the ancient techniques of accessing the rifts connecting our reality to millions of other dimensions and universes. Needless to say, we’ve thrown some people in there (not against their will), but most of them didn’t come back yet. However, those who did come back brought some incredible news – The Witcher is the multiverse’s favorite game! Or actually, The Witchers are, to be completely exact. After all, the reality can bend and wrap in an infinite number of ways…

We have the utmost pleasure of presenting to you, ladies and gentlemen, the examination of the most interesting, the most bizarre iterations of The Witcher brought from the farthest reaches of alien galaxies (though I’m not quite sure whether all of them are obeying the copyrights – the inter-dimensional creative commons are a true nightmare of legislature). Strap in, grab a beverage and get ready for something out of this world…

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Hyper explains how games like the Witcher are saving Slavic folklore:

How video games like The Witcher are saving Slavic folklore

Video games like Thea: The Awakening and The Witcher 3 are using Slavic folktales to tell new and compelling stories

Folktales from the Slavic countries (primarily Central and Eastern Europe) form one of the richest and most diverse mythologies in the world. Traditional Western European fairy tales may have become watered down and sanitised over countless retellings and interpretations, but Slavic mythology still retains its bite.
If you caught the recent TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, you'll have some idea of how sharp this bite can be. The show, like the novel it's based on, prominently features the Slavic god of darkness, Czernobog, who lives with the Zorya sisters (representing the evening star, the morning star and the midnight star). The character is violent, funny and morally ambiguous; a long way from Disney's Sleeping Beauty.

But such appearances of Slavic folklore in popular media are rare. Unlike the Western fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm, which have become subsumed into our consciousness through animation and film, you're unlikely to see Slavic spirits and monsters in a cartoon musical. The lack of written source material means there's also a distinct possibility we could lose this rich and diverse mythology.

But this rich folklore is finding a suitable home in the nascent medium of video games, an interactive artform that chimes with the ambiguous shades of Slavic storytelling.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

The Witcher 3 outsells many games in 2017 without loot boxes etc.:

The Witcher 3 outgrossed some of 2017's biggest games because it's just that good

Without the trappings of loot boxes or 'games as a service,' the single player RPG still managed to outsell almost everything on Steam.

2017 was a hard year for some high-profile singleplayer games, and there was more than a little hand-wringing that the genre as we know it might be dying, replaced by 'games as a service.' We argued that in fact they're not dying, just changing, but it's easy to look at Steam's highest earning games of 2017 and spot the commonalities. Free to play mechanics, skins and loot boxes and crates and keys, all play a major part in 'living' games like Rainbow Six: Siege,Warframe,PUBG and Dota 2. And then there's The Witcher 3, which doesn't have any of that shit. And it's still raking in the dough.

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@GameWatcher The CD Projekt Senior Gameplay Designer has released an Immersion mod for The Witcher 3 which brings the game closer to the books and the games original vision.

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"This Mod doesn't aim for any deep and intrusive changes, instead it is meant to maintain original feeling of the game, sometimes going closer to original intention behind the designs. It focuses mainly on fixing immersion breakers, buffing underperforming skills and items, cosmetic changes and bugfixing. It also fixes few instances of items and abilities that made Geralt (nearly) immortal and removed all the challenge from the game."

Basically it adds tweaks and changes to make the game feel, if not more realistic, then more in keeping with the Witcher universe and less game-y. Furthermore as designer on Witcher 3, Andrzej has more of an idea of what the team were aiming to do with certain things but had to compromise on - he's restored a lot of those to make more sense. Here's a few examples of things the mod changes:

• Metamorphosis mutation effect "Witcher Senses now increase visibility in dark places without the use of potions works" works without the mutation. In combat it works automatically, while outside of combat it can be activated in focus mode. Witchers see in the dark. All of them, no potions needed. It’s in lore.
• Buffed sorceress and witcher followers damage. These are the most powerful characters in the setting, you should feel that now.
• Added reaction to stealing for commoners. There are two severities of reactions and two results for each of them depending on npc AI. Commoners will react depending on the priority of tasks they are undergoing at the moment. The effect is that some of the npcs will ignore you stealing stuff, others will call you out on it, some will just stare. There will be also rare cases when someone will be become intimidated, cover in fear or possibly run away. The effect is especially visible in Novigrad, less in Skellige and least in Toussaint, where even guards ignore player stealing.
• Depletion glyphword: casting Aard depletes enemy’s stamina (was 50% stamina damage). The idea behind the glyphword was to allow player to overcome enemy defence even if he didn’t manage to knock him down (stamina is used for offensive and defensive actions). With just 50% stamina damage enemies could still parry after casting Aard, so it didn’t feel like it made any difference.
• Moon Dust bombs block abilities of cursed monsters and shapeshifters. These monsters are especially vulnerable to silver.

And a lot more.

DSOGaming reports on a particle effects mod for The Witcher 3 which adds lots of new and interesting effects.

Modder ‘MrMan01’ has released a new mod that improves the particles effects system of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. This mod is based on another mod that was created to make the firestream form of Igni influenced by the wind. Impressed by it, MrMan01 decided to create a new one that would overhaul the game’s particles system.

The Witcher 3’s Improved Particles System mod allows numerous particles to be affected by the wind. For example, fog, dust, sparks, smoke, blood and explosions are now influenced by the wind. In addition, this mod makes all effects look “flashier” by increasing their particle count. As such, Igni, Aard, Quen and Yrden look more powerful than before. Furthermore, this mod also increases the particle count of other effects such as blood, snow, smoke, explosions and PhysX APEX destruction.

[...]

DSOGaming reports on a mod that recreates the prologue of The Witcher in The Witcher 3.

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Modder ‘Eero’ has informed us about this new mod for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. As its title suggests, this mod recreates the intro from the first The Witcher game in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It looks pretty cool and PC gamers can go ahead, download, and play this recreation right now.

As Eero noted, all scenes were made entirely by using the w2scene encoder and the Storyboard UI. Naturally, there was some extra editing by hand for every single scene. Additionally, some scenes required mod editor editing.

[...]

PCGamesN thinks Ciri should be the new lead for The Witcher 4:

Out of the way Geralt, Ciri should lead The Witcher 4

We're celebrating ten years since the first The Witcher game was released in Europe. This is the second of four articles looking at the ever-popular series - tune in throughout the week for more. This article contains spoilers for the entirety of The Witcher 3.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

@DSOGaming The Witcher 3 now has a Grass mod and a Super Turbo Lighting mod.

Modder ‘Boostin4kix’ has released a new mod for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that overhauls its grass. According to the modder, this mod changes the grass types for White Orchard, Velen, and Skellige, and shared some images to showcase the new grass textures.

In order to install this mod, users will simply have to place modBeautifulGrass in their mods folder (you can download the mod from here). Users can also edit user.settings in the Witcher 3 folder in their documents and use the following values for these settings in order to further improve draw distance and density (do note that these additional tweaks will have an impact on the game’s performance).

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Do note that this mod is more like an artistic overhaul. As Essenthy has pointed out, this mod aims to mimic the original art direction before the game was downgraded. However, the mod does not add anything or remove anything.

“This is not supposed to be ” better ” than vanilla, this is specifically made for those who preferred the original look of the game pre downgrade like me.”

Essenthy has released a new video for this brand new version of Super Turbo Lighting Mod that can be viewed below. You can also download the mod from here.

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OnlySP reports that there's a good first person mod for The Witcher 3:

There’s A Mod That Allows You To Play The Witcher 3 in First Person

This is a mod you probably didn’t know you actually wanted.

Modder ‘skacikpl‘ is currently working on a first person view mod for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and if you check out the footage below, it really gives you a new look at the incredible world that CD Projekt Red has built.

The mod in its current state doesn’t include first person view for combat yet, so when you draw your sword while using the mode the game reverts back to a third person view. To see the mod in action check out the video below.

Attempts have been made to make combat playable in first person, but as of right now it’s quite wonky and can quickly induce motion sickness. The second video at the bottom of this article gives you a glimpse at what first person combat could look like in The Witcher 3. Just keep in mind that it’s a very shaky video so if you get motion sickness easily you may want to avoid watching.

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Thanks Farflame!

A GDC talk about The Witcher 3 and its cinematic dialogue has recently been posted.

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In this 2016 GDC session, CD Projekt Red's Piotr Tomsinski explains the process for creating the dialogue animation system of The Witcher 3.

GDC talks cover a range of developmental topics including game design, programming, audio, visual arts, business management, production, online games, and much more. We post a fresh GDC video every weekday. Subscribe to the channel to stay on top of regular updates, and check out GDC Vault for thousands of more in-depth talks from our archives.

@GameRant The Witcher 3 has a new mod called Enter The Devils Pit.

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Despite having been available for nearly two years at this point, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt remains a popular title for the modding community, as there have been a plethora of graphics mods, first-person mods, and even ones as simple as adding snow to the open world created since the base game's initial launch. Now, however, one fan has decided to make a fresh mod available called "Enter the Devil's Pit," which unlocks a brand new area that includes 20 new items, a bunch of non-playable characters (NPCs), bombs, potions, weapons, and much more.
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@GamePressure The Witcher 3 does not have any new expansion planned but a fan concept for a new expansion sounds interesting nonetheless. The Sands of Ofir continues the story after the two official expansions.

The Sands of Ofir is the name of The Witcher 3 DLC that will probably never see the light of day, but is very interesting nevertheless. Designed by a fan from Russia, the project has some concept art and original story.

Regrettably, CD Project RED is not planning any more expansions for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Who knows, though, perhaps they’ll change their mind when they see this concept for a DLC designed by a fan, a computer graphics school graduate from Russia named Alexandra Tokaryuk. The Sands of Ofir, as the project is called, tells a story which starts after the events featured in the base game and its two original expansions.

In this story, Geralt is again captured by the emissaries of Ofir and this time taken to that distant land to face the sultan of Ofir, determined to bring justice to the killer of his son and successor to the throne (the plot roots back to a quest featured in Hearts of Stone). Geralt has little choice but to find the person who masterminded the death of the prince.
[...]

The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project - UPDATE 4.6 has been released.

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Mod site and download: http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mod...
For newest info about mod - visit CDProject forum thread: http://forums.cdprojektred.com/thread...

Music:
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Soundtrack - The Trail
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Soundtrack - Drink Up, There's More!
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Soundtrack - Cloak and Dagger
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Soundtrack - Another Round For Everyone
The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Soundtrack - The Wolven Storm (Polish version)

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Mod Features

- high quality meshes with a lot of details, most of them are created from scratch, good optimalization is preserved
- very high quality detailed textures with great sharpness and performance, without any unnecessary VRAM losses (no unnecessary big textures for small stuff)
- very high quality accurate normal maps, almost all is baked from high poly meshes, these normals combined with detail normalmaps, giving amazing look with almost any performance hit!
- specially customized materials for all reworked stuff

Gamepressure has collected a lot of info about the Witcher series:

Behind the scenes of The Witcher trilogy with CD Projekt RED

Digital Dragons in Cracow have gathered top Polish video game developers, and more. We’ve took this chance to talk with some members of CD Projekt Red (both their current and former workers) about the Witcher series and some behind the scenes mysteries.

I’m fully aware that a lot has been already said and written on the Witcher video game series, and especially on its third installment. We’ve been told about the secrets behind the development of the games, about various nods and shoutouts hidden within, and things that were supposed to be included in the story, but in the end weren’t. But does this mean that the topic has been exhausted and there’s nothing more interesting left to be discovered about it? Certainly not! We’ve learned that during the latest Digital Dragons, where we had a chance to talk several CDPR members – both current and former. We’ve had three quest designers answering our questions about various plot related matters – Artur Ganszyniec, Pawel Sasko, and Blazej Augustynek.

What we got is a timeline of sorts, on which we were able to follow the evolution of the entire series, as seen from behind the scenes, through a series of trivia. We invite you on a journey following the history of CD Projekt RED – except this time you’ll be going via the backstage scenic route. A fair warning though – you will encounter many a spoiler before this editorial is done.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

DSOGaming reports that version 1.13 of SkacikPL's mod for The Witcher 3 has been released:

This mod for The Witcher 3 lets you play in first-person mode, supports combat & customizable FOV

SkacikPL has released a new version of his amazing first-person mod for The Witcher 3. This mod features an immersive first person camera that properly follows Geralt’s body and supports a customizable FOV (in range from 1 to 110), customizable, separate X and Y axis mouse sensitivity, as well as experimental combat mechanics.

This mod has been in development since 2016. In April 2016, SkacikPL released the first version of his mod that did not support any combat mechanics. Fast forward a year and some months and here we are with a better version that makes the game feel like a Bethesda title.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

Farflame spotted 12 mods for The Witcher 3 at Sirius Gaming:

Perfecting A Masterpiece: 12 The Witcher 3 Mods That Will Make You Feel Like It’s Remastered

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been out for exactly 2 years as of now, and with the upcoming Netflix series that has just been recently confirmed, I can’t help but crave for it. From the memorable and multilayered side characters, and of course our self-aware protagonist, to the amazing rendering of forests and day-night cycles, it’s really a world to be hold. Never have I ever just strolled in a game for almost half an hour (that’s actually a really long time) just to bask in the game’s beautiful yet personified scenery. I have been playing the trilogy on and off since 2008, and there’s no slowing down.

[...]

@PCGamesN The Witcher 3 now has a vinyl soundtrack.

Good news audiophiles and fans of The Witcher 3, CD Projekt are releasing a special vinyl soundtrack for The Witcher 3. Featuring 35 total tracks, this soundtrack features four tracks which were previously only available to those who pre-ordered The Witcher 3.

 

Created in partnership with Spacelab9, this soundtrack comes with two silver vinyl discs - probably to match Geralt’s hair - along with a special slip-cover showing a rampaging Leshen. The four exclusive tracks are Fields of Ard Skellig, Ladies of the Woods, Merchants of Novigrad and Hunt or Be Hunted, which are not available on any digital versions of The Witcher 3 soundtrack.
[...]

GameSpew praises the world design of the The Witcher 3:

In Praise of The Witcher 3’s World Where You Barely Matter

With the announcement of a Witcher Netflix series, there’s never been a better time to delve into The Witcher 3 and experience a world that could well exist without you.

There’s a line in Christopher Nolan’s Memento, uttered by the movie’s memory-deprived protagonist: “I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world’s still there”. Yet in the case of most games – role-playing games in particular – it’s patently obvious that it’s not. In an age when we’ve come to expect more from video games, many still fall short in this regard.

Take Skyrim which, while still an enjoyable affair, does little to hide its player-centric nature. True, the game has been created with the sole purpose of entertaining you, but the player is so overtly the focus of events that the game ends up resembling a digital version of The Truman Show. Despite the fact that there’s a civil war raging, NPCs exhibit an obsessive interest in the minutiae of your life even before they’re informed that you’re The Chosen One (TM) – news which, apparently, instantly reaches all corners of the land. Join a guild and you’ll ultimately end up running it, the members being bafflingly quick to entrust their ages-old organisation to someone who’s been around for all of three weeks.

[...]

 

Thanks Farflame!

PCGamer declare who their best characters are in The Witcher 3. Obviously there is a heavy spoiler warning attached to this article so read at your own risk if you have not completed the game.

...

13. Vernon Roche

Wes: Most of my affection for Roche is a holdover from The Witcher 2, where he became a loyal brother to my Geralt. He's hard to like, at first: a dyed-in-the-wool asshole, and part of the establishment that treat non-humans like dirt. But he's also unflinchingly loyal to his unit and to his country. He saves Geralt's life. And his goals, like Geralt's, end up being deeply personal. As a result, the state of the Northern Kingdoms at the start of The Witcher 3, embroiled in civil war, felt like a direct result of the history Roche and I had shared.

[...]

11. Roach

James: Roach is a horse.

There really isn't much to say about Roach that isn't already made obvious by the fact that she's a horse. She's a horse that does horse things, like get spooked by literally anything that moves or snort and steer off Geralt's intended path. But Geralt needs her because whenever he's in trouble or needs a ride or someone to hear his thoughts, Roach is there and Roach is listening. For every canyon she gets Geralt stuck in, she gets him out of five more.

[...]

Farflame spotted on Gamepressure that The Witcher 3 is not the last game in the Witcher universe:

[...]

CD Prpject RED President Adam Kicinski:

The Witcher has been designed as a trilogy. A trilogy cannot have a fourth part. Nonetheless, we like this universe very much, we’ve invested 15 years of our lives and a lot of money in it… we’ll think about it some day. (…) We think rationally. We happen to have weird ideas occassionally, but generally we think rationally. We have full rights to these games, they are ours. We’ve pomped huge money into their marketing, the brand is strong… I think you can answer that question to yourself.

[...]

Joxer spotted some nice numbers for the Witcher series on PCGamesN:

CD Projekt Rich: Witcher 3 revenues total $250 million, trilogy sells 25 million

CD Projekt, the group that owns both famed developer CD Projekt Red and GOG, has announced their 2016 financial results and ho-boy, they’ve made some dollars and cents. Reporting a net profit of 251 million Polish Zloty (~64 million USD) for the year, they’ve released some rather nice statistics on how their most famous game series is getting along. Spoilers: very well indeed.

[...]

Farflame spotted an interesting article about Witcher lore on Gamepressure:

Polish Witcher Trivia #2 – Hearts of Stone and its plot built around a Polish legend

After last part's Bruniwch and its relation to Polish literature, this week we're taking a look at the plot of Hearts of Stone and how it is built around a classic Polish legend.

Since you enjoyed the first part of our Polish Witcher Trivia series, it’s time for a follow-up. For those of you who don’t know what’s going on, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has certain Easter eggs that are clear for the Polish audience, but players from other countries may have trouble understanding them. Two weeks ago I talked about Brunwich and its relation to Polish literature. This week, we’re looking at the main plot theme of The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone and how it is built around a poem by Adam Mickiewicz – Pani Twardowska (Twardowski’s Wife).

As we progress through the story, we come to a realization that Master Mirror is a powerful person, but we still don’t know his true nature. The mysterious man admits that he signed a certain pact with von Everec and the agreement can be fulfilled only when Gaunter O’Dimm grants three of Olgierd’s wishes and they stand together on the Moon. So let’s take a closer look at Adam Mickiewicz’s poem (as translated into English by Dorothea Prall Radin), which was inspired by a legend of Jan Twardowski and see where it gets us.

[...]

@DSOGaming The Super Turbo Lighting Mod 3.1.1 for The Witcher 3 is now available for download.

Modder Essenthy Onigami has finally released a new version of his amazing mod for The Witcher 3, Super Turbo Lighting Mod. Super Turbo Lighting Mod 3.1.1 revamps every zone starting with the original setting, fixes ambient occlusion in shadowed areas and increases ambient occlusion in general.

In addition, this latest version of the Super Turbo Lighting Mod comes with fixes the exposure issues that have been reported, revamps vegetation translucency/lighting now coloring depending on Tod like vanilla and adjust rainy weather to fit more STLM mood.

Those interested can download the latest version of the Super Turbo Lighting Mod for The Witcher 3 from here.

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@Nexusmods The Witcher 3 has a desert mod. Watch the video of it in 6K.

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Fun fact: 6K is 9x the resolution of 1080p. Some damn high quality pixels. - A bit of inactivity atm, working on a big project. Got inspired by Joseph Anderson's work, and planning on releasing an academic character analysis of Witcher 3 by February. Stay tuned.

The Witcher 3 mod 'Winter is Coming' has been released.

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novigrad winter environment
http://www.nexusmods.com/witcher3/mod...

PC Gamer lists which mods they recommend for The Witcher 3.

Better Torches

Download Link

Torches are the unsung heroes of The Witcher 3, allowing Geralt to see in the many dark places of his world without being forced to see gray for ages as he would with a Cat potion.This mod lets you get the most use of them. Now Geralt can cast signs, ride his horse, climb over ledges, and even block in battle without having to snuff out his trusty flame.

[...]

Realistic Weather

Download Link

If you're looking for a better weather experience in Novigrad and environs, then be sure to pick up this relatively recent mod. It places a heavy emphasis on fog, but it also brings other treats such as more snow in Skellige and better light rain animations. If you think it overdoes it, the description page has a list of settings you can freely change with console commands.

CD Projekt RED's Matthew Steinke discusses the economy of The Witcher 3, and how he attempted to bring it to life by resisting exploitation.

The GDC YouTube channel has published a GDC Europe 2015 talk given by CD Projekt RED's Matthew Steinke, who talked about his work designing the game's economy and crafting systems. Much of the talk focuses on Steinke's "scientific" approach to economy balance and the tricks he used when designing an economy that resisted exploits, and his subsequent work on the crafting systems, which forced him to rebalance the entire economy.

There are some points that I believe are worthy of critique, like Steinke's idea that making crafting components weightless would make the inventory system more confusing, but overall it's an interesting talk, if nothing else because of the insight it gives into the game's production:

CD Projekt Red has, in a statement given to Eurogamer, confirmed The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Game of the Year Edition.

"With all the free DLC and updates the game received so far, including significant changes to the game's interface and mechanics, many gamers have asked us if we're working on some sort of a Game of the Year Edition. I'm happy to confirm - yes, plans are in motion to release such an edition. We'll release more details, including the release date, in the future. In the meantime, I'd like to thank every fan of the game for their support - you're really amazing!"

The GOTY edition is said to be released on August 26th this year.

The Witcher 3 sees you running around playing detective for just about everyone.  Freelance illustrator Astor Alexander takes it a bit more literally with his pulp dime novel renditions of Geralt and Co.

For a game that features giant monsters and lawless bandits, you sure do spend a lot of time in The Witcher 3 playing medieval detective. Which is an idea freelance illustrator Ástor Alexander takes and runs with in these incredible images.

It’s not the first time he’s done something like this—you might remember his Nintendo book covers from a while ago—but man, these Witcher ones are something else. From the outfits to the Igni...perfect.

I’ve led with the Witcher images, but there are examples of Alexander’s Dragonball and Nintendo covers below them. You can see more of Ástor’s art at his personal site and Artstation page.

PC Gamer explores The Witcher 3's topography, its realism, and its beauty.

The Witcher 3 loves to wade through the murk of its magical Middle Ages. Whether Geralt is trudging the forsaken swamps of Velen or topping up his tan in Toussaint, things are always more grim than they seem. A dash of domestic violence here, an avenging spirit there—The Witcher’s world is complex and muddy.

I’m not interested in emotional grime, however. No, every time I play The Witcher 3 I’m hit by its actual dirt: the mud, rocks, silt and sand that make up the Northern Kingdoms.

Immersion comes in part from CD Projekt Red’s incredible textures and facial rigging, but the real legwork is done by topography. And I don’t mean the awesome mountains of Skellige or the great expanse of Crookback Bog. CDPR’s artistry is in the small details.

Even amid the gentle farmland of White Orchard there’s evidence of geological processes at work. Sheer, sandy banks overhang the river, fringes of grass suggesting ongoing erosion. Where many RPGs would dump a river in a convenient trough in the landscape, The Witcher 3’s ragged, crumbling riverbanks convince me that this stream was flowing eons before Geralt wandered by.

When the heavens open, rain spatters every exposed surface. Decades-old games can simulate rain of course, but as the torrent develops, rivulets start to run down rock faces, explaining how their deep crevices developed. Even throwaway items like a quest-specific frying pan catches raindrops as you hand it to an NPC.

Rocks, clifftops, tree roots and all the imperfections that make nature a pain in the arse each get their time to shine. They never feel like assets studding the landscape for variety’s sake, as boulders often do in Skyrim, for example. They are the landscape, born of imagined natural processes. I like to believe The Witcher’s NPCs considered the lay of the land before building their hovels. Roads, for example, typically take the easiest route up a hill, skirting ridges though a straight route would be quicker.

Blood and Wine's patch v1.22 has been released, promising a good-sized chunk of fixes, both quest-related and general.

While a few CD Projekt RED employees were at E3 to promote their new free-to-play Gwent game, plenty of them have been hard at work on a new patch for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt back in Poland. The patch, which brings the title to v1.22, is out today on PC, and the changelog can be found at this link. It fixes a number of issues with the main game and the expansions, including a few show-stoppers.

We knew it was coming, so here is the official announcement of the card game Gwent.

CD PROJEKT RED, creators of The Witcher series of games, are proud to announce the newest game in the studio's PC and console line up -- GWENT: The Witcher Card Game.

In GWENT, gamers clash with their friends in fast-paced duels that combine bluffing, on-the-fly decision making and careful deck construction. The game is played over a best-of-three series of rounds, as players unleash their hand by slinging spells and diverse units with special abilities and use clever tricks to deceive their opponents.

REGISTER FOR BETA

“I would like to thank all the fans for supercharging us to make standalone GWENT happen. Thousands of e-mails in dozens of languages coming from all around the world, the phone calls, the forum posts, and more than 40 fan made versions – all this, and everything in between, didn’t go unnoticed,” said Marcin Iwiński, CD PROJEKT co-founder. “Yes, we were mysteriously quiet after the launch of The Witcher 3, but during all this time we were hard at work on what we just unveiled today – GWENT: The Witcher Card Game. We’ve taken all that heart and energy you gave us and put it into GWENT,” continues Iwiński. "If you enjoyed GWENT in The Witcher 3, I think I don’t have to convince you to sign-up for the beta. If you hadn’t tried it yet, there’s no better time. Go register, play the beta for free starting from September and share your feedback with us. Tell us what you like, and what you don’t. Tell us what we should change or improve. We made this game for you, so let’s shape it together."

Available at release for Xbox One, PC and PlayStation 4, GWENT is a free to play game that puts you, not your cards, in the center of the action.

WELCOME TO GWENT
Deck Building
Become a master cardsmith and battle friends from around the world!

Pick your side -- command 5 different factions: the mighty Nilfgaardian Empire, proud Skellige, brutal Monsters, cunning Northern Realms or shadowy Scoia'tael.
Build your deck -- collect new cards and deploy armies full of versatile units, unique heroes and rule-flipping cards that summon fog to blind your opponent's archers or call down dragon fire to destroy their strongest units.
Craft new cards -- break down unwanted cards and craft new ones to build an ever-evolving deck.

BLUFF YOUR WAY TO VICTORY
Rules & Tricks
If you can't overpower your enemy, make sure you know how to outsmart them!

Force their hand -- with limited cards per game, lure your opponent into draining their resources!
Lose the battle, win the war -- win the entire game by learning how to cleverly lose a round.
Hold the line -- play your cards across three rows, infantry, ranged and siege, and build a formation to counter your opponent's strategy.

BRING YOUR ARMY TO THE TABLE
Game Modes
Embark on a story-driven single player journey, or just play online for fun, fame and glory!

Story Campaign -- lead mighty armies during prominent events straight from The Witcher universe.
Friendly Matches -- test your deck, try out new strategies, or just show off your collection of rare, animated cards.
Ranked Matches -- rise through player-driven divisions and advance to the Pro League.

AppTrigger has reviewed the Witcher 3 addon Blood and Wine:

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Review – Paradise Found

Can you believe it? It has been over one year since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt released, to the jubilation of RPG fans everywhere. Since then, the game has been tweaked with multiple updates, saw the release of its first expansion pack Hearts of Stone, and received enough Game of the Year Awards to justify the purchase of a trophy cabinet the size of a grand arch-griffin. So how does CD Projekt RED end such a successful year of consistent excellence? The answer is Blood and Wine; a final expansion pack that puts other pieces of downloadable content to shame.

[...]

The Witcher III: Blood and Wine may not break any new ground, but it is one of the most valuable and worthwhile pieces of downloadable content I’ve played in a long time. Big, bold and beautiful, it is an expansion for the fans that has been well worth the wait. Geralt clearly enjoys himself throughout the entirety of Blood and Wine’s main story, which is aptly reflective of the fact that this trip to Toussaint is quite simply a grand old time for everyone involved.

Score: 9/10

TechRaptor has reviewed the addon Blood and Wine for Witcher 3:

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine Review – Sad to See it Go

The level of quality CD Projekt RED was able to achieve with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was simply astounding, as I said in that review. Their ability to keep that quality consistent with the 30+ hours of more content in Hearts of Stone and now Blood and Wine is a true feat. Where Hearts of Stone was able to give you a great, focused storyline, with some other small additions to be sure, Blood and Wine offers more of that original Witcher 3 experience with plenty of sidequests to do, places to explore, characters to meet, and more.

[...]

It’s sad to see the likely end of CD Projekt RED’s Witcher series. Not being able to look forward to more content in the stunningly detailed world of the Witcher 3 is certainly tragic for any fan out there. I’ve never liked this saying, nor given it much merit, but this is the first time I truly understand when people say they’re jealous of others experiencing some book, game, movie, etc. for the first time. Blood and Wine did wonders to add to that feeling and is a more than adequate send-off for the series. As CD Projekt RED showed how to do an open-world RPG by establishing Wild Hunt, they’ve shown how expansions and DLC should be handled as well.

Obviously, if you liked the base game, and Hearts of Stone, you’ll really enjoy Blood and Wine.

Score: 9/10

Warning: Minor spoilers.  Blood and Wine players have discovered a Dark Souls easter egg.

Barely out a day, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine's darkest secrets are already being illuminated by players. A bog light dances on rickety bridge towards the end of the DLC. Let the flames guide thee, and you'll discover a combustible bonfire, complete with sword, in homage to Dark Souls.

Disappointingly, it's not a Coiled Sword. This is Gesheft, but as Gesheft is a beast of a blade (plus-20% sign intensity, three rune slots and up to 627 damage unaltered), I'm inclined to forgive the oversight. It's certainly a more practical Dark Souls tribute than Just Cause 3's.

A PC Gamer editorial takes a look at their favorite character from Blood and Wine, and what really makes them tick. Warning: contains major spoilers.

Full article.

PCGamesN has interviewed Patrick Mills, a quest designer at CD Projekt RED and formerly Obsidian, about the quest design in RPGs:

"We know you aren't stupid" - a quest design masterclass from CD Projekt RED

• A good quest can come from anywhere
• Every quest must tell a story
• Banish your fear of dialogue
• Don't underestimate your audience
• Make the world relatable
• Let the player do what they want
• Remember to work within your limits
• Embrace the possibilities of new tech

[...]

Thanks Joxer!

The last expansion to the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been released. Blood and Wine will mark the end of Geralts adventures. Get it on Steam or GOG.

Become professional monster slayer Geralt of Rivia and explore Toussaint, a remote land untouched by war, where you will unravel the horrifying secret behind a beast terrorizing the kingdom. With all trails leading to dead ends, only a witcher can solve the mystery and survive the evil lurking in the night. Introducing an entirely new realm to traverse, new characters and monsters, Blood and Wine is a 20+ hour adventure full of dark deeds, unexpected twists, romance and deceit.

Features

Explore an entirely new part of The Witcher's vast open world -- the land of wine, Toussaint
Embark on over 30 hours of new adventures and discover a land unlike anything you've seen in Wild Hunt or Hearts of Stone. Visit new points of interest and set out on new side-quests in a realm rivalling No Man's Land or Novigrad in size.Kick back and relax in your very own vineyard, a real home away from home.

Hunt down an elusive beast terrorizing the kingdom

• Unravel the mystery of the strange killings -- investigate a series of brutal murders and decipher the pattern to predict who's going to die next.
• Discover the dirty secrets of Toussaint's capital, Beauclair -- explore the city by day, ask questions by night.
• Use new gear, items, and combine them with your skill to slay monsters never before seen in the series.

Embark on your final quest in a world still brimming with things to do

• Visit a world of fairytales gone wrong and battle surreal creatures you know from children's tales and books.
• Dye witcher armors in different colors thanks to an all-new game mechanic.
• Take on knights in a grand tourney to show your true fighting skill, or set out to discover the gruesome mystery behind a spoon-collecting creature known as a wight.
• Team up with powerful allies to take down the beast terrorizing the kingdom, or turn a blind eye to what's going on and play Gwent with an all-new Skellige deck.

Hey, Gwent fans. Update 1.20 for The Witcher 3 will include an item that tells you which cards you're missing...and where you can find them. You can't put a price on something like that. Other fixes and additions are included.

CD Projekt has released the patch notes for the coming 1.20 update to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which makes a number of improvements and fixes to the game, including one that will be a big boon for Gwent card collectors: A new book called “A Miraculous Guide to Gwent,” which displays the number of cards missing form your base-game deck, and information on where to get them. New players can get the book from the Gwent scholar in the prologue, while those of you already deep into the action can pick it up from the merchant near St. Gregory's Bridge in the Gildorf district of Novigrad.

Other big changes include the addition of optional enemy “upscaling,” which will make low-level enemies more challenging (but won't affect experience points, loot, or quest rewards), and an increase in the incidence of certain monster-based ingredients required for high-level alchemy.  The inventory and journal have been improved to make them easier to use, automatic drawing and sheathing of swords can be disabled, and—this is a big one—there will be a fix for a bug "whereby Geralt's clothing was not properly restored after sex scenes.” 

Oh, Geralt. 

There are quite a lot of other fixes and tweaks, most of them for the base game but some specific to the Hearts of Stone expansion. A rollout date wasn't announced, but CD Projekt Community Lead Marcin Momot said on Twitter that it will be out after this weekend, but “shortly before” the Blood and Wine expansion goes live on May 31, and Tom Senior's review says that it's very good indeed. Full patch notes can be found here, and the relevant discussion of the update on the CD Projekt forums is here.

Source.

Blood and Wine will introduce enemy scaling to The Witcher 3, according to a German video.  There was already a mod for it, but official content is always nice.

Due to the prevalence of this Reddit thread and various European previews of The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion, we're learning that CD Projekt RED has added an option to introduce "feinde skalieren" or enemy scaling to the RPG with the accompanying patch. The thread contains a screenshot of the option in question, and level designer Miles Tost apparently does not refute it at the 19:50 mark during this 27-minute preview (I know zero German, unfortunately):

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More.

More reviews for the Witcher 3: Blood and Wine:

Destructoid 9/10

Eurogamer

Gamepressure 10/10

GamesRadar 4.5/5

Gamereactor 9/10

Gamespot

IGN 9/10

PC Gamer 94/100

PCGamesN 9/10

Rock Paper Shotgun

Shacknews 9/10

Twinfinite 5/5​

US Gamer

VideoGamer 9/10

PC Gamer reviews Blood and Wine, giving it a whopping (yet unsurprising) score of 94.

Have you ever wanted to get drunk with a vampire? The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion gives you that opportunity, and lets you ask all the important questions. What's it like to die and come back? What's it like to live for centuries in a world that mostly wants you dead? How does the bat thing work? The brooding, complicated undead are just one aspect of an excellent add-on that every Witcher fan should play.

...

Frankly if one of these expansions came out every year I'd still be playing The Witcher 3 in 2020. However, this is a fine end. Fantasy RPGs like this offer us the chance to walk through the pages of pulp fantasy fiction, to stand opposite the witches, wizards and wights of those stories. Even if we can't form our own words, or ultimately greatly affect the stories they tell, the semblance is powerful enough. Even in its immutable, heavily cutscene-driven form, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine is an accomplished piece of genre fiction with some characters I'll come to miss. Pour a goblet of the red stuff and join them, you won't be disappointed.

More.

At wccftech they explain how the new expansion Blood and Wine for Witcher 3 will tie up loose ends by being the whole games finale. Also CDPR’s Philipp Webber explained why Iorveth's content was cut from the main game. Iorveth featured prominently in the Witcher 2.

As we already heard in the past months, the game was apparently going to be even more massive, with some story quests focused on the Wild Hunt getting cut for a variety of reasons. Content related to one of the more popular characters of the second entry of the series, the Scoia'tael Iorveth, has also been cut, and a few hours ago a member of the team commented on the matter.

In a post on the official The Witcher forums, CDPR's Philipp Webber has commented on the Iorveth focused content that was cut from the game. Apparently, this chunk of the story was a big part of it and it was not possible to recreate it in another quest once the decision to cut it was made.

I'd like to give some clarification for this discussion. Like our writers already mentioned a few months ago, Iorveth used to be part of the game. However, as time and development went on, this chunk of the story had to be cut for multiple reasons, but it was quite a big part of the game. At this time, it was simply not possible to "just" create another quest that would replace it and we had to finish and polish the rest of the game. It's perfectly natural that parts of the game are cut in development, and in this case it unfortunately hit a part that Iorveth had a big role in.
And yes, of course you can come up with many ways and ideas how to still cram him in there somehow, but that's not our way. If we do something like that, we do it right and we do the character justice. It's not easy to make decisions like that, so I hope you can respect that.

As The Witcher 3 is going to be Geralt's final adventure, the game was probably the last chance for players to see Iorveth again. While the decision made by the team is definitely understandable, it's still disappointing for those who chose the Iorveth story path in The Witcher 2 and have come to love the Scoia'tael and their cause.

A launch trailer for the launch next week of The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine, named Final Quest, has been made available.

Eurogamer suspects that there will not be another Witcher game:

Don't expect The Witcher 4 any time soon - or maybe ever

According to CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski, the company doesn't have a next Witcher game in any kind of development. Nor is one planned.

I asked him whether the studio will leave The Witcher series for good - following the release of Witcher 3 Blood and Wine on 31st May - or return to it some day, and he said, "We honestly don't know. We don't have anything planned as of now to be honest on the next Witcher.

"As we said before, never say never [but] right now it's really Blood and Wine. This is the end. Blood and Wine is [the] closing and there won't be any Witcher any time soon - if there ever will be one. And I would really like to see how people feel about it, if they will enjoy it."

[...]

Thanks Couch!

Here is a new trailer for Blood & Wine showing of the new Toissant region.

Become professional monster slayer Geralt of Rivia and explore Toussaint, a remote land untouched by war, where you will unravel the horrifying secret behind a beast terrorizing the kingdom. With all trails leading to dead ends, only a witcher can solve the mystery and survive the evil lurking in the night. Introducing an entirely new realm to traverse, new characters and monsters, Blood and Wine is a 30+ hour adventure full of dark deeds, unexpected twists, romance and deceit.

Blood and Wine releases May 31st, 2016.

The Witcher 3 gets a new UI alongside the release of Blood and Wine - Gamepressure has some comparison screenshots.

The Witcher 3 to get a new interface alongside the release of Blood and Wine – check out the comparison images

With the release of the Blood and Wine expansion on May 31 comes a new update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It will bring, among other things, many changes to the user interface. CD Projekt RED has provided us with some comparison screenshots.

[...]

1. When you pick up a new document (e.g. a book), you can read it immediately. You don’t need to search for it manually in the inventory any longer;

2. Switching Signs with the quick access menu on consoles is now easier – all you have to do is tilt the analog stick towards the symbol of the Sign you wish to select and then release it (there’s no need to confirm the choice with another button);

3. The map screen was provided with additional markers and filters.

ThisGenGaming explains why Blood and Wine is everything a DLC should strive to be, and why we should be especially excited about this latest effort from CD Projekt RED.

Now the other day the final paid expansion for The Witcher 3, Blood and Wine, was detailed and given a release date of May 31. Blood and Wine is part of the $25 season pass or if you didn’t buy that you can pick it up for $20 or $18 if you pre-order it now. Now let me just go ahead and tell you that the amount of content in Blood and Wine that you are getting for as low as $18 trumps what some entire games ship with for $60. The expansion was described by the studio as “basically a new game” and they aren’t kidding. Let me throw some facts your way: 30+ hours of content, 90+ new quests, 40+ points of interest, 14,000 lines of dialogue, 20+ new monsters, 100 new armor pieces, 2 hours of new music, New Game Plus Level increased to 100, 30+ new weapons, New UI, 12 new abilities and more. All of that is pretty incredible but the new area of Toussaint is as big as all of the Skellige’s islands from the main game combined. Oh and the graphics in the expansion have been improved over what the base game looked like.

When you look at all of that and see that it only costs $18 it makes just about every other games DLC look like a joke. That is a massive amount of content and it shows why I personally think CD Projekt Red is the best in the business at giving players their money’s worth. More developers really need to take note of The Witcher 3’s example and give players more bang for their buck. I’ve heard some people saying that Blood and Wine could be their Game of the Year for 2016 and it’s hard to argue against that when you see this much content in an expansion.

More.

In a devloper diary video from CD Project Red we can hear about the final expansion pack of The Withcer 3 - Blood and Wine, the expansion's pack features and the new ocation of Toussaint.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine teaser trailer is out:

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"THE LAND OF WINE IS DRENCHED IN BLOOD”

For the last time become professional monster slayer Geralt of Rivia and explore Toussaint, a remote land untouched by war, where you will unravel the horrifying secret behind a beast terrorizing the kingdom. Blood and Wine is a 30+ hour adventure full of dark deeds, unexpected twists, romance and deceit.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine launches on May 31, 2016.

The rumor mills are churning. "Leaks" about Blood And Wine's release are the talk everywhere, but Pixel Dynamo is predicting May 30.

A recent leak on Steam suggests *The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt*’s next expansion, *Blood and Wine*, will release as soon as May 30.

The premature listing has subsequently been removed, but one eagle-eyed fan took a screenshot of the information before it disappeared. Details of the various features accompanying the DLC are extremely exciting, providing roughly 20 hours of new content that’ll have existing players counting down the days until its release.

Set in Beauclair, capital of the unique new area of Touissant – a location that appears in Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels from which the games are derived – *Blood and Wine* focuses on protagonist Geralt as he attempts to solve a series of brutal murders, uncovering the dark secrets of the city as he does so.

Additionally, players can look forward to plenty of new gear, a new Skellige themed Gwent deck (which was revealed and confirmed earlier by developer CD Projekt Red), and the chance to relax in their own vineyard when not slaying horrific mythical creatures. Moreover, the land of Touissant itself appears to be vast, equaling Novigrad in terms of size, according to Steam’s description.

Source.

Gamepressure has some interesting info about the land of Toussaint from The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine:

The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine – A pocket guide to Toussaint to prepare you for the expansion

The second add-on to The Witcher 3, Blood and Wine, takes us to a whole new region – Toussaint – pulled straight out of a fairy tale and chivalric romance. Find out what awaits Geralt by reading our guide to this curious land.

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[...]

Joxer spotted some information about the next Witcher 3 expansion Blood & Wine on PCGamesN:

The Witcher 3's Blood and Wine expansion will be as big as all of the Skellige Isles combined and out before E3

In an interview with German website GameStar, some solid details about Blood & Wine, Witcher 3’s second expansion, have finally been released. Not only is it likely to be out before E3 - though there’s no solid release date yet - but it’s absolutely huge: as big as all of the base game’s Skellige Isles combined. Assuming it’s also as dense with quests and battlefields and enemies and slightly odd sex scenes as the rest, that’s mighty impressive for a single DLC expansion.

 

Our favourite game of 2015 and one of the best RPG ever.

That’s not all either, with a full translation of the interview made on Reddit. Here’s some further highlights, about both Blood & Wine and some general CD Projekt facts:

• There won’t be a sale on the expansion immediately after it releases.
• There are no plans for remasters of Witcher 1 & 2.
• Nor will there be an all-three-games package of some kind once Witcher 3 is ‘finished’ - their argument is that W1 and 2 are already quite cheap when sales roll around.
• They’re considering a Game of the Year edition for Witcher 3 that puts all the expansions and DLC together in one place.
• Filling the world isn’t as tough as you might think, they’ve even had problems actually having enough space for everything they want.

[...]

Here are five new screenshots for the upcoming Blood & Wine expansion.

Another great prize for the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt:

Witcher 3 wins Game of the Year at 16th annual Game Developers Choice Awards

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the open-world fantasy role-playing game from developer CD Projekt RED, was honored with the Game of the Year award at tonight's 16th annual Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony during the 2016 Game Developers Conference at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

The acclaimed title also received the award for Best Technology for its complex game engine that combines brilliant visuals with a huge game world.

WCCFTech reports that the Witcher series has sold over 20 million copies already:

CD Projekt RED is a team that requires no introduction, as it’s the studio behind one of the best role playing games released last year, The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt. The series as a whole is doing great, according to the latest financial results report, which has also revealed plenty of other interesting things on Cyberpunk 2077 and future projects.

According to the latest CDPR financial results report, The Witcher series has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, an excellent result that’s well deserved. Digital sales of the latest entry of the series have also been going great, as they currently represent the 50.2% of the revenue. [...]

More infos from NeoGAF:

CD Projekt's conference has now ended.

Some information:

• Combined sales of all Witcher games is now over 20 million copies
• Plan for 2016: A new type of video game format previously unexplored by the Studio
• Digital sales of the Witcher 3 - 31.6% representing 50.2% of the revenue

Plans for 2017-2021:

• Release of Cyberpunk 2077
• "We aren't a long way away from the premiere" - Adam Badowski on the state of the development of Cyberpunk 2077
• Release of another AAA RPG
• Expansion of core franchises with additional media content and product lines
• Two fold expansion of the CDPR team - creation of four individual teams, two of them tasked with the development of of games representing new segments
• Establishment of new local branches of CDPR in key territories

GOG.com in 2016:

• Release of an AAA game unaffiliated with GOG, with full support of GOG Galaxy- concurrent with global release date.
• More global releases of AAA titles with Galaxy support coming in 2017-2021

Misc:

• Share price increased by 353% in the last 4 years
• CDPR to buy back shares in the future

Thanks Eye!

Gamepressure has made an analysis of the content that has been removed from the released The Witcher 3 game, for various reasons.

Both these characters are pawns compared to our next guest. That’s right, your sight is not deceiving you – it’s Iorveth, the elf in charge of a Squirrel commando, who has done some serious damage in the Assassins of Kings, and was expected to pop-out at some point in the Wild Hunt. Contrary to Hvtir and Hemmelfart, his role made it into pretty advanced stages of development. The 3D models were being worked on, and his appearance in the story was being tentatively planned. According to dev’s notes, Geralt was supposed to stumble upon him in Novigrad, in the basement of Triss’ house, playing on his flute the same melody he played during the first encounter in The Witcher 2. Really cool idea, but we don’t know anything more – how much of an impact would he have made on the story remains a secret.

...

The plot modifications change the adventures, but it’s the mechanics that change the experience. As it turns out, some huge changes were made here. Three of them seem to be the most important: the first concerns the behavior of city guards. In the final build, the “punishment” only involves loss of cash after losing a fight with a unit of guards. But if the previous idea had been implemented, there would have been a lot less troublemaking in the cities and villages, as the proposed consequences were a lot harsher. First, we’d have to choose whether or not to pay the fine – denial meant either fighting the guards or fleeing, and in case of choosing the former and losing, we would have to say goodbye not only to some of our money, but the unused skill points as well! On top of that, Geralt would be thrown out of the city. There’s nothing we love more than mandatory walks.

CD Projekt Red also planned on posing a bigger challenge before Geralt in terms of crafting. In the game, crafting and enhancement of the equipment is simple and linear, but it was not always so. The key part here were supposed to be books; right now, they only provide additional insight into the game world, but originally they also taught Geralt things. Without reading the right book, buffing swords and armor would be impossible. “Nilfgaard’s War Tactics” increased damage dealt to the imperials, and “How to avoid bigger ships” increased the speed of boats. This complex system was dropped, however, and the developers decided that Geralt should have all these perks from the very beginning.

Thanks Couch.

According to The Witcher 3's official Twitter, it doesn't look like we'll be seeing Blood and Wine as soon as we'd hoped.

Thanks, Couch.

The second expansion for The Witcher 3, titled 'Blood and Wine', does not look likely to be made available any time soon judging by a Tweet posted on the game's official Twitter account.

Responding to a question regarding the highly anticipated DLC package, The Witcher account revealed that more information on the Blood and Wine expansion would be released 'in the coming months'.

The first DLC offering for CD Projekt Red's smash hit RPG arrived back in October and the Blood and Wine content was initially expected to be released during the first quarter of 2016. That original time window has since been expanded to the first half of 2016, with most people now expecting it to be released sometime after March.

To date only a couple of screenshots have been shown off from the Blood and Wine expansion but it has been revealed that the DLC package will include an additional 20 hours of gameplay and take place in a new area which wasn't initially in the game, named Toussaint.

More.

In "How Do You Solve A Problem Like Geralt?", RPS takes a look at Geralt as a stodgy narrative figure, and how to get him doing unbelievable things in Hearts of Stone.

Here’s a question: How do you solve a problem like Geralt? There he is, stern and stalwart, everyone’s favourite low fantasy drifter. A man of rank bogs, blasted no man’s lands and rugged islands. A man who isn’t much of a laugh, or awfully fun to have a drink with.

But what if you want to extend his world, and expose him to new adventures? That’s what last October’s expansion to The Witcher 3 [official site], Hearts of Stone, aimed to achieve, but it had to get Geralt doing things he’d never normally do. So how did CD Projekt manage to get him drunk and dancing at a wedding, robbing a bank, and appraising fine art? Their solution was deft.

More information.

Let's do another list. This one is about the best mods in The Witcher 3, according to PC Gamer, listing 13 of them. Here are the frist three on the list.

Absolute Camera

Unhappy with the camera placement while you're running, fighting, riding, or swimming? Absolute Camera doesn't just change the camera distance and angle but gives you over a dozen completely customizable options for camera placement during Geralt's many activities. In the video above you can get a look at just how flexible the new camera tools are.

PhotoMode

Want to take some awesome screenshots of Geralt in action? This mod provides a toggle button that lets you freeze the game at will, then fly your camera around in 3D space to line up the perfect picture. There's also a toggle for making yourself invisible (good for landscape shots), and an option to spawn fog and mist to make your shots more atmospheric.

Friendly HUD

The Witcher 3 isn't just a great game, it also contains a great game: Gwent, a collectible card game Geralt can enjoy during his adventures. In fact, it's not unusual to hear that players would rather indulge in a Gwent fix than kill monsters. Now, you can do both! This mod replaces all combat with games of Gwent. You even earn similar loot and XP rewards for winning a game.

There's a new hotfix to address some recent issues with the Witcher 3, namely with Gwent.

Check the list of changes made in Hearts of Stone by the Hotfix:

- Fixes a problem whereby boards shown after finishing a game of Gwent were incorrectly grayed out.
- Restores the progress bar shown when passing a round during a game of Gwent.

More information.

CD Projekt RED says that Blood and Wine isn't so much "better" than the original game as simply "more refined".

Update: And it's supposed to be really big - comparable to Velen.

The Witcher 3's upcoming expansion will feature a new area that's comparable to Novigrad, Skellige, and Velen. The new realm Toussaint, "rivals the size of those found in the base game," according to Michal Platkow-Gilewski, CD Projekt Red marketing lead.

Speaking to GameSpot, Platkow-Gilewski added that the expansion should feel "more refined" because the team was able to make it with the "sum of all the experiences we gained when creating Wild Hunt."

Earlier this week, a CD Projekt RED developer talked about Blood and Wine, the highly anticipated second expansion for the award-winning role playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, saying that it was even better than the main game in some aspects. However, the latest comments from the developer on the topic elaborate the previous statement and provide some additional clarification pointing out  that The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine is rather “more refined” instead of “better” than the main game.

Those players who think the game-of-the-year award winning role playing title that was released last year could have delivered better in itself would likely be pleased to know what the latest comment from CD Projekt RED apparently implicates. The implication, subtly made, is that The Witcher 3’s second and last expansion is being put together piece by piece by the developer with everything that the team learned creating a saga that Geralt of Rivia’s final adventure is.

In an interview with GameSpot, CD Projekt Red marketing lead Michal Platkow-Gilewski explained how previous experiences are helping the team to create an experience that is not necessarily “better,” but definitely “more refined” than the main game in many regards. He went on to point out that along with all types of new monsters, quests and places of interest in the upcoming expansion, players can look forward to Toussaint, Blood and Wine’s new realm that competes with the size of those found in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. However, he wouldn’t get into a debate about what is “better.”

“Blood and Wine is the sum of all the experiences we gained when creating Wild Hunt, so it’s definitely more refined than Wild Hunt in many regards, but that doesn’t mean it’s better per se”

“I wouldn’t point fingers at what’s better separately, as each addition to Wild Hunt (including over 10 updates we’ve released so far) enriches the overall experience you get from The Witcher as a game in general. The base game with the expansions is simply better than without them.”

The Witcher 3 Blood and Wine expansion is set to conclude the legend of Geralt of Rivia, as it will feature him as the main character of the series for the last time. The expansion was set to arrive in the first quarter (January-March) of 2016, but is now expected in the first half (January-June) of 2016. Once it is out, players will be able to enjoy around 20 hours of brand new gameplay that it will have to offer.

More information.

Patch 1.12 for The Withcer 3 is now available on all platforms.

With this update we’ve introduced over 70 changes to gameplay, quests, DLC’s and Hearts of Stone. Main adjustments include a fix to the Wild Rose Dethorned achievement, fixes to the Scavenger Hunt: Wolf School Gear quest and more!

You can read the PDF with a lengthy list of changes, right here.

The Witcher 3 scored Shacknews's Game of the Year award for 2015.

More information.

Does Hearts of Stone, the first paid DLC for the Witcher 3, deserve the title "Game of the Year" even more than the base game?  Polygon's Jake Lear thinks so.

Disclaimer: This article includes minor spoilers about characters and plot points in The Witcher 3 and Hearts of Stone.

The Witcher 3's first expansion, Hearts of Stone, is a master class on how to create meaningful, valuable downloadable content. It has all the strength of the The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt behind it (as well as the developer's considerable dedication to improving the game post-release).

The Witcher 3 is the best game released this year, and any publication that says otherwise is, in my opinion, wrong. However, it suffers from a few notable flaws. Among those is the common open-world game challenge of balancing the urgency of the primary quest line with the vast number of other things to do. Additionally, the titular villain, The Wild Hunt, is invisible for most of the game. They're threatening to abduct the player character's adopted daughter and use her to invade the world and destroy all known life, but it's too easy to ignore this danger for the majority of the game.

Hearts of Stone adeptly takes players on a journey free from these foibles.

...

More information.

US Gamer's Mike Williams pens an interesting op-ed about race and traditional fantasy tropes.  He doesn't attack The Witcher; instead, he asks what new things can be done.

Thanks again, Couch.

And please, please keep your comments civil!  This is video game news, not something intended to cause controversy!

The lack of minorities in The Witcher III is not something I mentioned in my review two weeks ago. That's not because I didn't notice - I did - but because I decided in this specific situation that it didn't bother me. Most of the Witcher III takes place in Redania near the southern front of that country's war with the Nilfgaard Empire, or on the islands of Skellige. In both regions, based on the books and previous game titles, it's rare to see people of color. Redania is largely white. The free city of Novigrad might have featured traders from other races, but there's a witch hunt going on. Skellige is a clear homage to Norse culture, so the rarity is justified there too.

Can you find room within the text and game for the occasional minority character? Yeah. Nilfgaard is based on the Roman Empire and like that empire, operates by conscripting those it conquers into its highly-trained army. There probably should be a few darker-skinned soldiers in its ranks, coming from the south of the Continent. In the far southeast, there's an entire race based on Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski's mashup of African and Indian culture called the Zerrikanians. They're generally off on their own, though they're the origin of the tech behind bombs, which have played a big part in the Witcher's gameplay. Zerrikanian warriors Tea and Vea were featured in the Sword of Destiny collection and CD Projekt Red featured another, Azar Javed, in the first game.

So yeah, they had opportunity. It would've been cool. Despite that, I understand if the combination of Polish author and Polish developer meant their heads were down working on the game and it didn't come up. Even American studios can miss opportunities for diversity, so devs from a country that's 97 percent Polish (read: almost all white)? I understand that. They made what reflected their thoughts on The Witcher book, movies, and TV shows. It's a choice the developer made, but in this case, I don't fault them for missing the depth of their options.

I don't chastise them, instead stating that they probably should think about it and do better for their upcoming game, Cyberpunk 2077. A title taking place in a futuristic city, a melting pot for different cultures. A title based on the Cyberpunk tabletop RPG series created by Michael Pondsmith, an African-American author. Everything I've read about the game tells me that CD Projekt Red is on the right track when it comes to that game. I'm hopeful.

This commentary is partially based on the fact that The Witcher III doesn't exist alone. There is a larger context in games (and entertainment) that can't be ignored. Are you tired of open world games with conquerable towers and towns that open up the world map with collectible item icons as far as the eye can see? (The Ubisoft method.) Perhaps free-to-play games and monetization is your issue. Downloadable content? Jingoistic first-person shooters? I'm sure some major part of our industry annoys you. I'm sure you have commentary on that and you've potentially aired it on Twitter, Facebook, a forum post, or a blog. This is no different, as these mechanics and design choices are as much a creative decision as the narrative and the characters. A game is taken as a work of art on its own, but it's also measured within a larger context.

Check out the rest of the article here.

@warisboring.com Matthew Gault writes about the Witcher 3 through the lens of its war time setting.

Fallout and Call of Duty were fun. Metal Gear was fun and brilliant. But The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt was on another level. It was the best game I played in 2015 and one of the best games I've ever played in my entire life. Polish developer CD Projekt crafted an immersive world, told a compelling story and made every moment fun to experience.

But more than that, CD Projekt took a staple video game setting - war - and presented it in a way games rarely do. War is awful. It shatters lives, separates families and ravages the land. The Witcher 3 understands that.

[...]

Many video games are power fantasies, and most that involve warfare depict the glory of combat and put the player in the lead role. Not so in The Witcher 3. Geralt has his own motivations, and he does his best to avoid politics and the larger conflict between Nilfgaard and the Northern Kingdoms.

And CD Projekt never depicts war as glorious or fun. Soldiers describe combat as a lot of boredom and waiting punctuated by moments of frenzied madness. The Northern War of the The Witcher 3 is all about waiting, survival and boredom.

[...]

Dead bodies litter the ground of the Northern Kingdoms. Nilfgaardians and Northerners alike rot in the sun. People hang from trees, a sign posted in front of their swinging and bloated bodies lists their crimes - desertion, stealing provisions and rape. The North and the South hang criminals in equal measure. Refugees huddle outside of the few cities untouched by the war. Soldiers demand the proper paperwork and keep the rabble from flooding the last civilized outposts in the North.

Civilians cling to tradition and appease whichever army is currently occupying them. They know it could all change tomorrow. There are no heroes, just men and women desperate to survive. This sense of despair and struggle permeates The Witcher 3.

The Witcher 3 is perfectly fun with Geralt, but now a mod has emerged to let you play as Triss, Yennefer, Shani, or Ciri, and add companions, like Ves.  The only problem is that you still talk in Geralt's voice, which is a little strange.

More information.

Eurogamer has a list of games of 2015 and today it features The Witcher 3.

The Witcher 3 isn't perfect. How could it realistically fulfil all of those dreams - how can any game, any thing? I thought the combat was repetitive; I thought I'd use more magic, more potions, but really I just dodged and hit. I thought there were too many supplementary activities, and as good as they were, the novelty wore off. By the time I hit Skellige about half-way through the game, those hard grey knuckles of islands, I was fatigued - so I started ignoring things and following the main story blinkered. A burden of riches.

But I loved its characters' ugliness, its world's dirtiness, its equipment's realness. I loved the incidental voices in villages, the farts, the odd things people would say - and the mish-mash of Welsh/Irish/Scottish/Cornish accents in which they said it. And I loved the swearing.

I loved the Bloody Baron, that abusive brute who defied my early judgement. I loved Kiera Metz. I loved the jokes, the referential nods, the handmade camera angles, even the breasts in my face - they all added up to character, to soul.

The article also comes with a video review of all the sex scenes in The Witcher 3.

GameBanshee is covering the Witcher 3's HD Reworked Project 2.0, including the original video and an interview with its creator.

“I’ve always liked working with 3D graphics,” Członka tells us. He explains that the genesis of The Witcher HD Reworked project was spurred by both his love of 3D graphic design and discovering his favorite game, CD Projekt RED’s dark fantasy RPG, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

“I wanted, and still want to make the world of The Witcher 3 even more beautiful,” he explains.

Członka has just released version 2.0 of his mod, and some of the improvements within are absolutely stunning. The HD Reworked project will make you see the game’s visually impressive fantasy world in a whole new light. He has painstakingly worked his way through the game, creating whole new models and textures to replace the originals, and the result is a gorgeously realized world that feels close to phosto-realism. Roofs, rocks, crates, tiles and trees have all been given the HD makeover, and they all look fantastic. We're particularly taken by the new spruces, which are thick with sharp-looking needles that you feel like you could almost touch.

“[Re-texturing] rocks in the game was definitely the most challenging part of the project so far,” Członka says. “To match the appropriate textures, I had to work on this for a long time. Of course, I still have a lot of work ahead of me so we shall see what new challenges await.”

You'll also notice that the rocky landscape of the Northern Kingdoms looks and feels a lot more solid. Not only has Członka retextured its rocks with a load of gritty new detail, he's also rebuilt the 3D models themselves so that their surfaces are more uneven and natural-looking.

More information.

The Escapist explains why the Witcher 3 breaks all rules:

How Witcher 3 Breaks all the Rules

One of the things we've come to accept in video games is that we're never going to get another big-budget, dialog-heavy RPG like we used to get in the old days. Planescape: Torment was all text, and nobody could afford to make something that large in today's world of mandatory voice acting. Even if you could somehow afford the voice actors (which would be ridiculous) you'd still have the problem where you'd need to spend months in the recording booth with them all. The logistics of writing all that dialog, casting that many actors, recording all those lines, and scripting all those cutscenes would be a nightmare. [...]

One modder has set out to recreate the textures in The Witcher 3, polishing them to a new level of detail.  His 2.0 release is now available.

Modder ‘Halk Hogan PL’ has released the next version of his amazing Texture Pack for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The modder has also provided some new comparison screenshots that can be viewed below.

Those interested can download the mod from here.

The Wither 3 HD Reworked Project is a Texture Pack that improves the graphics by reworking the following models and textures to better quality

• Rocks (almost all)
• Spruces
• Wood Crates
• Sacks (primary)
• Ceramic Roof
• Checkered Floor

More information.

ASidCast's op-ed asks "what makes a good rpg?" by comparing Witcher 3 to Fallout 4.

Thanks, Couch.

With 2015 almost drawing to a close, we decided to look at the best releases this year. We noticed a curious thing in the RPG genre. Although both of the biggest RPG titles of 2015 – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Fallout 4 got great critic scores, The Witcher 3 received an overwhelming amount of better reception by the users and was considered a good RPG while Fallout 4 wasn’t. Why is that?

It has been a common complaint against Fallout 4 that it over-simplifies the RPG mechanics which were present in previous games, and which made Fallout a classic long before Bethesda bought the rights. Of course, Bethesda fans might argue that with time, the concept of RPG mechanics change with time. The very existence and popularity of Witcher 3 challenges that outlook. Let’s take a look, shall we?

More information.

Here are two new screenshots for the Blood and Wine expansion of The Witcher 3.

The palace of Beauclair

Toussaint is famous for its wine and vineyards

CD PROJEKT RED, creators of The Witcher series of games, have just released the first two screenshots from the upcoming expansion to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -- Blood and Wine. The expansion is slated for release in the first half of 2016. The studio has also announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has collectively garnered over 300 awards, including a Golden Joystick for Ultimate Game of the Year, and The Game Award for Game of the Year.

“2015 is almost behind us. It’s a great year for open world games and a fantastic time for The Witcher. A year of intense work for the team and a time filled with many personal victories for everyone involved in a project that received more than 300 awards so far (wow!). We overcame so many obstacles to get to this point, and we’ve always done it with gamers rooting for us. It’s your year, too!,” said Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, Game Director, CD PROJEKT RED. “Blood and Wine, the second expansion for The Witcher 3, is on the horizon. It’s a massive new land to explore, visually unlike anything you saw in Wild Hunt or Hearts of Stone, and it too is brimming with stories we want you to discover,” adds Tomaszkiewicz.

Blood and Wine is a 20-hour tale that will introduce the all-new in-game region of Toussaint, will take Geralt to a land untainted by war, where an atmosphere of carefree indulgence and knightly ritual masks an ancient, bloody secret. Currently, Blood and Wine is available for purchase as part of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Expansion Pass.

CD Project Red will create more Witcher games:

[...]

According to CDPR's founder Marcin Iwinski, after crafting swords for 12 years, the team is a bit "burnt out." Regardless of whether or not CDPR wants to pursue new horizons, Wild Hunt is a critically acclaimed addition to the Witcher series making it something hard to let go. 

After winning the Game of the Year award for Wild Hunt during last night's Game Awards event CDPR CEO Adam Kicinski was invited to speak with Polish TV station TVN24 BiS (via GamePressure). During the interview Kicinski was asked on whether or not there would be another installation in the series following Wild Hunt.

Kicinski's response could bring hope to fans, but the reality is we wouldn't be seeing a Witcher game any time soon.

It's too early to talk about it, but it's not like we're forgetting about this brand – that's understandable. (...) It wouldn't be fair towards the fans. We work within this universe for over a dozen years now and I don't think it's going to be the end of it.

[...]

Gamerreactor talked to CD Projekt Red's Senior Technical Artist José Teixeira about development, Bethesda, and the backlash over The Witcher's graphical downgrade.

"There was a lot of discussion about graphics before the game was released, but when it finally came out, we found numerous forums and comments praising the game's stunning graphics. Especially now that we allowed access to all the graphics settings in the PC version. Problem is, there seems to be nothing we can say to please some people, and I find that genuinely scary. Have games today really become this? To see a long, hard and sweaty investment to create a great story, world and characters, suddenly under attack and even threatened with boycott... because the grass density is not the same, or a visual effect was removed since the trailer? This is scary, and honestly, a bit depressing, especially after we spent endless hours trying to create the best game possible."

"Here at CD Projekt Red, we worry a lot about the quality of the game, and we knew The Witcher 3 would be very complicated from a game mechanics standpoint. In fact, we often joke the 'game testers' are the ones that suffer the most here in the studio. A game so big, based on a open world, with a non-linear story... there are so many ways of doing things that it's impossible to test all the variables. There were some ridiculous errors, problems that would only occur at a certain time of day, or if Geralt wore a specific armour. Things that are completely impossible to predict and test. In any case, it was crucial to launch the game without any error that would prevent the player from completing the game, and since launch we have released several updates with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of adjustments and fixes."

Thanks Eye.

Eye spotted the trailer for the Witcher 3 Expansion Pass:

Zahratustra informed us that The Witcher 3 has already won 5 Global Game Awards for 2015.

Exciting news! We’d like to announce that we’ve won five Global Game Awards in the following categories:

• Game of the Year
• Best Developer (CD PROJEKT RED)
• Best Open World
• Best Story
• Best Audio

We would like to thank everyone who voted for us and for your ongoing support!

Eye spotted that in December patch 1.12 of The Witcher 3 will see the light of day.

CD Projekt RED has announced Patch 1.12 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Details for patch 1.12 are available for the time being but they should be shared soon enough.

reviously, Momot mentioned that the patch will deal with Pickaxe issue in the RunSmith Quest.

More than that isn't really available at this point in time.

A new trailer for The Witcher 3 has been released, which is labeled as 'An Epic Year'.

"This year was really epic for the entire crew behind The Witcher. We launched Wild Hunt, the RPG we've been working on for so long, then we've gone above and beyond to give gamers as many free DLC as we could, and then released Hearts of Stone, which - judging from player feedback - took the game even further. And we innovated all along the way -- if you compare Wild Hunt to our previous game, almost every element was improved or changed. Now we're working on Blood and Wine, the final expansion for Wild Hunt which we will launch in 2016. To thank everyone for being with us this whole time, we've prepared something special -- enjoy the Epic Trailer!" said Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, Game Director, CD PROJEKT RED.

Eye found on Geeksnack that the Super Turbo Lighting Mod (inadvertently called Lightning Mod on Geeksnack) for The Witcher 3, is being upgraded to version 2.0. There are some work in progress videos available on NexusMods, in case you are interested in changing the game with this mod.

Short interview at Stevivor with Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz:

CD Projekt Red’s Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and lessons learned for “Hearts of Stone”

No fetch quests.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a massive game, filled with various types of quests. Of those quests, not a lot of them feel forced, and most offer up insight into Witcher Geralt and the world around him.

Still, CD Projekt Red’s Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, Principal Narrative Designer, thinks the developer could have done better.

“In the main game, there were a few quests – even though we had a rule against it – that felt padded; like fetch quests,” he admitted. “I think [those fetch quests] were there because we stuck with ideas we shouldn’t have [from previous games in the Witcher franchise].”

With lessons learned, Tomaszkiewicz and his colleagues approached The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s first expansion, “Hearts of Stone” in a different way.

“In ‘Hearts of Stone’, we came up with the right ideas right from the start. We spent more time coming up with ideas from scratch; with ideas that felt right and natural. Nothing was added simply to make something else [like another quest] make sense.” [...]

Eye spotted this interview at PressA2Join, where The Witcher 3 writer Karolina Stachyra and Lead Quest Designer Mateusz Tomaszkiewicz, talk about being gamers, the dislike of DRM, the Blood and Wine DLC, believable characters and Gwent.

PA2J: The Witcher series, even from its inception, was a controversial one due to its adult content. Most notably, it tackles sex, racism and prejudice in a very forthright manner. This has drawn both praise and criticism from journalists and the public. If one looks at the series' progression, one can see that these themes are presented in an increasingly tasteful and mature way, with the sex being evolved from collectible cards to a narrative device that lets us know more about the character relationships and the prejudice being depicted increasingly as a complex social issue rather than a simple good vs evil matter.

Many writers struggle to properly depict mature content in a way that doesn't patronize the audience. Was it an effort for the team to get these issues right? Were there any fears that you'd alienate part of your audience?

KS: When we approached creating characters in Wild Hunt, be it male or female, our first and, by far, most important guideline was to make them believable. A believable character has to be multilayered - they need to have their own emotions, motivations and character. And, I think, this is why Wild Hunt fared so well in terms of player reception to the aspects of the game some might consider video game taboo. And I'm not only talking about how this process resonated with sexual content in the game, but also how we approached other mature themes, like alcoholism. Take the Bloody Baron. At first, when you meet him, he seems like a pretty archetypical bad guy, but once you get to know him, see how he connected with Ciri and get to know his story, you start seeing how multi-dimensional he is. We consider this sort of writing something that elevates the genre a bit and paves way for even more difficult mature themes to appear in video games.

The Witcher 3 patch 1.11 is out now on PC and Xbox One. The patch for PS4 will be later. The list of changes is too long to list, so here is a link to the PDF with the information.

Last week Redbull interviewed CD Project Red's senior art producer Michał Krzemiński about the The Witcher 3 expansion Hearts of Stone.

Was there any feedback about the gameplay and quests in the main game that tailored how you designed Hearts of Stone?

The feedback from Wild Hunt we receive on forums or social media is, where applicable, being introduced to the game itself. A good example of this is the game's GUI [graphical user interface], which we changed (adjusted the size) according to what gamers told us would be optimal. It would be unfair to introduce these changes with HoS only, as we do continue to support Wild Hunt, even if you choose not to buy the expansions. Also, remember that the expansion was planned well before the launch of the main game – we started work on it when we finished Wild Hunt, and that's too little time to change anything significant.

 

Tell us what's the process is for an expansion at CD Projekt Red. Does the team actually get a break any more after the game’s release?

It's very fluid. In a nutshell, as various teams wrap up with their stuff for Wild Hunt, after a much-needed break they start working on the expansion. However, this doesn't mean the whole studio went for a month of leave after we launched Wild Hunt. Many teams end their work well before the game ships. For instance, the writers and localisation team need to wrap-up first, as dialogue needs to be recorded into many different languages, and that takes a lot of time. Their work gets finalised first so, say, a joke in the game can be really funny instead of being a Siri-sounalike voiced by two grayboxes.

Other teams work on other stuff and then move to other aspects of the game as it nears completion. That's why it's so hard to pinpoint the exact moment the entire studio started working on Hearts of Stone. The core of the work, however, was started after we shipped Wild Hunt. Hearts is really massive, and I'm really hyped that gamers are soon going to get the expansion in their hands. As for Blood and Wine [the second major expansion for the game], yeah, it's being worked on, but it's still pretty early for details.

Thanks Eye.

The Witcher 3 devs are proud of their game and had a lot of fun making it:

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Listen to CD PROJEKT RED developers talk about The Witcher, the studio’s DLC philosophy, and Hearts of Stone -- the just-released expansion to the winner of over 200 awards, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Three more Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone reviews:

Kotaku:

With Hearts of Stone, The Witcher 3 Continues To Get DLC Very Right

A month or so ago, I would’ve told you I was done playing The Witcher 3. Turns out that’s not the case.

This week, The Witcher 3’s first paid downloadable expansion, Hearts of Stone, came out. While CD Projekt Red already demonstrated their ability to confidently expand The Witcher 3 with those 16 pieces of mostly terrific (and more importantly, free) DLC, Hearts of Stone is their first proper paid expansion. I’ve played six or so hours, and while that hasn’t been enough to finish—or even come close? I can’t quite tell how far I am—I’ve easily seen enough to recommend it.

[...]

Given how good most of The Witcher 3’s free DLC was, it shouldn’t come as a shock that the first paid expansion is similarly high-quality. All the same, I wasn’t expecting to like Hearts of Stone quite as much as I do. Hearts of Stone does precisely what a good expansion should: It gives us more of what we liked about the original game while expanding on it in interesting ways.

Metro:

The Witcher 3: Hearts Of Stone review – rock solid

The first story DLC for The Witcher 3 offers an amusing change of pace and some of the best storytelling in the whole series.

Before the release of The Witcher 3, developer CD Projekt RED got themselves into gamers’ good books by announcing plans for a string of completely free DLC. They delivered too, and although all of it was pretty minor stuff it painted a picture of a company that was genuinely grateful to its fans and wanted to please them. That didn’t mean there wasn’t going to be paid-for DLC as well, but this much larger expansion still shows a generosity of effort, and pricing, that other companies would do well to emulate.

Two story expansions are planned for The Witcher 3; the second due in the spring will be slightly bigger and yet this one will still last you a good 10 hours in terms of the story and at least twice that when it comes to all the side quests. Sensibly though, there is no attempt to out-epic the parent game and although there’s plenty of drama to be had the whole experience has a noticeably lighter tone to it.

It doesn’t go as far as some BioWare DLC, but Hearts Of Stone is much funnier than almost anything in the main game – with a particularly memorable wedding sequence that is sharply written, genuinely amusing, and has an inspired excuse for ensuring protagonist Geralt is in on the joke. The expansion is by no means all played for laughs though, and the tragedy of one of the new main characters is actually very depressing once you think it all through.

[...]

In Short: Some of the best storytelling so far in the series, and some inspired set pieces, but the chance to refine the gameplay has been sadly missed.

Pros: Excellent script with some surprising tonal shifts and good voice-acting. Lots of content for a very reasonable price.

Cons: No significant gameplay changes, which is a particular shame when it comes to the combat. Only minor increases to the size of the game world and menagerie of enemies.

Score: 8/10

Stuff TV:

The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt - Expansion 1: Hearts of Stone review

The Witcher 3 is many things: bloody, brutal and totally brilliant. With up to 200 hours of epic gameplay, the outstanding action RPG is certainly not brief. And there’s even more of it to come.

Having already announced 13 pieces of Witcher 3 DLC for free, CD Projekt RED has now released the Hearts of Stone (HoS) expansion. It’s the first of two self-contained new adventures from the Polish developer with the ominously-titled Blood & Wine set to follow next year. Much to our delight, HoS seems to be a considerably more cheeky affair.
Trio of intrigue

It’s difficult to discuss the main quest-line of HoS without giving away its many red herrings and twists, so we’ll try and avoid spoilers here. Essentially, the expansion revolves around a trio of characters, some of whom you’ll already be familiar with.

The story is kicked off Olgierd Von Everic, a powerful, cultured yet fickle David Beckham-alike who you will quickly love to hate, or hate to love. Inseparably tied into Olgierd’s fate is a familiar, minor face from the first hour of the core game - one you and protagonist Geralt might not remember at first glance - and who exudes even more mystery and fickle power. Another key figure from Geralt’s distant past (and the original Witcher game) also crops back up in the form of the young medic Shani.

All three characters are utterly captivating in terms of their snappy dialogue, convincing ‘acting’, and the way the quests delve thoroughly into their backstories and motivations. They’ll make you feel utterly entrenched in a grimy world with tricks up its sleeve that even take the seasoned Geralt by surprise. Both Olgierd and he-who-I-shall-not-name are two of the best characters in the whole series and one of my few complaints is that they’ll probably be constrained to this little slice of the universe.

[...]

Witcher 3: Heart of Stone Verdict

Whether what you call it matters is another issue. In terms of pure value for money, which is always paramount with expansion packs, HoS probably represents an average of 8-12 hours (assuming you don’t rush through and do the main side-quests) which equates to less than a pound per hour of excellent gameplay.

If you’re already a big Witcher fan this is an absolute no brainer, and even if you thought you were quite happily done with the game, it’s worth the asking price just to steam though the main story in order to experience some of the best, most unusual characters, writing and quests in the series yet.

Eye spotted two reviews for the Witcher 3 Expansion Hearts of Stone:

The Escapist:

The Witcher 3 - Hearts of Stone Review - Storytelling Excellence

Hearts of Stone is CD Projekt Red's first paid expansion for The Witcher 3. Except, it isn't really an "expansion". In gaming, the word expansion conjures up images of huge packs of additional content, that often drastically changes the playstyle, or bring with it an entirely new experience. I think of Heart of the Swarm for Starcraft II, or Throne of Bhaal for Baldur's Gate. Hearts of Stone on the other hand, is best compared to the DLC "episodes" of games like Fallout 3 and Borderlands - a short, self-contained adventure that simply takes place within the original game's world. But please do not take this semantics discussion as a negative, for Hearts of Stone, despite not really being an expansion, is most definitely worth the price of admission. [...]

Bottom Line: Hearts of Stone, despite not really adding that much new "stuff", tells an amazing, engaging story that is worthy of the $10 price tag. While The Wild Hunt was the conclusion to an epic, climactic saga, Hearts of Stone is simply another story in the life of Witcher Geralt.

Recommendation: If you're looking for an expansion of The Wild Hunt, you won't find it here, but if you are just looking for another bite of CD Projekt Red's incredible world-building and character development, then Hearts of Stone is for you.

Score 4.5/5

Polygon:

Witcher 3's first expansion isn't terrible or great, and that's the problem

"Hearts of Stone," the first actual "expansion" style DLC for The Witcher 3, is difficult to write about, because your interest in it is going to be based entirely on how much you want more Witcher 3. Because as much as any singleplayer DLC release I've played in as long as I can remember, "Hearts of Stone" is very much more of what the base game is already full of.

In a move that almost felt geared toward me as someone who no longer has a Witcher 3 save, "Hearts of Stone" can both fold into your existing game or be played completely independently, with a new Geralt pre-leveled to 30 with decent gear to start. The DLC gets things moving quickly, introducing a new set of characters that quickly sweep Geralt into a supernatural feud involving powerful forces and the quintessentially flawed human element that's become a kind of trademark for developer CDProjekt.

[...]

Here's the thing: There's already an enormous amount of that in The Witcher 3 proper. It's not a game light on content by any definition, and my time with "Hearts of Stone" doesn't put it near the top of the game's best-of list. If you've absolutely exhausted The Witcher 3 and want more, then "Hearts of Stone" is definitely that. But most of the way through the story, I don't feel especially compelled to play more.

Matthew Jarvis (MCV) takes a look at the success story of CD Project Red together with visual effect artist Jose Teixeira:

'We're ready to move on': CD Projekt Red on The Witcher, Hearts of Stone and Cyberpunk 2077

In 1986, Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski entered a short story titled Wiedzmin (‘The Witcher’) into a competition in the local magazine Fantastyka. It won third place.

29 years later, on May 19th 2015, the third in The Witcher series of video games was released. It sold six million copies in its first six weeks on sale and became the biggest game launch of the year at that time.

It was quite the achievement for the sprawling fantasy world that Sapkowski had created almost three decades prior. It was equally the accomplishment for CD Projekt Red, the Warsaw-based studio formed in 2002 that first brought the tale of titular monster hunter Geralt to virtual life in 2007.

The Witcher wasn’t always destined to become one of gaming’s greatest RPG franchises. 

[...]

For CD Projekt, it wasn’t enough. It knew The Witcher deserved mainstream attention and, earlier this year, it was proved right.

“Witcher 1 and 2 were popular, but were still niche,” recalls visual effects artist Jose Teixeira. “We were hoping Witcher 3 would do well and were so happy that fans, for the lack of a better term, ‘got it’.”

The Witcher stands out as a shiny silver sword among a market saturated by muted gunmetal. It’s in many ways the antithesis to what many assume to be the core elements of mainstream hits; it has no multiplayer, a story that stretches gameplay time into the dozens or even hundreds of hours, complex sword-based combat and layered dialogue exchanges.

“This wasn’t about capturing objective Alpha, Bravo, Charlie or Delta before something explodes,” explains Teixeira. “It’s a single player experience – you enjoy the game. It’s exceptionally well-written; you get to know the characters, you get to know the story.

“A fan once said that the reason The Witcher is so interesting is that it’s neither an American RPG, which tend to be more action-orientated and in which the morality of choices is often very black or white, or a Japanese RPG, which have their own distinct art styles, story structures and types. It’s somewhere in-between. It’s neither one nor the other; it brings something totally different.

“We are still amazed at how many people played The Witcher 3, because it’s a game style that is usually reserved for hardcore audiences. People actually loved it, especially more in the casual audience, which we’re really impressed with.”

“In the beginning, it was all about PC,” Teixeira says of The Witcher’s beginnings as a single-platform IP.

Following a failed attempt to create a console port of The Witcher in 2009, a deal with Microsoft saw the franchise brought to console in 2011, with The Witcher 2 landing on Xbox 360. The Witcher 3 completed the series’ expansion, hitting PS4, Xbox One and PC.

“Naturally, we wanted to get as many people playing as possible,” Teixeira explains.

“For The Witcher 3, it was this mood where the studio finally had enough people and technology to create the game for all three platforms. Previously, we just couldn’t spare the people. It was finally the first time we were able to get the game to everyone and no-one got left out. Of course, we love PC gamers, but we wanted to get it to everyone and let everyone have this experience.”

The Witcher’s roots on PC and among a hardcore audience could go some way to explaining its contrasting factors to the majority of games released today. Chief among these is the title’s truly epic scope, requiring hundreds of hours of gameplay to see every corner of the world. Yet this time investment didn’t deter the millions of consumers who have picked up the game. 

“If anything, The Witcher 3 proved the point that players are more interested in longer games,” argues Teixeira.

“Now, especially, you hear so many people talking about how the triple-A games industry is there and nobody wants that experience anymore, and here you go – a nice, well-written single-player experience. There’s no multiplayer, there’s no microtransactions; you get a game, you play the game and enjoy the game, and it’s a great success.”

The scale of The Witcher 3 has been made even grander with a variety of extra content released over the last four months. The first of two planned major expansion packs, Hearts of Stone, landed this week. Containing a level of content comparable to many standalone games, the £7.99 add-on stands out in a market flooded by single item micro-transactions.

“There’s definitely people asking for game expansions,” says Teixeira.

“We were very happy to prove that there is still a market for these types of things. Some of the comments we’ve had from players after playing the first expansion is ‘you guys totally broke the system – you’ve just released something that has more content than many full triple-A titled releases for a fraction of the price. It’s crazy.’

“We want to make sure everyone gets their money’s worth. This is an expansion, after all, so it’s fairly priced. That’s one thing that we are very adamant about: making sure everyone feels their money’s well spent.

“Having expansions is very old-school. It’s very rare to see, which is sad. If it’s good, it’s worthwhile and it has an interesting story, why not do it? It only adds even more good to an already good thing.”

The Witcher 3 is the keystone in the foundation CD Projekt built its castle upon back in 2007. Although the franchise was popular before, Wild Hunt has taken the series to completely new heights – this applies to its literary source material, too.

“Before, there were some hardcore fans who read the books out in the West, but very few,” observes Teixeira.

“The Witcher 3 really opened up the floodgates. In a way, Sapkowski’s benefits are from the success of The Witcher 3 and the other games. He benefits from the mass appeal of the games, because a lot of people have opened up to his books. We’re very happy it worked both ways; the hardcore fans made the game possible, and now the game has brought fans to the books.”

CD Projekt may be leaving The Witcher behind (See ‘Cyber Excitement’), but the fantasy world remains. So where does The Witcher universe go from here?

“I have no idea,” Teixeira admits.

“We’re very happy with the way it ended. The Witcher 3 is really the game that CD Projekt always wanted to make and we’re happy that people were positive about it.

[...]

CD Projekt Red has already revealed its next ambitious project after The Witcher 3.

Titled Cyberpunk 2077, it’s another adaptation – this time, of the Cyberpunk series of tabletop role-playing games.

Set in a sci-fi world akin to Blade Runner, it’s a far cry from the swords and dragons of The Witcher. But the games may be more closely linked than it may first appear.

“Cyberpunk 2077 is a totally different style,” details CD Projekt Red visual effects artist Jose Teixeira. “In a way, The Witcher helped Cyberpunk quite a bit, because the game got so big and so complex that it really taught us.

“Cyberpunk is far bigger than anything else that we have done before. Far, far bigger. We’re really stepping into the unknown in terms of complexity and size and problems we encounter. We really didn’t know what was going to happen.

“It’s going to be a lot more dense. For The Witcher, I had the clouds, the rain, the petals of flowers and things like that. Cyberpunk is going to be everything; it’s going to be explosions and fire and lighting effects and everything happening all at the same time. It’s going to be a mess of effects.

“I’m very much looking forwards to it. It’s going to be a challenge. Our ambitions and expectations about the amount of visual information on-screen at any given time is going to be pretty brutal.”

Henrique spotted this Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone review at PC Gamer:

Since The Wild Hunt’s grand finale, I like to imagine Geralt has been pottering around Kaer Morhen, taking long baths, sharpening his swords and keeping his nose out of the toxic Novigrad Gwent scene. I haven’t touched the game for a while, but when I emerged into the Northern Realms for the first time in months a melancholy mood descended. The people I met and loved in the last adventure are getting on with their lives. Returning to The Witcher 3 is kinda sad for this reason, but in a lovely way. It’s a reminder how powerful the game’s narrative high notes were.

What better way to reacquaint with pastoral Velen than a good old-fashioned monster contract? That’s how Hearts of Stone starts, with a seemingly routine appointment at the home of one Olgierd von Everec, a slightly dandyish cutthroat with a thing for imperfect sculpture. Soon enough Geralt is roaming the sewers beneath Oxenfurt, cutting through hoards of level 30 drowners and happening upon… well, it’s no secret really: you meet with Shani, a medic, scholar and love interest from the original Witcher. Olgierd von Everec wants you to slay whatever’s lurking in the sewers and, once you do, a whole new problem emerges: that beast was prince to a mysterious organisation called the Ofieris, who are not at all happy with your actions. Before you can Igni them to ash they’ve captured you.

Those unfortunate events send Geralt haplessly towards the crux of the Hearts of Stone campaign: Gaunter O’Dimm (or the Merchant of Mirrors) helps you escape the Ofieris, but he’s none too happy with your taskmaster. Due to some arcane high fantasy reasoning though, the dubious O’Dimm is still bound to fulfil three duties for Olgierd and, well, that’s what you’re doing—helping him perform those three tasks or, as it turns out, doing them for him.

[...]

The Witcher 3 has an unusual problem to overcome: in a game with an abundance of sidequests most players will never experience, what’s the appeal of this particular one? I hear these concerns, and felt them going into Hearts of Stone. I enjoyed the 12+ hours I spent with the von Everec saga, though it did serve to reinforce some awkward truths about the core game, namely, that the combat and character progression really needs the epic scope of a 100 hour campaign to sustain them. Oh, and there really is a lot of running back and forth in this game, isn’t there? As a new self-contained saga though, Heart of Stones is unparalleled RPG storytelling. Just make sure you bring an investment in the fantasy.

Score: 82

A satisfying, self-contained adventure that plays to the series' strengths, but doesn't add anything novel outside of its storytelling.

Brenna Hillier (VG24/7) recommends the new Witcher 3 expansion Hearts of Stone:

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone may be better than Wild Hunt

If you liked The Witcher 3, come on in to Hearts of Stone: the water’s fine.

If you finished The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and thought to yourself “Dang, I wish there were more games like that,” then Hearts of Stone is here to save the day. It’s more than just a game like that, it’s more of the same game.

Except for the fact that Geralt’s not constantly under a cloud due to the looming end of the world, Hearts of Stone feels of a piece with Wild Hunt. That’s not to say it feels like a missing piece, something that ought to have been in the main storyline from the get-go; it is entirely discrete, telling a self-contained story with few ties to the rest of the game’s content.

But despite its standalone nature, it’s very much embedded in the world. The quality of the storytelling and mission design ranks alongside that of the main game. At no point do you feel like you’re playing something developed by anybody other than the original creators. The same loving fingerprints are all over it. Every time somebody made a reference to someone else having a stick up their arse, it was like coming home.

This is an elegant and unusual feat, and speaks well of CD Projekt RED’s development approach and project management, but it’s doubly impressive in that it manages not to be boring. Too many expansions and DLC packs add in more of the same, with the unfortunate consequence of making you realise you didn’t want it. You didn’t want to tick off another 45 fetch quests or collect another 150 figurines. Too many add-ons just feel like padding, filler content, non-essential, missable; an invitation to keep playing, without providing any motivation to do so.

I never stopped wanting to play Hearts of Stone. At no point did it stop pulling me along, seducing me into pushing on to see the next set piece, face the next challenge, solve the next puzzle. Although the mystery at the heart of the story is only shallowly buried, it remains a pleasure to dig up. If you are the kind who listens closely and pores over optional materials, you’ll likely be even more intrigued by the tangled flurry of plots and subplots that Geralt navigates, either subtly and with cunning or with the slicing edge of a blade. [...]

We were send a press release from CD PRoject RED for the Hearts of Stone expansion for The Witcher 3, which has a remarkable sentence about the next expansion Blood and Wine. This was originally set for release in the first quarter of 2016, but is now set for the first half of that year.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Hearts of Stone Expansion Out Now!

CD PROJEKT RED, creators of The Witcher series of games, announce the release of Hearts of Stone, the highly anticipated expansion to The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

Hearts of Stone will take Geralt on an all-new adventure into the wilds of No Man's Land and the nooks and alleys of Oxenfurt, where he'll try to complete a contract from the mysterious Man of Glass. Caught in a thick tangle of deceit, Geralt will need all his cunning and strength to solve the mystery and emerge unscathed.

Available now on Xbox One, PC, and PlayStation 4, Hearts of Stone brings over 10 hours of new adventures and introduces new characters, powerful monsters, unique romance, and a brand new storyline shaped by gamer choices.

Visit buy.thewitcher.com for details on how to obtain the expansion.

Also available, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Expansion Pass

The Expansion Pass secures your access to two epic adventures set in the vibrant world of monster hunter Geralt of Rivia.

Along with Hearts of Stone, the Expansion Pass contains Blood and Wine -- a 20-hour tale that will introduce the all-new in-game region of Toussaint and will take Geralt to a land untainted by war, where an atmosphere of carefree indulgence and knightly ritual masks an ancient, bloody secret.

Blood and Wine is slated for release in the first half of 2016.

Here are a couple of reviews that Eye has found.

Venturebeat, 88/100

Hearts of Stone is a collection of some of the best quests The Witcher 3 has to offer. Its story is cohesive; its characters are worth meeting; and the thematic diversity is worth seeing. If you’ve already beaten the original experience, these quests are worth checking out. If you haven’t, make these quests a top priority.

They feature some of the best writing in fantasy games, period, and make the expansion more than a worthy addition to one of the best releases of the year.

Gametrailers has a 5 minute video review.

Gamesradar, 4.5/5

It's a testament to how good The Witcher's world, characters, and stories are that all of these issues - especially the combat, which is a core pillar of its gameplay - are worth dealing with to experience. While Hearts of Stone doesn't fix Wild Hunt's biggest problems, it provides a hell of a reason to hop back into this perpetual short story machine. It's the video game equivalent of a novella, fleshing out a little bit more of this fascinating world and the people who inhabit it by providing more of the superb storytelling we've come to expect from CD Projekt Red.

IB Times reports about the bugs and problems that come with Witcher 3 patch 1.10 and some possible fixes:

The Witcher 3: Full list of bugs, problems and fixes after patch 1.10

Developer, CD Projekt RED recently released a new patch 1.10 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but sadly, the patch has been noted to have "major/minor bugs" according to Reddit thread. The launch of the new patch has not been smooth for the developers.

Several players have faced errors and freezing issues, with many forced to quit the game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released on 19 May, 2015 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

Below are the bugs that have been listed on the Reddit thread:

• Completed quests are marked as failed.
• Minor UI bug in settings menu that some strings of text do not appear.
• Found on the armourer dismantle Tab that no stats are displayed for selected items.
• Noticed a new problem - some of my non-set items become very high level (71-80), before 1.10 they was 60-70.
• The quest Scavenger Hunt Wolf School Gear Upgrade Diagrams - Part 1 is bugged. Chests are there, Wolf markings are on the walls but can't open them. Maybe it's happening with another set quests. Also the objectives duplicate in the quest log, simply 1 says complete the other is not.
• In DLC quest Where the Cat and the Wolf Play, the girl's footprints end where they begin, even after you pick the doll. The prints are missing therefore I can't continue the quest because the girl does not "spawn."
• HUD Toggle (listed in patch notes) does not appear to be implemented. The promised markers for missing gwent cards don't appear for me (Xbox ONE).
• I've got an oddly specific bug, in gwent, ending the first game in a draw disables my left mouse button in the subsequent "card swap segment."
• Achievements on Galaxy still not working. I've just tried getting "Killed it", wouldn't work. Other achievements haven't been activated retroactively (e.g. Dendrologist, Gwent Master, Munchkin).
• Yennefer is missing from the game. She's present in cutscenes, but outside of them she's just gone (no model, no sound, no sign of her where she's supposed to be). Probably has something to do with all this DLC related bugs and with the fact that I never had Yen's alternate look DLC installed. Triss and Ciri show up fine (never had their DLCs installed too).
• Just updated and i still can't complete the nobleman and soldier statuette. I'm coming from a fresh install. Triss just sands there after getting to the bits from dandelion's inn.
• I got to the end of "Where the Cat and Wolf Play.." and the other Witcher is completely frozen when I enter combat with him.
• The resolution bug: Going from a higher resolution (4K) to a lower one (1440P) will make the screen difference between the two "black" so you are playing only in a small quarter of the screen. Fixed by saving settings and running the game again.
• A weird mouse bug in the menu, where If I hover the mouse in upper-middle of the screen vertically It will switch between tabs/modules.
• NG+ entered combat in the sewer under the Rosa Var Attre house in Novigrad. Ran from the water hag. Combat music wouldn't end, people would run away from me in the city. Went back killed the water hag, this happened (combat music then ended and everything back to normal).
• I've just installed (on Xbox One) and aren't getting any quest markers on the world map if it's outside the region I'm in. i.e. if I'm in Novigrad and have a quest in Skellige selected, if I go onto the map for Skellige no quest markers appear.
• I have random visual bug after patch 1.10. In legs Geralt has red box. Update: Problem is with Nilfgaardian Gloves. When u wear them, then red box appear. It must be problem with DLC's then. [This might have been fixed by a hotfix].
• When starting NG+, some potions/oils duplicate. I have both superior tawny oil and the regular one at the same time.
• I have encountered another thing, Shadow's seem A LOT worse even on the highest settings.
• Character is floating above the ground in a crouch position. It started on the 2nd floor of the Witcher hunter barracks.
• Steam version: All the icons keep completely disappearing on every item in the game, both in loot windows and in my inventory. There's a colour stripe indicating the items quality where the picture should be but no actual icon there.
• On PC, if you have both delusion and puppet skills equipped, the alternate Axii skill casting is VERY buggy. You can hold down the cast button, but it will only cast puppet about 30-40% of the time.
• Several players have reported that after leaving a conversation, world becomes blurred for a short period of time.
• In Xbox One consoles, Merchants - pressing left trigger to compare items no longer works on armour and saddles in shop inventory.
• Skellige's Most Wanted is still bugged on PS4 in 1.10 (Werewolf won't die).
• After starting 'Little Red', and talking to the main bandit, when the cutscene ended and switched to battle, the game froze, and I had to force quit.
• After the 1.10 patch, my screensaver kicks in and takes focus from the game after the allotted time if I go AFK.It's not that big a deal to move the mouse and select resume, but this is definitely something different.

Here are possible fixes if the players are unable to run the game on Steam:

 

• Go to your Witcher 3 directory, search for the "vcredist.exe"(usually found in The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt__redistMSVC2012_x64), launch it, and select repair.
• Delete "d3d11.dll" and "dxgi.dll" in The Witcher 3 Wild Huntbinx64. Advisable to cut these files and paste them into a backup folder in case something goes wrong.

Meanwhile, Vinthir, a developer from CD Projekt RED posted in the forums that they have released a hotfix for Steam and it will follow shortly for the PC platforms. [...]

IGN reviewed the Witcher 3 expansion Hearts of Stone:

A lengthy adventure that bares the heart of the wolf.

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone introduces its intriguing antagonist Olgierd von Everec by having him insightfully critique a stone sculpture of a famous artist, only to tip it over and watch it shatter to pieces. It’s a great introduction to a great character, but it also serves as a thematic jumping-off point for this excellent DLC chapter. Hearts of Stone is about taking the stoic, stone-like wall Geralt has always presented to his compatriots and to us, and bringing it crumbling down. The result is a Geralt quite unlike the one we’re used to, and one of the warmest, most human story threads in all of the Witcher 3. [...]

The Verdict

The story in Hearts of Stone alone would make it worth getting, but it succeeds on other levels as well. The fun new enemies and bosses, along with the customization potential of Runewords make Hearts of Stone a very well-rounded package that shouldn’t be skipped.

Score: Amazing

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone wraps an interesting story and great gameplay additions into one well-rounded expansion.

    + Great characters
    + New side of Geralt
    + Runewords
    + Enjoyable fights

    – Few new assets

Gamespot reviewed the first paid expansion for The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone:

A motley crew.

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone is at once a horror story, a romance, a character study, and a classic fairy tale. And somehow, these disparate parts mesh to form a cohesive whole.

This is CD Projekt Red's first paid expansion for its masterful RPG, and it fits seamlessly into Geralt's narrative. Although it's meant for late-game characters around level 30, it's available at any point in your playthrough. And like many experiences in The Witcher 3, the expansion's main draw is its twisting storylines and vivid inhabitants.

It's difficult to talk about these elements without ruining the experience as a whole. CD Projekt Red presents its own dark take on weddings, haunted houses, and the story of the prince and the frog. Quests never resolved how I expected them to, and seldom how I hoped. They even ventured into metaphysical environments, and gorgeous as they were, there's a haunting presence to them. Hearts of Stone runs the gamut of fantasy tropes, but subverts every one. It's this willingness to take successful risks that sets these quests, and the story they compose, apart.

Many of these storylines trace back to one man: Gaunter O'Dimm. Geralt calls him the Merchant of Mirrors. Others know him as the Man of Glass. He's a character who makes you feel uneasy with a glance and, even when he seemed relaxed, I always had my thumb hovering over the attack button. You get the sense he knows far more than he lets on. Hearts of Stone paints him in a complex fashion, melding his odd behavior with a strange charm, thereby creating someone who doesn't fit any archetype.

[...]

For all of its storylines, and all of its varied combat, Hearts of Stone houses deeper themes. Matters of regret, apathy, death, and the passage of time pervade every character's motivations. One woman laments the monster her husband turned out to be. "I've stopped wondering what you feel about me anymore," she says. "I don't feel anything," he replies. And in an intimate moment between Shani and Geralt, the former asks the Witcher if he worries about never falling in love. The response is up to you.

This thematic pulse elevates an already great batch of content. Hearts of Stone feels just as much a part of the narrative as any of the main game's quest lines, but stands on its own as a memorable adventure. It may have its negative moments and the pacing may be broken at certain intervals, but The Witcher 3's first paid expansion is well worth the return to the Northern Kingdoms.

There's a point when a character whistles the boss fight music. And just when you're sure one such encounter is coming, he walks away to that haunting tune, without so much as a fistfight. This is what Hearts of Stone does best. It takes our expectations and runs with them.

The Good:

• Clever dialogue and cinematic storytelling
• Shani is a bright point among a cast of vibrant characters
• In combat and out, the quests are engrossing
• Deeper themes permeate character actions and plot points

The Bad:

• Obtrusive mini-game and detective sections

Score: 9/10 - Superb

Here is the launch trailer for the Hearts of Stone DLC for The Witcher 3.

Step again into the shoes of Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster slayer, this time hired to defeat a ruthless bandit captain, Olgierd von Everec, a man who possesses the power of immortality. The expansion lets you choose your own way through an adventure that includes recruiting a crew of break-in artists, spending a night partying with a ghost and outsmarting the most bizarre creatures Geralt has ever faced.

Launching October 13th, 2015, Hearts of Stone packs over 10 hours of new adventures and introduces new characters, powerful monsters, unique romance, and a brand new storyline shaped by gamer choices. The expansion also introduces a brand new system of Runewords that significantly affects gameplay. Each Runeword will impact a different aspect of in-game mechanics and will allow the players to experiment with various strategies and tactics.

We received some screenshots and a video for The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone.

Eye also located this article about why Gamespot's Mike Mahardy can't wait for it.

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone is full of varied quests to follow, and striking characters to meet. There's so much I can't share, but only because the expansion is so story driven, and laced with powerful moments throughout my two hours. It's also well paced, a facet that's hard to come by in an open-world RPG, wherein players have every chance to venture off the beaten path. There's no shortage of promising games releasing this fall. But judging by the time I spent with it, Hearts of Stone deserves just as much attention on October 13.

Gamespot informs us that the development and marketing of The Witcher 3 has cost $81 million.

CD Projekt Red has announced exactly how much money it spent to make the celebrated open-world role-playing game, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Speaking during CD Projekt Red's latest financial briefing, the English translation of which was published today, CEO Adam Kicinski revealed the game's total budget--including development and marketing costs--as 306 million złoty or about $81 million USD.

lso during his presentation, Kicinski says CD Projekt Red conducted 40 different marketing campaigns in parallel for The Witcher 3. He described this as a "daunting task," noting that the region-specific marketing campaigns were accompanied by a global campaign, too.

Kicinski also revealed that The Witcher 3 was developed over the course of 3.5 years by a team of professionals that "know how to develop games efficiently." A total of 240 in-house staff worked on The Witcher 3 (most were Polish, but a "considerable" number were foreigners), while 1,500 people in all around the world were involved in the game's production.

Thanks lostforever

The Heart of Stone expansion for The Witcher 3 will be available on the 13th of October and there is also a boxed version of Gwent coming.

Step once again into the shoes of Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster slayer, now hired to defeat a ruthless bandit captain, Olgierd von Everec, a man who possesses the power of immortality. The expansion lets you choose your own path through an experience that includes recruiting a crew of break-in artists, spending a night partying with a ghost and outsmarting the most bizarre creatures Geralt has ever faced.

Launching October 13th, 2015, Hearts of Stone packs over 10 hours of new adventures that introduces new characters, powerful monsters, unique romance, and a brand new storyline shaped by player choices. The expansion also introduces a brand-new system of Runewords that significantly affects gameplay. Each Runeword will impact different aspects of in-game mechanics, allowing players to experiment with various strategies and tactics.

Along with the digital release, gamers will also be able to purchase a special, limited boxed edition of Hearts of Stone (SRP $19.99) available at selected retailers worldwide. The box contains a digital download code for the expansion, two masterfully crafted physical decks of Gwent, the card game set in the world of The Witcher, as well as a detailed manual explaining the rules. With two unique sets of cards, Monsters and Scoia'tael ready to go, you and your friends can now engage in tactical combat on a grand scale outside of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt!

The studio launched a special initiative for owners of the digital Expansion Pass that will enable them to purchase the cards separately. All information about the initiative can be found at redeemgwent.com.

If you don't have it yet, you can get The Witcher 3 with a 30% discount now at Good Old Games. You can get The Witcher Enhanced Edition, The Witcher 2 and The Witcher Adventure Game, with discounts up to 85% (depending on the game).

If you want to learn a bit more about The Witcher 3 from the devs, you can watch this video from PAX Prime in which they talk about it.

Furthermore if you want to read a lengthy fictional article on what The Witcher 4 can be like (a game that is likely not to be made), you can check out this 3 part editorial at Nerd Rock from the Sun.

Thanks Couch.

At Gearnuke, Eye spotted this bit of information on the artwork for the upcoming two expansions for The Witcher 3.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s latest expansion is Hearts of Stone. It is currently planned for a release this October and will take atleast 10 hours of gameplay to finish.

In their financial report detailing the budget and sales of the game, CD Project Red also revealed the official artwork for the two expansions that will be released in the future. You can check out the artwork below.

Here is the official description of each of the expansion.

Hearts of Stone will take Geralt on an all-new 10-hour adventure into the wilds of No Man’s Land and the nooks and alleys of Oxenfurt, where he’ll try to complete a contract from the mysterious Man of Glass. Caught in a thick tangle of deceit, Geralt will need all his cunning and strength to solve the mystery and emerge unscathed.

Blood and Wine, a 20-hour tale that will introduce the all-new in-game region of Toussaint, will take Geralt to a land untainted by war, where an atmosphere of carefree indulgence and knightly ritual masks an ancient, bloody secret.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Expansion  Pass will cost you $25 and contains both of these expansions.

Also Dualshockers suggests that Gwent might become available as a stand-alone game, in case that would be something you like.

Secondly, asked if CD Projekt would ever release a stand-alone version of the in-game collectible card game Gwent, Currit mentioned that he’d pass that request to the development team, but then he teased that there are “good news” coming for those who love Gwent.

Adam Badowski, head of the CD Project Red Studio has published an open letter about The Witcher 3.

Hey Gamers!

Time does fly! These few months since launch passed faster than you can say potestaquisitor. We've been hard at work delivering you new content, fixing what needed to be fixed, and secretly plotting how to rock this boat we call the RPG genre even more. We've just concluded our shareholder conference where we announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt family got a bit bigger -- we sold over 6 million copies of the game in six weeks since launch. Worry not, I won't discuss any financial stuff here. I would, however, like to give you some insight on what that means to us as game creators.

One could think we have six million reasons to be happy and that's it. We do, but that number is also a big responsibility and I want everyone to know that we, as a studio, realize that. For us, all your high praise, all the positive reviews, are also an obligation -- we've made a really good game but there's still a long road ahead of us. Everyone here in CD PROJEKT RED is really attached to their work and how you, the gamers, perceive it. RED is full of artists, wild dreamers and people crazy about what they do (and sometimes just plain crazy). We lose sleep over that particular color the sun has when it sets over Velen, and argue over arranging the furniture in a house the majority of gamers will probably never see. We're not the kind of people who are easily satisfied and we always strive for more. I'd like you to know that.

Yes, six million copies is a great achievement for a company making RPGs, but this business is not only about that. If our games are a gallery of sound, picture and text - you are the visitors of this gallery. To an artist, there's no sweeter sight than people enjoying their work. That's why, in the name of all the devs in the studio, I'd like to say thanks to each and every one of you.

Play it again Geralt - the Game+ DLC has been released.

Randolph Ramsay (Gamespot) interviewed CD Project Read about the upcoming mod-tools for The Witcher 3:

[...]

Let's go into some detail. What will players be able to do with the mod tools? Does it go beyond the cosmetic?

First of all, the modding tools we are releasing are not an editor. They’re meant for people who are somewhat experienced with modding software and are designed to make creating mods easier. They give access to game files and allow for easy extracting, compilation, and decompilation of resources. Beside visual changes, like modifying textures and models, they will allow to change UI assets and script files. The majority of gameplay-related mechanics are written in scripts. Having access to these scripts will allow to create even more ambitious and complex modifications. If you’re not a modder and you’re wondering about real life applications, in short, all this means that from now on, people will be able to put their own textures on models to make them feel more personal (or cool, or whatever they wish!), or, say, substitute Roach’s model with a unicorn (and ride it towards the setting sun). You will be able to use these mods when they get published. Also, we hope the community builds on these resources and, who knows, maybe some people who haven’t ever dreamt of modding will start doing so? There might be future devs among you!

Let's talk about how people will be able to share/access mods. How will they be able to do that? And why did you decide to do it in that way?

There are several places on the web gamers can access The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt mods. Nexus Mods is what we see as a very prolific community right now--you can download Wild Hunt mods from there already and we hope more will come after modders get to play with the tool.

[...]

CD Project Red has released Patch 1.08 for The Witcher 3:

The patch is now available and can be downloaded across all platforms. The update introduces many quest fixes as well as improvements in the gameplay mechanics. You can find the full list of changes below:

PERFORMANCE:

• Overall improvements to performance, including some issues that may have been caused by 1.07.

UI:

• [Japanese Only][PS4 Only] Fixes an issue where the background text of certain books would flicker.
• Fixes an issue where part of the Kaer Morhen map would not display properly.

GAMEPLAY:

• Fixes a rare issue where items would disappear from the stash.
• Fixes a very rare issue which would cause Geralt to get stuck when trying to run.
• The interaction pop-up will no longer appear on lootable objects that are empty.
• Fixes an occasional glitch in one of the dwarf combat animations.
• Heads chopped off during finishers will no longer disappear.
• "Players can perform a roll just before landing to significantly reduce the damage caused by falling.
• We've added a tutorial pop-up window explaining this to make it clearer."
• In patch 1.07, the level requirements for certain items were scaled up, leaving some players stuck with only unusable gear. With patch 1.08, we are introducing the Wolven Hour potion. This potion will be available in everyone's inventory once they install the patch. It will reduce level requirements on all gear for a period of one hour. This will give players time to level up or find alternative equipment using the gear that was available to them in patch 1.05 but became unusable after patch 1.07. After one hour, the potion's effects will cease and the requirements for all gear will revert to their original, pre-potion values.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to compare their items with ones sold by merchants.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Players will now be able to complete the Card Collector achievement.
• Achievements are now working properly again and will be unlocked if players meet their requirements after installing this patch (PC version).

GRAPHICS:

• Fixes an issue where interiors would sometimes not display properly on the minimap.
• Fixes an issue where certain world elements would sometimes be missing and noticeable visual glitches would be present while in Novigrad.

QUEST:

• Fixes an issue where players were unable to finish the "It Takes Three to Tango" quest, even though they had obtained wine at the Kingfisher.
• Fixes an issue where Geralt would sometimes die after traveling to Velen in the quest "Something Ends, Something Begins."
• The entrance to the area where the Sunstone is obtained will no longer be blocked off if the player exits it prematurely during "The Sunstone" quest.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to complete the "Get Junior" quest on certain occasions.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to finish the "Scavenger Hunt: Viper School Gear" quest due to a closed gate.
• Fixes an issue where some players were unable to investigate rooms during the "Family Matters" quest, effectively blocking their progression.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to finish the "Hey, You Wanna Look at my Stuff?" quest.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to talk to Roche during the "An Eye for an Eye" quest.
• Fixes an issue where Roche would stay at his camp instead of going to the Oxenfurt Bridge in the "Get Junior" quest.
• Fixes an issue where, under certain circumstances, Yennefer would not appear in Oxenfurt during the "The Great Escape" quest.
• Drowners will have a harder time killing Nidas during the "Black Pearl" quest.
• Fixes an issue which led to an infinite loading screen during the "To Bait a Forktail..." quest under certain circumstances.
• Fixes a rare issue where the basement was locked during the "King's Gambit" quest.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to free the merchant during the Person in Distress event in the Claywich area.
• The trolls at the Circle of Elements will no longer attack Geralt if he opts for a peaceful resolution.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to talk to Roche during the "Brothers in Arms" quest.
• Fixes an issue where Zoltan's card was unobtainable.

GENERAL:

• Preparatory features paving the way for the introduction of New Game + in the future.

Mark Walton (Ars Technica) reports how the the devs programmed the economy of The Witcher 3:

How The Witcher 3’s economy was saved by polynomial least squares

Amazingly, up until just a few months before release, the game didn't have an economy.

For a game as complex and as huge as The Witcher 3, it's hard to imagine one of its core gameplay elements—one that ties the entire game together—didn't actually exist until mere months before its release. And yet, according to senior gameplay designer Matthew Steinke speaking at GDC Europe, that's exactly what happened with The Witcher 3's economy, crafting, and inventory systems. These three core elements of the game were "fragmented and incomplete" to the point that "there was no time left in the project to accomplish everything by the deadline."

But as is so often the case, a complex task and a rapidly looming deadline can lead to some great innovations. For Steinke and The Witcher 3, that meant coming up with an entirely new way to create and maintain an in-game economy; one that was reactive to the player and the world around it. Steinke started with the basics, noting that The Witcher 3's economy is based around money, or rather the concept that money is simply anything in the game that can be traded for something else.

"I had specific goals for the economy," said Steinke. "I wanted players to need money for purchasing food, ingredients, and upgrades, to explore the world around them for new items, earning money from combat, and collecting loot along the way. I wanted them to buy better items to improve their stats. Additionally, I wanted these items to cost more, so that players felt like they were earning lots of money by the end of the game. To visualise these goals, I sketched out a higher-level state diagram to illustrate the system interactions. Defining system interactions in this way, it's easy to see what kind of relationships created between the player and the economy."

Steinke's simple diagram (pictured below), which outlined the flow of money from one area of the game to the other, proved useful for mapping out potential gameplay paths. For instance, one of Steinke's goals was to have the player explore the world for new items. The economy facilitates this by providing loot from fights and random containers scattered throughout The Witcher 3's open world. Players can then use those items as cash to buy other items like better swords and armour from merchants without having to go out and find them.

[...]

CD Project Red released a list of changes coming with patch 1.08:

The next patch will be arriving quite soon. Please check the list of changes below.

PERFORMANCE:

• Overall improvements to performance, including some issues that may have been caused by 1.07.

UI:

• [Japanese Only][PS4 Only] Fixes an issue where the background text of certain books would flicker.
• Fixes an issue where part of the Kaer Morhen map would not display properly.

GAMEPLAY:

• Fixes a rare issue where items would disappear from the stash.
• Fixes a very rare issue which would cause Geralt to get stuck when trying to run.
• The interaction pop-up will no longer appear on lootable objects that are empty.
• Fixes an occasional glitch in one of the dwarf combat animations.
• Heads chopped off during finishers will no longer disappear.
• "Players can perform a roll just before landing to significantly reduce the damage caused by falling.
• We've added a tutorial pop-up window explaining this to make it clearer."
• In patch 1.07, the level requirements for certain items were scaled up, leaving some players stuck with only unusable gear. With patch 1.08, we are introducing the Wolven Hour potion. This potion will be available in everyone's inventory once they install the patch. It will reduce level requirements on all gear for a period of one hour. This will give players time to level up or find alternative equipment using the gear that was available to them in patch 1.05 but became unusable after patch 1.07. After one hour, the potion's effects will cease and the requirements for all gear will revert to their original, pre-potion values.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to compare their items with ones sold by merchants.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

• Players will now be able to complete the Card Collector achievement.
• Achievements are now working properly again and will be unlocked if players meet their requirements after installing this patch (PC version).

GRAPHICS:

• Fixes an issue where interiors would sometimes not display properly on the minimap.
• Fixes an issue where certain world elements would sometimes be missing and noticeable visual glitches would be present while in Novigrad.

QUEST:

• Fixes an issue where players were unable to finish the "It Takes Three to Tango" quest, even though they had obtained wine at the Kingfisher.
• Fixes an issue where Geralt would sometimes die after traveling to Velen in the quest "Something Ends, Something Begins."
• The entrance to the area where the Sunstone is obtained will no longer be blocked off if the player exits it prematurely during "The Sunstone" quest.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to complete the "Get Junior" quest on certain occasions.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to finish the "Scavenger Hunt: Viper School Gear" quest due to a closed gate.
• Fixes an issue where some players were unable to investigate rooms during the "Family Matters" quest, effectively blocking their progression.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to finish the "Hey, You Wanna Look at my Stuff?" quest.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to talk to Roche during the "An Eye for an Eye" quest.
• Fixes an issue where Roche would stay at his camp instead of going to the Oxenfurt Bridge in the "Get Junior" quest.
• Fixes an issue where, under certain circumstances, Yennefer would not appear in Oxenfurt during the "The Great Escape" quest.
• Drowners will have a harder time killing Nidas during the "Black Pearl" quest.
• Fixes an issue which led to an infinite loading screen during the "To Bait a Forktail..." quest under certain circumstances.
• Fixes a rare issue where the basement was locked during the "King's Gambit" quest.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to free the merchant during the Person in Distress event in the Claywich area.
• The trolls at the Circle of Elements will no longer attack Geralt if he opts for a peaceful resolution.
• Fixes an issue where players were unable to talk to Roche during the "Brothers in Arms" quest.
• Fixes an issue where Zoltan's card was unobtainable.

GENERAL:

• Preparatory features paving the way for the introduction of New Game + in the future.

The last free DLC will be a 'New Game Plus Mode':

Already finished The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt multiple times?
We’ve got something coming up…
New Game+, the final DLC, is on the way and, of course, it’s completely FREE!
Stay tuned for more info regarding the release. It won’t happen this week though - we need a little bit more time to finish it.

The free DLC #15 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is released:

The double helix triple backspin stab to the face DLC.
With the just released, highly anticipated Patch 1.07 our hunt is more accessible, more convenient and all around better. But while business is business for professional Witchers, it's also high time for something with a bit more... pizzazz. Forget Wolf School, here comes the Cool School, and Geralt just picked up a few new tricks at Kewl Morhen. Today's DLC introduces a pack of all-new combat finishers to truly take your sword skills to the next level of badass. Blood, guts and gory… It's the White Wolf now with more bite, in this week episode of the FREE DLC Program! INSTALLING THE FREE CONTENT: Here is how you can grab and install your new DLC in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Add the 16 FREE DLC Program to your account from its product page. It's like buying a game, but free.

A) If you're using GOG Galaxy:

• Select The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt from the sidebar to open its game page.
• Click on the drop-down labeled "More", (located next to the PLAY button) and choose "Configure".
• The Configure page will feature all available DLCs listed towards the bottom.
• Select each DLC that you want to install, and GOG Galaxy will do the rest. If you want to remove the DLC from your game, simply uncheck the selection box.

B) If you're using the website:

• You can download installers for each DLC pack manually. Simply head to the Library section of My Account, locate The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and download the files you want.
• Afterwards, run each one as if you were installing a game or patch.

Steam users find the DLC here.

Another week - another free DLC: An alternative look for Ciri on GOG and Steam.

The big patch 1.07 is out now - but PS4 and XBOx one players get some performance hits according to Eurogamer.

The full changelog is listed here.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun have talked with long time developers at CD Project Red about the development of the three Witcher games.

Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, another CDP Game Director, explained, “It was our first title, a project we actually used to learn how to develop games. On top of that, we had huge ambitions that extended well beyond the capabilities of BioWare’s engine. Above all, we wanted to push the envelope graphically, so we rebuilt the renderer from scratch and created our own means for displaying visuals.”

One of the unique things about The Witcher, back in 2007, was the way it was brimming with life-like details. I remember being floored when the skies opened up over a tiny village center and everyone started running for shelter, clustering under eaves and awnings while waiting for the storm to pass.

“Since BioWare’s engine didn’t support large in-game communities, we had to create our own tools that would let us generate populations that would be satisfactory in size and follow a daily life cycle,” Tomaszkiewicz said. “It wasn’t easy, but ultimately we managed to produce something that truly resembled a living world, where folk had their jobs and lifestyles. They’d leave their homes in the morning, visit the local tavern after work to unwind, then go home to their families come evening. Merchants would hawk their wares, guardsmen would patrol Vizima’s back streets.”

Extra Credits thinks The Witcher 3 is like Raymond Chandler's pulp fiction transferred into fantasy medieval times:

CD PROJECT RED released a full detail changelog for the upcoming Witcher 3 patch 1.07:

There's still no release date for this major patch.

GameSkinny reports that the combined size of the upcoming Witcher3 expansions will equal the size of the The Witcher 2:

In an interview with Gamereactor, Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, the game director for Witcher 3, provided some insight on the upcoming expansion packs on the already massive RPG. The first expansion is about 10 hours, and the second one is 20 hours--so far. This can still change, as they add more content. To add some perspective to just how large these expansions will be, Tomaszkiewicz said the size of both combined will amount to the size of Witcher 2. 

The first expansion, Hearts of Stone, is set to be released in October this year for $9.99. The Second expansion, Blood and Wine, is set to be released within the first 3 months of 2016 for $19.99. They can be purchased separately or part of the expansion pass for $24.99.

As far as paid DLC goes, fans are always a bit tentative. That being said, these massive expansions are said to be story heavy. Included will be brand new cutscenes, charachters, items and of course, Gwent cards. Tomaszkiewicz said the new stories will be emotional and feels like fans will be happy.

CD Projekt RED has been doing a great job as far as DLCs go. The free DLC packs that were available as the game was released were a definite crowd pleaser. They had a solid amount of quests and armot sets, all for free. It'll be interesting to see what they have in store as far as paid content goes. By the sounds of it, the expansion packs will be game changing and will definitely enhance your adventure.

There will be no free DLC for The Witcher 3 this week, because CD Project Red is working on the 1.07 patch:

As some of you may know, we are finishing up work on our next big patch, Patch 1.07. It’s a very large update introducing some key changes, including:

• A new, alternative (optional) movement response mode for Geralt.
• A player stash for storing items, available in various locations throughout the game. Stash locations are marked on the player's map.
• Crafting and alchemy components no longer add to the overall inventory weight.
• Books are now placed in a dedicated tab in the Inventory and books that have already been read are properly grayed out.
• Multiple sorting options are now available in the Inventory.
• Alchemy formulas and crafting diagrams can be "pinned", meaning all components and ingredients required to make them will be conveniently marked in the Shop panel.
• Dozens of fixes for quest related issues, both major and minor.
• A few performance enhancements, including the optimization of FX, scenes and general gameplay.
• Various improvements to horse behavior.

Since it's been all hands on deck working to finish and release this patch on time, we won’t be publishing a free DLC this week (don’t worry - free content comes back next week). We hope you understand our decision. We’ve gathered so much feedback from you over the past couple of weeks and we want to implement as much of it as possible. The full change list for the patch 1.07 will be coming later this week. Stay tuned for info about the release of the update itself.

Thanks henriquejr & BrianOConnell for the info!

CM Marcin Momot posted in the CD Project forums that CDPR is going to re-work the Triss content in The Witcher 3 based on the user feedback in this 900+ pages long thread.

Just to let everyone know. We pay very close attention to everything you guys write in this thread. We will be addressing this situation by adding/changing some dialogue stuff in the future - more info on this will come later so pardon my scarce input for the time being. This should help with the immersion. And once again, thank you all for your valuable feedback.

 And when asked about new content:

I wouldn't go as far as calling it new content. We will be implementing small additions and tweaks in character dialogues that should please many folks in this thread. :)

Later this week one new DLC will be released: Where the Cat and Wolf Play

Spotted by henriquejr

The Codex is able to review a mainstream game: Angthoron about the Witcher 3:

What can be said about the writing of Witcher 3, then? Well - simply put, it is one of the best-written games to have come out in well over a decade. Perhaps even the best-written RPG since Torment, tackling serious topics and pulling no punches, placing the player in a position of one of the last sane men in an increasingly insane world and never shying away from showing what insanity actually is while avoiding the pitfalls of cheap shock value. The mundaneness of cruelty; the commonness of greed, treason, cowardice; the quiet acceptance of murder, rape, despair, racism and hate - Witcher 3 is all about that. Witcher 3 is about total war without its typical glamor.
(...)
The atmosphere of Witcher 3 does its best to support the writing - and succeeds to do it almost perfectly. Visual and audio design serve to reinforce the writing and create a sense of place. The world hardly feels like a theme park - instead, it is a fairly logical, if occasionally repetitive.
(...)
Still, the world is realistic and rich with detail - from the finally realistically depicted outskirts of a major medieval-like city (undesireables and underclass living outside the city walls, miles and miles of farmland all around - thank you CDPR, I wanted to see this for nearly two decades) to tiny shrines to a deity or to Eternal Fire seemingly in the middle of nowhere, the minute details are what makes the world stand out and feel lived in. Tiny hamlets full of peasants going about their business, refugee camps full of the sick and the hungry, city squares bursting with activity - the developers spared no expense in making the world of Witcher 3 feel alive - thankfully, remembering that ambient sound is an important part of game's atmosphere, too.
(...)
Witcher 3 does not invent the wheel with its quests or their structure. Just as before in the series, the game's quests divide into main quests that are dedicated to the development of the characters as well as to the major changes in regional politics, and into the side quests and monster hunts, the smaller, more localized affairs. Curiously, the side quests, an item that has drawn my ire for years in the products of AAA industry due to the great levels of half-assedness, are actually very well fleshed out in Witcher 3.
(...)
Choice and consequence are frequent in both the main quest and the side/bounty quests - the options rarely break the limit of being binary, perhaps, but the strength of Witcher 3's C&C is not in per-quest variety or material reward - it's in the writing and acting dedicated to the choices; it's in the frequently interesting morality issues, and it's in the short-term and long-term consequence, and as such, it is a great deal more satisfying than a simple reward of a pile of gold coins a-la BioWare's masterful prose-crafting, or Pillars of Eternity's wondrous infodumps. The game's quests feel like dealing with an actual situation that affects actual people rather than helping a humanoid quest-loot-information dispensers. The quests are also usually logical, though an occasional cultural reference or a bit of silliness (like having to find a goat) do slip through. Still, even such quests are not without a place, providing a bit of a chuckle or a change of pace in an otherwise grim world.
(...)

Gametrailers talks with Marcin Iwinski about what he is doing at E3 and what's next for The Witcher 3 (DLCs, Expansions). In the very last minute they ask if Cyberpunk 2077 will be shown at the next E3 and there is no answer on that.

From the Witcher's Facebook site comes news that there will be 2 new DLCs released for this game this week:

Two new FREE DLCs coming out later this week are:
- new quest - "Contract: Skellige's Most Wanted",
- Skellige Armor Set.
Last week's missing DLCs will be also released with this upcoming pack.

You can discuss this on the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt forums here.

Another favorable review for The Witcher 3 - gamesTM:

The Witcher 3 surprised us. Sure, we had been primed to expect to find ourselves let loose in a gargantuan open world, but we can’t be the only ones who, calloused by the characteristic bombast of triple-A marketing, were at least a little cynical about how the fantasy we were being sold ahead of release would look in reality. As it turns out, the game is startlingly close to being everything CD Projekt Red claimed it would be.

That’s most obvious when it comes to the game’s sheer scale. Travelling through thick forests and open plains, small villages and huge cities, you gradually begin to appreciate how staggeringly colossal Wild Hunt’s world is. To say we are impressed by the scale of The Witcher 3 doesn’t quite capture what it is that makes it so brilliant, however. The fact that a game is big does not in and of itself make it compelling. The trick is to leverage that scale in such a way that it impacts on your relationship with the world that you’re exploring in a meaningful way – that is what Wild Hunt achieves and that is what makes it such a fantastic game. (...)

Final Score: 9 - Unquestionably a Game Of The Year contender

With most bugs fixed in version 1.05/1.06 the Witcher also has got two new free DLCs according to Gamespot:

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's free DLC campaign rolls on with two new pieces of add-on content, comprising a new quest and an alternative costume for Triss.

Check out the chart below for a full breakdown of the new content.

You can also watch a video that shows you exactly where to find the content and how it looks in the game itself.

This content is the latest in CD Projekt Red's plan to release 16 free add-ons for The Witcher 3. Last week's free content took the form of new Gwent cards and a pig quest. More add-ons will be released through June and into July.

The Witcher 3 is also getting paid DLC later this year with Hearts of Stone, which launches in October. Another expansion, Blood and Wine, is coming in 2016.

Treasure Hunt Quest around WOLF set - upgradable (4 lvl) armor + set of upgradable (4 lvl) swords - silver and steel th1009	Adventure awaits! Embark on an epic treasure hunt and get your hands on a long-lost elite set of Wolf School witcher gear!	quest phase activation	You can buy maps from Lindenvale merchant, Hattori, Kaer Trolde armorer, Kaeir Muire smith, armorer in Novigrad main square or just find places of treasure hunts in Kaer Morhen
Triss alternative costume	Love to play dress up? Now you can with this exclusive new look for Triss Merigold.	menu option	will switch Triss basic costume with all variations (e.g. blood, hood etc.)

Thanks, henriquejr!

GamersGlobal.de pulled some info about The Witcher 3's budget out of a Polish interview with the CDPR CEO. The official numbers converted to EUR are 29M€ for the game and another 31M€ for marketing.

Tim Biggs reviewed the Witcher 3 in just 100 words:

A triumph of open-world roleplaying, the Polish, literary origins of this complex, sexy game make for a stark contrast against its bawdy American and bombastic Japanese contemporaries.

Part detective story, part sprawling European fantasy, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is dark, grounded, and contains a dangerous amount of lore and land to explore. It's violent, but also unafraid of broaching themes of war, racism and sexuality in a genuinely mature way.

Protagonist Geralt is quietly heroic and refreshingly complex, his foes vile and deadly, but morality is never black and white. This is a game where even the monsters and your enemies have complex stories and motivations.

henriquejr found this interesting rumor based on SteamDB entry for The Witcher 3:

CD Project RED has done an amazing job of keeping The Witcher 3 in the news post-release. Whether that's by responding to player issues with quick patches and a strong social media presence or with their planned 8 weeks of free DLC, keeping up an impressive two new pieces a week.

And we might have an idea of what's coming up next week - which is week 4 of 8 if you're keeping count. SteamDB has an info sheet which reveals some interesting details, including a breakdown of the size and titles of the DLC to date, as well as a couple of extra pieces we haven't seen yet.

The data is incomplete, probably because they aren't quite ready for release yet, but it looks like we're getting a new mission next week, as well as some extra Gwent cards. We haven't spent much time with the made up card game Gwent yet but by all accounts its quite good fun as a bit of a copy of Magic The Gathering. And any new free content is a thing to celebrate.

As ever, this information shouldn't be taken as any kind of official confirmation of the DLC, and we wouldn't be surprised if CD Project RED swap some of the content now that it has been leaked.

Co-founder of CD Project Red, Marcin Iwiński, has written an open letter in which he thanks the players of The Witcher 3.

Dear Gamers,

May 19th was a crucial date for all of us here at CD PROJEKT RED -- we released The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, our open world role-playing game that we had been hard at work on for over 3 years. Since day one, you have given us tons of positive feedback and support -- the sheer volume of emails we’ve gotten since launch simply congratulating us for our efforts is both epic and heartwarming, and I wish every developer comes to have such a fantastic community. In terms of media reception, we’re really humbled by the scores the game has received all around the world. With an average of 90+ on every platform, Wild Hunt is our dream coming true.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the four million gamers worldwide who bought The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in the first two weeks from launch. Four million RPG fans spending their hard-earned money on our game is a sign that we did something right, and you can be sure that we’ll harness all that positive energy and make the upcoming expansions worthy of the grand adventure that you’re telling us Wild Hunt already is! Until then, keep on enjoying Wild Hunt, do not forget to grab your weekly set of free DLCs, and stay tuned for constant updates and enhancement to the game we are continuously working on.

Dandelion once said to Geralt that the world is changing, the sun is setting, and vodka’s running out -- go, play, and have fun!

All the best,

Marcin Iwiński

Co-founder, CD PROJEKT RED

At Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Richard Corbett considers the role of women in The Wild Hunt, which he finds has deepened quite a bit since the "porny little cards" of the first game.

One of the best things about The Witcher III is that it shows how far CD Projekt has come in just a few short years. We see it in world and quest design, in writing, in graphical technology and in scale, and all those speak for themselves. One of the biggest surprises though is how far it’s climbed in terms of female representation over the years – from one of the industry’s biggest targets to a high watermark others would be well advised to treat as the new baseline. 

[...]

The skill with with The Witcher III does all this is all the more impressive for the fact that it sits comfortably next to so much stuff that might otherwise start feeling icky – the constant hookers and strumpets for instance, or at least a couple of villains whose evil is shown using the Tortured Naked Lady School of Exposition.

And if you do still want pretty ladies on cards, hey, at least there’s always Gwent.

After finishing The Witcher 3, Maylander was conviced to write up a review about the game for us. So here are his thoughts.

All in all, I would actually have preferred if they had cut down the scope a little in order to enhance the main quest or side quests even further, or to increase the amount of major C&C (choices and consequences). There is quite a bit of C&C in the game, and CDP proves yet again that they’re very good at such implementations, as the C&C are excellent. There’s just not enough of it, especially related to the save game import feature: The C&C in The Witcher 2 was among the best I’ve ever seen, with loads of political implications, yet hardly any the decisions have an impact in The Witcher 3. In fact, that’s probably my biggest disappointment with the game: I really enjoyed that aspect of The Witcher 2 and was hoping to see what they’d do with it. Ah well. If anyone’s going to get it right at some point, it is probably CDP, as their C&C implementation in The Witcher 2 really is second to none. Alpha Protocol, Arcanum and a few others are on a similar level, but I can’t think of any game that’s actually better.

He scores the game with, the not often reached, 5 stars, which for the record in our reviewing system means:

An outstanding game that will be remembered as a classic. A score of 5 indicates a game that is equal to the best gameplay available in the genre at the time of writing. It is, however, important to understand this does not represent an absolutely flawless game.

GameBanshee likes the The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, too:

Introduction

I have never been as glad to eat crow as I am now, as I write this review for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the threequel that puts the cap on the videogame saga of Geralt of Rivia, the monster slayer originally created by renowned Polish fantasy author Andrzej Sapkwoski.

Back in March of 2013, when the title was announced as an open-world game, I immediately lowered my expectations. As talented as the folks of CD Projekt RED are, open-world games tend to be massive undertakings that require sacrifices compared to more linear titles. The bigger they are, the bigger the sacrifices, and The Witcher 3 promised to be a very, very big title.

In my mind there were two, very likely possibilities: The Witcher 3 would come out as either a massively unpolished, nigh-unfinished title, CD Projekt's own Gothic 3, or as a game that sacrificed the focus on storytelling and quest design of the first two in favor of cookie-cutter, easy-to-design quests.

And yet, somehow, CD Projekt has managed to pull it off. A few small sacrifices might have been made along the road, yes, but this is still a Witcher title through and through, only on a massive scale that rivals big AAA productions. And it's very, very good.

GameSpot declared The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt to 'Game of the Month May 2015':

In May of 2015, it was The Witcher this and The Witcher that. All Witcher, all the time, it seemed, and for good reason: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a phenomenal role-playing game and a worthy recipient of the public's attention.

(...)

Alas and alack, Geralt's silver sword has vanquished these monsters in the race for Game of the Month of May, 2015. You can nitpick its specific elements, but it's hard to deny that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a great accomplishment. Geralt, the witcher of the game's title, is a stoic presence in an unwelcome world. As he navigates one of gaming's exquisitely crafted lands, he witnesses couples finding love amid horror and politicians enduring the turbulence of unhappy citizens. Choice and consequence take on new meaning as you alter the course of people's lives, all while galloping across mysterious bogs and battling ferocious, awe-inspiring monsters.

No game has it all, but The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has an air of totality, giving you everything you might want in an open-air RPG, feeling simultaneously enormous and intimate, thus creating personal connections in kingdoms that stretch on for many miles. Congratulations, The Witcher 3, for inspiring in us a great urge to explore--and for earning GameSpot's award for May 2015's Game of the Month.

It's not news, but I think Alistair Pinsof at TechRaptor makes some good points in this editorial about what CD Projekt Red got right in Wild Hunt that Bethesda often gets wrong. This is all feedback Bethesda has heard before, but as they're gearing up for FO4 I hope they're hearing it loud and clear.

Recognize player choice in small moments, not just big ones

Open world games tempt us to see where we can go and what we can we get away with, but for all our silly crimes and antics it seems these virtual worlds rarely recognize our curiosity. [...] Yet, Witcher 3 — a title by a relatively small Polish studio and featuring state-of-the-art graphics — brings this back to the open world game.

We see major story moments recognized by characters in Mass Effect and Skyrim. It’s expected at this point. What’s unexpected is a character sending me on a mission to an area and my character commenting I previously went there — even though I did this out of my own curiosity with no attached mission. 

Give enemies a variety of strengths and tactics

Bethesda has come a long way from the stiff combat of Arena, but the developer still struggles to provide combat that remains engaging from a game’s beginning to end. [...] After 20 hours in Skyrim, I was on autopilot. [...] In Witcher 3, you’ll be forced to face enemies that will demand you use of spells you might not regularly use or play in a defensive style that doesn’t suit the aggressive one you used on ghouls early on. 

Pace the journey; don’t frontload the most exciting moments

Bethesda has a habit of providing the most memorable moment of its games within the first 3 hours and never having an equal moment again. Whether its blowing up Megaton or escaping/battling a dragon, Bethesda seems more interested in bringing in players via a press-conference-friendly opening than giving a narrative with an ebb-and-flow.

In contrast, Witcher 3’s opening is quiet, subtle and true to the focus of the game: letting the player explore the countryside at a leisurely place and make discoveries off the beaten path.

Give romance sub-plots nuance and depth

The Witcher series has come a long way from the controversial collectible sex cards in the original that limited romance to a crude novelty.  

Gating world exploration by difficulty

As the market for open-world RPGs grew, Bethesda decided to make games more accessible by easing the difficulty and letting players explore its game worlds freely without higher level enemies getting in the way, with few exceptions.

It’s humiliating charging into a small group of bandits in Witcher 3 and dying without even getting a hit in [...] but I came to appreciate this aspect ofWitcher 3 in time. CD Projekt Red tells its player to respect the world and its obstacles, while Bethesda prefer to provide a sandbox where the world must respect the player’s incompetence and naivete. Maybe with Bethesda’s upcoming title we can have both. 

From GearNuke comes news that patch 1.05 for PC for this game. 

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Patch 1.05 is now live on the PC for Steam and GOG Galaxy users. The patch is about 248.4 MB in size and contains the fix for the XP bug that rendered player's progress useless by giving them no experience points after completing quests. If you have The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Steam, the latest patch should have started downloading automatically on PC. If you want to manually download it, you can check out the link below.

Here are some of the changes - you can view all of the changelog here.

Geralt will not longer interact with candles near chests and other interactive elements.
General stability and performance improvements
Significantly Enlarged GUI and HUD elements (including fonts) on consoles and slightly on PC.
Improved camera smoothness
Performance improvements during some cutscenes.
Fixed case where game was crashing on loading a save in certain situations
Various bug fixes and user experience improvements in GUI panels.
Fixed issue where some players were unable to run after Wandering in the Dark quest
Fixed issue where players were unable to talk to Eight after the Lord of Undvik quest 

Red Bull has penned an editorial on the 10 best ways to waste time in this game. One of the more alcoholic one is this one:

Go on a pub crawl
........ Skip all of that and just take Geralt on a wild pub crawl instead. Start at the Seven Cats Inn (which has, surprise, seven cats loitering outside) in Novigrad, then pop to the The Kingfisher and grab a few tankards before making your way to several more inns in the city, including the Rosemary and Thyme (and leave the Gwent battling for later). And that's just Novigrad. With such a huge world, and so many cities and towns with inns and taverns, you'll spend plenty of time venturing from one to the next, swigging a tankard of ale between each venue and attempting to not get into fights with the locals. Just remember: don't drink and ride...

Another suggestion is this one:

Play detective Many of the quests that you're saddled with throughout the game need you to make full use of your Witcher Sense; an innate ability that Geralt is able to tap into to discover hidden things. Whether that's finding keys stashed away, footprints in the mud leading to loot or even strange smells in the air, you can use your Witcher Sense to put you on the right track to the unknown.... We don't think Geralt would rock a fedora though.

This week's free DLC for The Witcher 3 consists of a Nilfgaardian Armor Set for Geralt and an Elite Crossbow Pack.

CD Projekt Red has announced the contents of the fifth and sixth free DLC bundles coming to The Witcher 3 later this week.

So far we received a Temerian Armor Set and an array of additional beards and hairstyles for Geralt in the week following launch. This was then followed by a new Witcher Contract quest and skin for Yennefer.

Now we've got a new Nilfgaardian Armor Set for Geralt, along with an Elite Crossbow Pack. The armor and one of the crossbows come from the Baron's Quartermaster in No Man's Land, with more crossbows found at the Skellige Kaer Trolde Castle Blacksmith and the Novigrad Fancy Shop Owner.

Thanks henriquejr.

Danish mainstrem newpaper Berlingske has written a very positive review for this game. The score is 6 out of 6 stars. The link will for obvious reasons go to the Danish review, but here's a link to translation done via Google Translate. You can go to either of the links, but you use the link to Berlingske, be sure to open it an either privacy or incognito state. The text is the same, of course, but you might want to check out the layout of the original article.

The review is entitled A Bewitching Masterpiece: