The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered goes live on Tuesday, September 29, and it goes live everywhere at once. CD PROJEKT RED isn't staggering the unlock by region or by store. There's one worldwide moment, 10:00 UTC, and it applies on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2 alike. Below is what that works out to where you live, how big the download is on each platform, and who gets it for free.
Unlock times by region
Every time below is the same instant, 10:00 UTC on September 29, converted to local time. Anyone east of the Pacific gets it the same day. In the Americas it lands early in the morning, in Europe and the Middle East around midday, and in Asia and Oceania in the evening.
- US West Coast (PDT): 3:00 AM, Tuesday September 29
- US Mountain (MDT): 4:00 AM
- US Central (CDT): 5:00 AM
- US East Coast (EDT): 6:00 AM
- Brazil (BRT): 7:00 AM
- UK and Ireland (BST): 11:00 AM
- Central Europe (CEST): 12:00 PM (noon)
- Eastern Europe (EEST): 1:00 PM
- Israel (IDT) and Moscow (MSK): 1:00 PM
- Gulf (GST): 2:00 PM
- India (IST): 3:30 PM
- China, Singapore and Western Australia (CST/SGT/AWST): 6:00 PM
- Japan and Korea (JST/KST): 7:00 PM
- Australia East Coast (AEST): 8:00 PM
- New Zealand (NZDT): 11:00 PM
Two of these are easy to get wrong this week. New Zealand moved to daylight saving time on September 27, so the unlock there is 11 PM, not 10 PM. Sydney and Melbourne don't change their clocks until October 4, so they're still on standard time and get it at 8 PM. Stores sometimes take a few minutes to catch up after a global unlock, so if the update isn't showing right on the hour, give your console or launcher a restart before assuming something's broken.
How big is the download?
CD PROJEKT RED's Marcin Momot posted the sizes last Friday, after enough players asked. On PC (Steam), PS5 and Xbox, Remastered arrives as an update to the game you already have, at roughly 45GB each. The PC figure moves up or down with the language packs you've installed. On Nintendo Switch 2 it's a separate product of about 50GB, because it's a native Switch 2 release rather than a patch on top of the original Switch game.
That's a big download to start at 10:00 UTC along with everyone else. If your connection is slow or metered, clear the drive space ahead of time. On PS5 and Xbox, leave the console in rest mode with automatic updates turned on, so the patch starts downloading the moment it's released instead of when you next turn the console on.
Who gets it free
For anyone who already owns the game, Remastered costs nothing. It's a free upgrade for existing owners on PC (Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Because it replaces the version you have, there's nothing to buy or redeem. The update just shows up.
Switch owners get the same deal, with one extra step. Anyone who owns The Witcher 3 on the original Switch can claim the Switch 2 version at no charge. If you own it digitally, you can already pre-order Remastered free on the Nintendo eShop, so it's queued up for launch. If you own a cartridge, you can claim the upgrade from launch day. New players can pre-order the Switch 2 version now.
Xbox players get a bonus as well. The Xbox release is a Play Anywhere title, which means owning it on Xbox also gets you the PC version through the Xbox app. We covered how that works last week.
A new PC store: Battle.net
Remastered also launches on a store The Witcher 3 has never been sold on. Under a new partnership between CD PROJEKT RED and Blizzard, the game arrives on Battle.net on September 29, alongside GOG, Steam and Epic. Songs of the Past, the paid expansion due in 2027, will follow it there. The unlock time on Battle.net is the same 10:00 UTC as everywhere else.
What's in the update
This isn't a resolution bump. CD PROJEKT RED describes Remastered as a broad overhaul of how the game looks and plays. It covers upgraded visuals and performance, reworked combat and animations, better traversal and movement, new effects for the witcher Signs, and revamped handling for Roach. Monster behaviour gets an update too, and so does character progression: the skill tree has been redesigned from the ground up.
It also adds a list of features the community has wanted for years. There's transmogrification, so you can keep a set's stats while wearing a different look, plus an expanded photo mode and new finishers. Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are part of the Remastered base game. Since the reveal in August, every existing owner of The Witcher 3 has had both expansions free, so anyone who hasn't played them yet will find them in the library when the update lands.
The Switch 2 version
The Switch 2 version is built for the hardware rather than ported to it. It supports motion controls for casting Signs, firing the crossbow, throwing bombs, drinking potions and speeding up or stopping Roach. Gyro aiming is there for more precise combat, and so are the Joy-Con mouse controls. You can use the touchscreen for the map and menus, and for Gwent. CD PROJEKT RED says the version also uses the console's extra power to improve both performance and visual quality compared with the original Switch release.
What comes next
Remastered is also the foundation for what's next. Songs of the Past, the third expansion, is being co-developed with Fool's Theory. It sends Geralt to Letten, a new rural region with a dark secret under its festivals. It's a paid expansion due in 2027 on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2, and you can wishlist it now. For now, though, the date to remember is Tuesday: 10:00 UTC, worldwide, on every platform, and free if you already own the game.
