The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – CD Projekt Red's Open-World RPG Classic
The origins of The Witcher 3 (2015), its combat and quests, why it's a classic, its two expansions, remaster and sequel news, and how to play it today.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is an action role-playing game made by Polish developer CD Projekt Red and released on May 19, 2015, for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One. The final entry in a game trilogy based on Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski's Witcher novels, it tells the story of monster hunter Geralt traveling a vast world in search of his adopted daughter, Ciri, who is being hunted.
In this post, we look at how The Witcher 3 was made, how it actually plays, and why it's considered a definitive open-world role-playing game. We also cover its two expansions, the next-gen version, the 2026 remaster, news of the upcoming expansion and sequel, and how to start today.
At a Glance
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Release | May 19, 2015 |
| Developer | CD Projekt Red |
| Platforms | PS4, Xbox One, Windows, Nintendo Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2 |
| Genre | Open-world action role-playing |
Origins
CD Projekt was originally a company that brought foreign games into Poland, localized them, and distributed them. It had found success introducing the Gothic series to Poland, and the developers cited Gothic as a major influence on The Witcher 3. The company later moved into in-house development, creating the Witcher game series, and released the second game, The Witcher 2, in 2011.
The Witcher 3 was planned to begin production in 2008 but was delayed by other projects, and full development began in 2011. It was made over three and a half years with $81 million of the company's own funds, and the internal staff grew from 150 to more than 250 people. Worldwide, 1,500 people were involved in its production. The game is based on Sapkowski's novels but is not an official sequel to them, and the author's only involvement was in making the in-game map.
To hold both a vast open world and a complex branching story, the team used its in-house REDengine 3. After judging that the world looked empty on first playthroughs, they added points of interest throughout. The developers said Dark Souls and Demon's Souls influenced the combat, while The Legend of Zelda series and Red Dead Redemption influenced the level and environment design. The look of the world drew on Poland, Amsterdam, and Scandinavia.
The script was written in Polish and English simultaneously and localized into 15 languages. The music was led by Marcin Przybyłowicz, with the Polish folk band Percival, which plays reconstructed medieval instruments, taking part and the Brandenburg State Orchestra performing. The release was delayed from 2014 to February 2015, then again to May. There's also a record that 5,000 bugs remained as of December 2014.
Gameplay
The game is set in a world called the Continent, based on Slavic folklore. As the Nilfgaardian Empire invades the Northern Kingdoms and wages war with Redania, Geralt sets out to find Ciri, who is being pursued by the Wild Hunt, a band of spectral warriors from another dimension. You travel between regions such as Novigrad, Velen, the Skellige Isles, and the witchers' fortress Kaer Morhen.
Geralt uses two swords, one steel and one silver. The steel sword is mainly used against humans and the silver sword against monsters. You fight by mixing fast but weak attacks with slow but strong ones, blocking and counterattacking, and dodge-rolling, while also using simple magic called the five Signs: Aard, which creates a shockwave; Axii, which charms enemies; Igni, which breathes fire; Yrden, which slows enemies; and Quen, which creates a protective shield. For the first time in the series, jumping, climbing, and swimming also became possible.
Preparation is important before fighting monsters. You read the bestiary to learn about your opponent in advance and craft potions and bombs from the materials you've gathered. The day-night cycle also has an effect: werewolves become stronger on full-moon nights. Using your Witcher Senses reveals nearby objects and traces worth investigating, and Witcher contracts taken from village notice boards lead to long missions of hunting monsters through this kind of preparation and investigation.
When you gain experience, you spend ability points across four skill branches: Combat, Signs, Alchemy, and General. In dialogue, you choose your responses from multiple options, and those choices change the fate of the world and its characters. The story has three main endings. You travel on your horse, Roach, and can enjoy horse racing, fistfights, and the card game Gwent, which was later released as a standalone game.
Why It's a Classic
First, the story is alive even in small quests. To avoid generic errand quests, the developers gave each character a distinct personality, and early on they limited side quest dialogue to 15 lines so that only essential lines remained. A single contract taken from a village notice board often leads to an unexpected backstory and choices.
Second, choices with no easy right answer. Like the original novels, most choices were written to be morally ambiguous, and their consequences sometimes appear much later. The experience of good intentions leading to bad outcomes makes the world feel more real.
Third, a balance between volume and polish. The main game alone contains a very large world, and its two expansions were rated just as highly as the main game. Technical problems at launch were pointed out, but praise for the story, world, combat, and visuals far outweighed them.
Its reviews and records show this too. The Witcher 3 won more than 200 Game of the Year awards, including Game of the Year at the 16th Game Developers Choice Awards, and Best Role-Playing Game and Studio of the Year at The Game Awards 2015. It sold 4 million copies in its first two weeks and more than 65 million copies by May 2026. In the month Netflix's The Witcher series premiered in 2019, its sales rose 554% compared with the same month the previous year.
Series and Influence
Two expansions were released. Hearts of Stone, released on October 13, 2015, is a story surrounding the mysterious Man of Glass and the immortal Olgierd, and Blood and Wine, released on May 31, 2016, is a story of hunting monsters in the duchy of Toussaint, which was spared by the war; it won Best Role-Playing Game at The Game Awards 2016. Sixteen pieces of free DLC were also distributed, and in August 2016, the Game of the Year Edition containing all content was released.
The game later expanded to many platforms. A Nintendo Switch version came out on October 15, 2019, and on December 14, 2022, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions with visual improvements such as ray tracing were released, provided free to existing owners. On September 29, 2026, a remaster with refined visuals and combat came out for Windows, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2, and again existing owners can get it for free. A third expansion, Songs of the Past, is scheduled for release in 2027, and the sequel, The Witcher 4, is in development.
The Witcher 3 is credited with showing that a dense story can be told even in an open world. In 2020, GamesRadar named it the best game of its generation.
How to Play It Today
If you're starting now, it's best to pick an edition that includes both the main game and the two expansions. Note that with the 2026 remaster, existing owners can get the remaster for free, and the two expansions were also made free for owners of the main game.
It's fine to start with The Witcher 3 even if you haven't played the previous two games. You'll gradually learn about earlier events and characters through in-game dialogue and books. At first, follow the main story, but if you also take on contracts from village notice boards and hunt monsters, you'll quickly feel the game's charm. The expansions are best enjoyed after progressing through the main game somewhat and leveling up, and playing them in release order, Hearts of Stone first and Blood and Wine later, works well.