The Witcher 3 system requirements change for the first time in 4 years as CDPR wants "to ensure smooth performance and compatibility going forward" for Songs of the Past

Ciri in The Witcher 3 — (Image credit: CD Projekt)

The Witcher 3 is back in the limelight thanks to CD Projekt Red's announcement of its RPG's new DLC, Songs of the Past – an expansion that'll apparently follow some updates to the base game's hardware requirements.

That's right – one of the best RPGs to date is indeed getting brand-new DLC sometime in 2027, confirming long-standing rumors of a post-Blood and Wine expansion. Although CD Projekt Red hasn't told us much about Songs of the Past just yet, the developer did outline some hardware requirement changes in a follow-up post online.

Old technology can't support new software forever, after all, but thankfully, nothing discussed is too drastic.

With new content coming to the game, we also need to update our system requirements to ensure smooth performance and compatibility going forward. These requirements will become effective starting from the next update.Read more: https://t.co/1pcrqGU8YQMay 27, 2026

"With new content coming to the game, we also need to update our system requirements to ensure smooth performance and compatibility going forward," the studio writes. "These requirements will become effective starting from the next update."

CD Projekt Red links out to a support page with the full details, setting the soon-to-be minimum requirements for PC players as follows:

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CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600, Intel Core i5-8400
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB
VRAM: 6 GB
RAM: 12 GB
Storage: 70 GB SSD
OS: 64-bit Windows 11

Perhaps most notably, HDDs will no longer be supported, furthering the move to SSDs as they offer much quicker loading times and better performance overall.

Folks who are dead set on sticking to Windows 10 will need to bite the bullet for Songs of the Past, too: "Without ongoing security updates, official platform support, and continued GPU driver support, we will no longer test our games on Windows 10."

CD Projekt Red discusses a few other tweaks as well, like the fact that The Witcher 3 "will exclusively run using DirectX 12" to allow the team "to support ongoing technical improvements and modern hardware more effectively."

Keep in mind, every single one of these adjustments affects all players, seemingly, and not just those looking to get Songs of the Past. On the bright side, though, none of it will be forced onto unwilling fans.

You can always roll back to earlier versions of the game if you're not able to keep up with the hardware requirement changes. For those of us who can, however, it'll hopefully pave the way for a better-looking and smoother Witcher 3 experience overall.

Excited to see more upcoming CD Projekt Red games come to fruition? Browse through our roundup for other great new games arriving this year and beyond, too.

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After spending years with her head in various fantastical realms' clouds, Anna studied English Literature and then Medieval History at the University of Edinburgh, going on to specialize in narrative design and video game journalism as a writer. She has written for various publications since her postgraduate studies, including Dexerto, Fanbyte, GameSpot, IGN, PCGamesN, and more. When she's not frantically trying to form words into coherent sentences, she's probably daydreaming about becoming a fairy druid and befriending every animal or she's spending a thousand (more) hours traversing the Underdark in Baldur's Gate 3. If you spot her away from her PC, you'll always find Anna with a fantasy book, a handheld video game console of some sort, and a Tamagotchi or two on hand.