PC players say The Witcher 3's next-gen update runs terribly

The Witcher 3 next-gen update — (Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

Update: CD Projekt has announced they're investigating performance issues with The Witcher 3 on PC. Responding to fans earlier today on December 14, the developer acknowledged the problems players are facing, and said they're working on fixes, with an update coming "soon."

The original article follows below.

Original: PC players are struggling to play The Witcher 3 following the next-gen update, due to a raft of performance issues.

Since the update went live yesterday, several fans have taken to online forums to report their problems, with others chiming in with potential fixes. Looking across a few posts, the most prevalent complaint is that performance tanks when ray tracing is enabled. Players say they are facing frequent stuttering with the feature enabled, with several others saying that full-game crashes are also happening. Elsewhere, fans report that DLSS isn't working correctly and that tinkering with the settings can lead to more crashes.

If you're struggling, people are gathering on Reddit and the Steam forums to see if they figure out workarounds until CD Projekt Red steps in. One fan shared they were facing crashes with ray tracing enabled with various settings regardless if it was turned on mid-game or before start-up. According to another player, loading a pre-patch save and then jumping over to the new one ensured everything ran fine.

When it does run well, The Witcher 3's next-gen update seems to be going down a treat with players. In GamesRadar+'s hands-on preview, Heather praises the new features, quality-of-life tweaks, and various graphical improvements. "This is still very much the game I know and love, but lots of welcome features make it feel more streamlined, and visually it's even more beautiful than it was before," she says.

If you want to see everything new for yourself, check out The Witcher 3 next-gen update patch notes at the jump.

When performance isn't an issue, The Witcher 3's next-gen combat system finally makes Signs fun to use.