The Witcher 3 PS5 and Xbox Series X release date set for the second half of this year

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Here's when the next-gen update is coming

The Witcher 3
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

The Witcher 3 PS5 and Xbox Series X release date just got narrowed down at CD Projekt Red's big strategy presentation.

The company included The Witcher 3: Next Gen update in its 2021 roadmap update for The Witcher series, along with the Pokemon Go styled The Witcher: Monster Slayer, and further work on the standalone Gwent game. CD Projekt Red lead PR manager Radek Grabowski followed up on his personal Twitter account to confirm that The Witcher 3 next-generation release date will fall sometime in the second half of this year.

CD Projekt Red first announced its plans to create a next-gen native version of The Witcher 3 in September of last year. It said the new version would bring in "a range of visual and technical improvements - including ray tracing and faster loading times" for the base game as well as all of its post-launch additions. It will be released as a free update for everybody who owns the PC, PS4, and Xbox One versions, and will also be available as a standalone purchase.

The same presentation also confirmed that CD Projekt Red is planning to move into parallel development of multiple AAA projects starting next year, with its focus remaining on both Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher. That's a strong indication that work on The Witcher 4 - or whatever they end up calling it - is about to kick over into full time. And there's also a good chance it will have some kind of online component, though all of the studio's projects will remain "single-player, story driven AAA RPGs."

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.