In a tweet earlier today, developer CD Projekt Red revealed the news as part of the celebrations around the game’s seventh anniversary, telling fans that “we’re delighted to share that the Next Gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is planned to release in Q4 2022.” While we don’t have an exact release date, there’s a slim chance that we’ll find out more over the next couple of months as the summer conferences move on.

Let’s make this 7th anniversary even better, shall we?We’re delighted to share that the Next Gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is planned to release in Q4 2022.See you on the Path, witchers! pic.twitter.com/2wQbxMP4zhMay 19, 2022

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The news comes not long after the updated ports of the game were delayed indefinitely. Last month, CD Projekt Red revealed that the delays had taken place as the project was being brought back in-house. The resulting assessment of the update’s scope meant that launch would be pushed back out of the previously-planned Q2 release date, with no other information available at the time.

The next-gen version of Geralt’s adventures has had a difficult time over the past couple of year. Originally due to launch in late 2021, internal teams at CD Projekt Red suggested that the project be moved back. While Cyberpunk 2077 wasn’t directly mentioned in those discussions, the difficult time that that game had at release is likely to have contributed to the original decision to move back The Witcher 3 on PS5 and Xbox Series X.

Witcher 3 tips | Witcher 3 armor | Witcher 3 romance | Best Witcher 3 Gwent Cards | Witcher 3 places of power | Witcher 3 side quests | Witcher 3 contracts | Witcher 3 Master of the Arena | Witcher 3 Ladies of the Wood | Witcher 3 Wandering in the Dark | Witcher 3 ending | Witcher 3 Following the Thread | Witcher 3 monster killing

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Global community director Marcin Momot of developer CD Projekt Red confirmed on Twitter (opens in new tab) that the medallion belongs to the School of the Lynx. There was never any doubt that the medal wasn’t from the School of the Wolf, and its half-buried catlike features were just vague enough to implicate the School of the Cat and Ciri with it, but this medallion actually belongs to the Witchers of a very specific feline faction. 

The School of the Lynx has a more tenuous presence in the Witcher universe on account of it being largely rooted in footnotes and fan-fiction. The fact that it’s seemingly at the heart of the “new saga” that the next Witcher game is planning implies that Geralt has indeed left center stage, but with the School of the Cat largely out of the theorycrafting picture, there’s now less to suggest that Ciri will take his place as the lead in the story, and less still about what her challenges and motivations might be. So we’re not quite back to square one, but we’re pretty close to it, and we likely won’t get more story details for some time. 

Original story: The first teaser image for The Witcher 4 suggests that its main character could be Ciri, the adopted daughter of series protagonist Geralt. 

As developer CD Projekt Red noted in a brief announcement confirming that The Witcher 4 is officially in development, the reveal image features a Witcher medallion and promises “a new saga” for the franchise. It’s clear that big changes are coming to the Witcher games, and that medallion could be a big clue. 

It’s partially buried in snow, but the featured medallion seems to belong to the School of the Cat, which oversees a separate Witcher faction than the School of the Wolf that Geralt follows. Ciri initially trained under Geralt at Kaer Morhen, the base of the School of the Wolf, but she did come to possess a medallion of the Cat after seizing it from Leo Bonhart, who was said to have killed at least three Witchers. 

This isn’t just coming from the Witcher books, either. Ciri is shown sporting a medallion of the Cat in The Witcher 3, so if this teaser image is as literal as it seems, The Witcher 4, or whatever its final title ends up being, could well be a new story starring Ciri that picks up after the events of The Witcher 3 and its canon ending. 

We’re veering even further into speculation here, but on top of hitting some popular story beats, casting Ciri as the playable character of the next Witcher game could also allow CD Projekt Red to go wild with gameplay. Ciri possesses Elder blood, after all, and has access to rare and powerful magics which would probably be pretty fun to wield in combat and use in exploration. 

It’s still unclear what’s in store for The Witcher 4, including its official title and release date, but we can safely assume that its “new saga” will take the series to unfamiliar territory. Whether Ciri plays a central part in that remains to be seen, but fans of the Cintran princess have never been more favored. 

We do have one bit of concrete information: there are no plans for The Witcher 4 to be an Epic Store exclusive on PC. 

The post That Witcher 4 teaser image is actually for the School of the Lynx, CDPR confirms appeared first on Game News.

The third instalment in the series first launched all the way back in May 2015, but it’s taken until now to uncover one of the game’s Easter eggs.

As reported by PC Gamer (opens in new tab), YouTube user xLetalis went on a hunt to uncover the mysterious hidden content after Philipp Weber, the game’s quest designer, discussed it during a CD Projekt Red charity stream on Twitch. “It’s on Skellige”, he said, adding that it “goes quite a bit further” than fans might expect.

The Easter Egg contains spoilers for the character Vivienne, whose story is told in The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine expansion. Vivienne has a curse on her that’s turned her into a bird-like being. In The Warble of a Smitten Knight quest, players can free Vivienne of affliction, but there’s a risk she’ll die after seven years.

Vivienne then travels to Skellige, where, as xLetalis confirms in their video (opens in new tab), she does indeed meet her end seven years after the curse is lifted. xLetails used console commands to speed through the 2,500 days required to see poor Vivienne’s fate.

Weber took to Twitter to congratulate xLetalis on discovering the obscure Easter Egg.

It’s kind of poetic that my 7-year Easter egg was found almost 7 years after the release of @witchergame.Hats off to @xLetalis for his detective work on the game! https://t.co/bCXVFrOtbYMarch 20, 2022

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Discussing the possibility of more hidden content, Weber told IGN (opens in new tab): “I’m not sure if it’s the last secret, but it for sure is pretty close. Everyone hid so many details during the last months of development that people are probably still going to find something new one day.

“For sure this is the Easter Egg I hid the most out of all the ones I did, so it’s quite impressive it was finally found.”

You can now hunt monsters with Geralt on the go as The Witcher 3 is officially Steam Deck Verified.

If you’re done adventuring with the White Wolf, check out our pick of games like The Witcher 3 that are monstrously fun.

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Earlier today, Gematsu (opens in new tab) noted that the ESRB (opens in new tab) ratings board – the United States’ equivalent of Europe’s PEGI – had listed the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of The Witcher 3 on its database. This makes the ESRB the second ratings board in as many days to make reference to the forthcoming versions of CD Projekt Red’s game, making an announcement surrounding the ports likely imminent.

The original article continues below.

Update: CD Projekt Red has confirmed to GamesRadar+ that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt won’t be launching on PS5 and Xbox Series X today after a PEGI rating went live suggesting it would.

In an early statement to GamesRadar+, a spokesperson for the developer said: “PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S are new platforms for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, so the game had to be submitted for age classification on these platforms specifically. This is standard procedure and the date mentioned on PEGI’s website is the rating’s issue date.” 

The CD Projekt Red spokesperson also reiterated that the release date for this version of the game is yet to be announced.

The PEGI site seemed to indicate that 19/10/21 was the release date for The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt: Game of the Year Edition on PS5 and Xbox Series X, but the fact this rating has emerged is itself a sign that news on the new-gen port should be imminent.  

Original: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt could be launching on PS5 and Xbox Series X imminently, according to a PEGI leak.

The ratings board (opens in new tab) (via Gematsu (opens in new tab)) updated the beloved RPG’s age rating information to include a PS5 and Xbox Series X version that will launch on 19/10/21. 

The updated listing is for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year edition, which means it would include the base game, alongside the Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine expansions for PS5, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S players. 

While CD Projekt Red has previously committed to bringing The Witcher 3 to new-gen consoles at some point in the second half of 2021, this leak is the first time we’ve seen a concrete date for the RPG on these platforms. 

And, with The Witcher Season 2 set to drop on Netflix on December 17, now could be the perfect time to remind people of the world they’ve so dearly missed. Let’s just hope that Roach won’t end up on any more thatched roofs. We can’t imagine how sharp that hay is going to be in 4K…

Of course, The Witcher 3 isn’t the only new-gen port that CD Projekt Red has been working on, with the Cyberpunk 2077 roadmap confirming that a new-gen version of their other massive RPG is due to hit consoles in 2022. 

The post The Witcher PS5 and Xbox Series X release date and rating leaks appeared first on Game News.

The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project (known as HDPR) is a mod from YouTuber Halk Hogan that includes 4K textures, increased draw distance, and customized materials and shaders. The popular graphics mod – which you can download on NexusMods (opens in new tab) – has apparently caught the eye of CD Projekt Red, according to the mod’s creator. Halk Hogan posted a new preview of the HDPR and wrote a lengthy update in the comments, suggesting CD Projekt Red has reached out about including the mod in the official new-gen update.

“It’s been a long time since the last video. I know I announced a new HDPR preview in early March but I was silent the whole time. Sorry for that. But in return, I have some good news, and the reasons why I was quiet and why I don’t have too much to show. I think the most important news is that I got an official message from CDPR about cooperation. While it’s not certain yet, it’s very likely that HDPR will be included in the official next generation update. I will inform you what’s next.”

CD Projekt Red first announced plans to release PS5 and Xbox Series X version of The Witcher in November 2020, stating that the updated game will have “a range of visual and technical improvements” on the new consoles that includes better load times and ray tracing. The HDPR mod does have some beautiful retexturing that includes slight (but meaningful) adjustments to bricks, stone, and glass – it’s easy to see why CD Projekt Red may have reached out to its creator.

The Witcher 3 PS5 and Xbox Series X doesn’t have a release date yet, but we do know it’s due out in the second half of 2021. 

The Witcher 4 production recently got a boost. 

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Depending on how acquainted you are with GOG, there could be a few loop holes to jump through for your PC copy of The Witcher 3. If you haven’t downloaded the GOG Galaxy client, you can get the latest version here (opens in new tab). Or, if you already have GOG Galaxy but aren’t up to date with the latest version, you’ll need to update the client.

From there, go to Settings > Add games & friends > Connect platforms. Here you can connect your Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, Steam, Origin, and/or Epic Games account to find the library where you’ve got The Witcher 3 installed. Click on the game and you should see an option to claim your PC copy. Voila, The Witcher 3 should be added to your GOG library almost instantly, and you can install it on PC right away.

Sadly, the deal isn’t applicable to the Switch version of The Witcher 3. GOG says this is because “there is no Nintendo Switch integration.”

Finally, the version of the game you get will be the same as the one you already own, so if you have the base game, you’ll get the base game on PC, and so on.

For the complete list of specifics, check the FAQ page (opens in new tab).

Here are our most essential The Witcher 3 tips (opens in new tab) if it’s been a while since your last playthrough.

The post The Witcher 3 is free on PC if you own it on console appeared first on Game News.

Kiciński told a group of journalists (via Eurogamer Poland (opens in new tab)/PSU (opens in new tab)) that a “relatively clear concept” has already been staked down for the next entry in the Witcher series, but that full production would kick off “immediately” after Cyberpunk 2077 hits the shelves.

Cyberpunk 2077 was recently delayed until September (opens in new tab), so it sounds like we can expect the next Witcher game to enter development around the same time.

Apparently, the new Witcher game won’t be a direct sequel to 2015’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (opens in new tab), and won’t be called The Witcher 4. Kiciński also said every game the Polish studio currently has planned will be based in either the Witcher or Cyberpunk universe. A smaller team from within the studio is being resourced for development on the new Witcher game, while continued development on Cyberpunk 2077 will be handled by two larger teams.

No further details were provided on the next Witcher game, except that it will be “embedded” into The Witcher franchise. One thing we can safely presume given the timeframe is that it’ll launch on next-gen consoles, including the PS5 (opens in new tab) and Xbox Series X (opens in new tab).

The Witcher 3 is one of the most widely-celebrated RPGs of the current console generation, having just recently been ported to the Switch and updated (opens in new tab) with PC cross-save and improved visuals.

We’re likely years away from playing the next Witcher game, but we can look forward to playing these upcoming games of 2020 (opens in new tab) much sooner.

The post A new Witcher game will begin development “immediately” after Cyberpunk 2077 is released appeared first on Game News.

If it’s contracts you’re after, we’ve also got a complete Witcher 3 contracts (opens in new tab) guide too!

Note: Many of these quests are located via Undiscovered Locations. To populate your map with these, check the Notice Boards in various towns.

Table of Contents:

White Orchard (opens in new tab)
Velen (opens in new tab)
Novigrad (opens in new tab)
Skellige (opens in new tab)
Hearts of Stone DLC (opens in new tab)
Blood and Wine DLC (opens in new tab)

The Witcher 3 tips (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 romance (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 armor (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 side quests and contracts (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 ending (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 best Gwent cards (opens in new tab) | Best Witcher 3 mods | Witcher 3 places of power (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 contracts (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 monster killing

Witcher 3 Master of the Arena (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 Ladies of the Wood (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 Wandering in the Dark (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 Following the Thread (opens in new tab) | Witcher 3 Family Matters (opens in new tab) 

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The Witcher 3 side quests

Next Page Witcher 3 White Orchard side quests

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I am around four hours into Control (opens in new tab), I have no idea what is going on, and I absolutely love it because of that. I have been picking up every note and file that I can – I’ve even been zooming in on the notice boards, which for the most part just has me reading book club announcements and guitar sales posters – all in the vague hope of trying to figure out what is going on. As happy as I am traversing the claustrophobic corridors of The Oldest House, it’s these little tidbits of information, and the chiming in of Jesse’s inner monologue, that is leaving me desperate to make sense of it all.

Similarly, now we have the Death Stranding release date looming over us like a beached thing, and everyone is scrambling to demystify the information being drip fed to us in the meantime. Whilst it seems the core objective in Death Stranding (opens in new tab) is straightforward enough – travel between the United Cities of America in an attempt to reconnect a disconnected society – it has the trademark Hideo Kojima twist of being elaborate, which is a nice way of saying, hard to follow. 

Though it seems that Kojima has recently gone out of his way to disprove my next point, which is that all of his games, which can often be confusing and full of particularly long cutscenes, are enjoyable. It’s difficult to say whether that’s because, or in spite of, how difficult to parse his games can so often be. 

Understanding a Metal Gear Solid storyline is like trying to tame a wild horse. It’s constantly trying to throw you off, and even when it succeeds in doing so, it just keeps going. However, when Snake (*cough* and Raiden) aren’t being betrayed by their comrades and country, they are fun characters to play as. Watching Raiden slip in seagull poo makes me forget that I only understood 5 minutes of the 5 hours and 24 minutes of cutscenes in Metal Gear Solid 2 alone. But much like the protagonists of Metal Gear that are blindly following orders, I too am just doing what the game tells me too – and having a good time because of it. 

It’s a mystery

We don’t play games to be in a constant state of confusion. Even if it isn’t conscious, our minds will always strive to make sense of even the most nonsensical. When I played Kingdom Hearts 2 in my early teens, I resigned myself to simply seeing it as a game where I got to visit different Disney worlds and fight a few enemies along the way. If I had attempted to understand the interweaving narratives, particularly as someone who hadn’t played the many spin offs, sequels, prequels, non canonical side stories and mobile games that the franchise has churned out, it would have seriously hindered my enjoyment of the game. At the time, I attributed my struggles to grasp the storyline to my youth and to being new to the franchise, but even now I don’t really know what it was I played through. I enjoyed it, sure, but I don’t feel any emotional connection to the Kingdom Hearts games outside of a childhood affection for it.

Whilst some games revel in confusing players with their labyrinthine plots, others are so ambiguous, they seem devoid of any storyline at all. Personally, I enjoy the challenge of a game that allows you to fill in the blanks and come to your own conclusions. Inside (opens in new tab), a game from the developers of Limbo (opens in new tab), is a mere three hours long and contains no dialogue. No written words; no explanations as to who you are, where you are or what you’re doing. It doesn’t force feed you story, in fact, you could probably play this puzzle platformer without identifying the existence of one. But therein lies the enjoyment. For those willing to spend time outside of those three hours deciphering and theorising, you can come to your own conclusions. Then, if you like, you can argue those conclusions with others, and ultimately conclude that you’re the only person who really got it.

Where games like Inside and Limbo present you with a blank canvas, games like The Witcher 3 (opens in new tab) are so rich and complex that it barely fits in the frame. The Witcher games present a narrative that almost seems to exist in spite of you. The core storyline is simple and the missions are easy to follow, but if you really want to understand the intricacies of The Witcher, you need to do your homework. 

When I first played The Witcher 3, I entered Novigrad with no previous knowledge of the franchise, and no real understanding of exactly what has the Nilgaardians and Redanians so angry. But the extra information you get from reading notes and talking to NPCs opens up a more complex world full of politics and betrayal. If it had all been laid bare in the main storyline, I probably wouldn’t be half way through the second book in The Witcher series right now. Plus, having a better understanding of the storyline than others makes the game in question feel special. 

Drawn in

Whether you’re being drawn in by the mystery of Control and Death Stranding, or the lore of The Witcher 3, games that aren’t quick to reveal their hand are undeniably intriguing. There’s a confidence that comes with a developer expecting you to put in the work to decode their messages. As though they’re promising you that in the end, it will all be worth it. So, can you really say you enjoyed a game if you never fully understood what you were experiencing? And does it matter, when trying to figure it out is half the fun?

I am curious to hear if there are any games you loved, but never fully understood. Alternatively, are there any games that you hated because they made no sense to you? Let us know in the comments below, I will see you there, and thanks for watching.

Check out more of our Dialogue Options, such as our discussion on the future of decision based games (opens in new tab) or our exploration of whether open-world games are really as open as they appear (opens in new tab)? 

The post Dialogue Options: Do you have to understand a game to enjoy it? appeared first on Game News.

“Our role was making sure that the Geralt in Soul Calibur 6 moves, feels and – ultimately – plays like Geralt from The Witcher 3,” CD Projekt Red’s animation director Sebastian Kalemba told Official Xbox Magazine (opens in new tab). “It’s not as simple as one might think. It’s not copy-pasting something from one game to the other. Timings, perspectives, responsiveness – these work very differently in a fighting game and in an open-world RPG. Basically, in order to make this work, it boils down to having to go back to the drawing board on many things.” 

As well as focusing on how he looks and feels, CD Projekt Red has brought back voice actor Doug Cockle to make sure that any mid-battle chatter matches up with our memories. 

If you want to find out more about the process of transporting Geralt from the Continent to the fighting arena, and how he actually feels to play, check out the exclusive feature in the new issue of Official Xbox Magazine (opens in new tab), on sale on April 6.  

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Will there be a Witcher 4 (opens in new tab)? We round up what the developer and the games suggest is in Geralt’s future.

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