The Witcher 3 doesn’t get old. Six years after release, players are still happily restarting and living out their monster-slaying dreams in droves. With updated consoles, however, it’s about time to traverse a much more graphically advanced world, and it looks like those updates will be coming sooner rather than later. Despite chatter online that the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S releases would be postponed to 2022, the next-gen ports were classified today by the European ratings issuer PEGI.
The new ports are being developed externally by Saber Interactive, and while no release date has been established, ratings are always a good sign that things are progressing smoothly. Despite the internet’s optimism, a CD Projekt spokesperson is reminding people to keep things realistic. “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. Release date is yet to be announced.” The game developer initially slated the release for the second half of 2021.
The new-gen release of The Witcher 3 will be available as a standalone purchase or as a free update for those who already own the game on PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. Recently, a video of the title being played on the upcoming Steam Deck was shown on Twitter.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was originally released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in May 2015. A Nintendo Switch version followed in 2019. Cited as one of the greatest video games ever made, it was nominated Game of the Year by multiple outlets and has sold over 30 million copies. Two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, were also released to critical acclaim.
