CD Projekt Red published the full list of changes in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered on September 28, 2026, a day before the free upgrade releases on September 29, and the line returning players need is flagged “IMPORTANT”: “your skill points have been reset.” The list went up on CD Projekt Red’s official site and on Steam at 11:01 AM Eastern.
Why Your Skills Reset
Skills now sit in a true skill tree, and each skill has three ranks. Unlocking a new skill “now requires having the necessary prerequisite skills rather than spending a set number of skill points,” so pouring points into a branch to open its next tier is gone. CD Projekt Red also rebalanced bonus values, effects and synergies, and renamed some skills “to better reflect their effects.” Builds from old guides will not map cleanly.
What Else Changes
- Reforging. Master craftsmen Yoana and Hattori can change gear’s appearance without touching its stats. Appearances unlock from equipment and diagrams in your inventory, and applied Blood and Wine dyes carry over.
- Combat. Every non-boss monster gets polished attack patterns, counterattacks, movement and reactions. Geralt gains new finishers and smoother gap closing, and holding dodge then pressing sprint breaks you away from a fight.
- Roach. Cantering and galloping take a press instead of a hold, and you can loot without dismounting.
- Interface. Meditation plays as a timelapse instead of a menu, nearby loot can be grouped into one window, and a new Accessibility section adds the Bard’s Ballad preset (infinite breath, unlimited durability, ignored item weight and more).
- Tech. Native DirectX 12 and ray-traced HairWorks arrive, PC adds path tracing, DLSS 4.5, FSR 4 and XeSS 2.0, and an in-game mod.io Mods menu handles cross-platform mods. PC system requirements have changed.
What This Means for Players
Treat your first session as a rebuild: read our breakdown of the new skill trees and our guide to respeccing your skills before spending anything, and check whether your saves carry over. One warning: the fix for the Wine is Sacred cellar blocker is not retroactive, so a save already stuck there needs an earlier save.
Bard’s Ballad can be switched on when starting a new game on Just the Story, which our difficulty guide covers. PC players should check graphics modes on every platform, and console players can read how mods work on PS5, Xbox and Switch 2.
When and Where
The upgrade arrives on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, Battle.net), PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Switch 2, free for anyone who bought any version of the game, physical or digital, in the same platform ecosystem. See how to claim the free upgrade and the global release times.
Source: CD Projekt Red, “See what’s new in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered!”, thewitcher.com and Steam, September 28, 2026.