The information embargo on reviews for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Remastered lifted September 28, 2026, at 6:00 AM ET (3:00 AM PT), clearing the way for outlets worldwide to publish verdicts a full day ahead of the game’s global release on Tuesday, September 29. CD Projekt Red had first announced the remaster on August 25, 2026, giving players roughly five weeks of lead time between the reveal and that September 29 launch date. The timing was first reported by GameGPU, and corroborated by MP1st, which mapped out release windows across eight time zones. Weeks into general availability, and with Hotfix 5.00c (reported on October 1, 2026) and then Patch 5.01 (October 19, 2026) both released since launch, the headline from embargo week hasn’t moved: independent testing keeps landing on the same number for Nvidia’s flagship GPU.
The story splitting hardware forums isn’t the review drop, though. It’s what CD Projekt Red’s engineers packed into the PC version. Path tracing, ray reconstruction, and ray-traced hair have turned an eleven-year-old open-world RPG into one of the heaviest GPU stress tests of 2026, and benchmark numbers from GameGPU and, separately, Hardware Unboxed show even Nvidia’s RTX 5090 struggling to hold 60 frames per second at native settings. That combination, a beloved franchise re-releasing for free alongside genuinely punishing hardware requirements, is why this launch still matters well beyond its first-week news cycle.
Don't miss new tech stories on Google
Add Tech Insider once in the Google app and our stories appear in your news suggestions.
Review embargo timeline: what lifted when
According to GameGPU’s report, the “official ban on publishing reviews of the updated version The Witcher 3 Remastered is scheduled to be lifted tomorrow at 6:00 AM ET” relative to its original posting, which placed the actual lift on September 28. That gave reviewers roughly 24 hours of published critique before the update went live for the public on September 29. It’s a compressed but not unusual window for a remaster of this scale, and it mirrors the embargo pattern CD Projekt Red used for the 2022 next-gen update, when reviews also arrived roughly a day ahead of the patch.
MP1st’s breakdown listed the following regional windows for both the review embargo lift and the full public release:
| Region | Review Embargo Lift (Sept 28) | Global Release (Sept 29) |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 3:00 AM PDT | 3:00 AM PDT |
| Boston | 6:00 AM EDT | 6:00 AM EDT |
| London | 11:00 AM BST | 11:00 AM BST |
| Warsaw | 12:00 PM CEST | 12:00 PM CEST |
| Beijing | 6:00 PM CST | 6:00 PM CST |
| Tokyo | 7:00 PM JST | 7:00 PM JST |
| Melbourne | not listed | 8:00 PM AEST |
| Auckland | not listed | 11:00 PM NZDT |
Notably, GameGPU framed this as a version 5.0-class update rather than a standalone release, meaning it installed as a large-scale patch over the existing game rather than requiring a fresh purchase for anyone who already owned The Witcher 3 on qualifying platforms.
What CD Projekt Red actually rebuilt in the remaster
CD Projekt Red has described this as the most significant overhaul to The Witcher 3 since the December 2022 next-gen patch, and the scope backs that up. Reporting from Insider Gaming lists more than 30 confirmed changes spanning combat, movement, and progression systems, not just visuals.
- Combat: a full rework with a new adaptive camera during fights, smoother transitions between targets, and new finishing moves.
- Skill tree: rebuilt with interlocking branches, replacing the original’s socket-based system with something structurally closer to Cyberpunk 2077’s progression model.
- Movement: revamped horse physics and handling for Roach, plus improved traversal options.
- Systems: a transmog system, reworked looting, new quest tracking, a modernized tutorial, and an “immersive meditation” mode.
- AI: enhanced monster behavior patterns.
- Accessibility and UI: new accessibility options and an overhauled UI navigation layer.
By contrast, the 2022 next-gen update left gameplay systems essentially untouched. That patch added selective ray tracing for shadows, reflections, and ambient occlusion on the DX12 path while keeping DirectX 11 available as an alternative, but it didn’t touch combat, the skill tree, traversal, or looting. The 2026 Remastered edition is the first version since 2015 to change how the game actually plays, not just how it looks.
The graphics stack: path tracing arrives for real this time
The 2022 update’s ray tracing was selective, applied to specific effects while leaving most of the lighting model untouched. The 2026 remaster’s headline PC feature is full path tracing, a much more complete light-simulation technique that traces bounced light rather than faking it with baked approximations. It’s paired with ray reconstruction to reduce noise in the final image, plus ray-traced hair, a reworked global illumination model with a new shading approach, subsurface scattering, an updated tone mapper, and a rebuilt foliage shading system. Native DX12 support replaces the DX11 fallback CD Projekt Red kept around in 2022.
On the upscaling side, the remaster ships with Nvidia DLSS 4.5 (together with Ray Reconstruction), AMD FSR 4, and Intel XeSS 2.0 (together with Frame Generation and Low Latency), giving PC owners on all three GPU vendors a modern frame-generation and upscaling path. That’s a meaningful jump from the 2022 update, which predated all three of those upscaler generations. Full path tracing on an older title isn’t unprecedented either: a similar approach recently landed in GTA 2 through RTX Remix, proving the technique scales down to decades-old engines just as readily as it scales up to modern ones.
RTX 5090 benchmarks: 59 FPS at 4K, even with DLSS Performance
This is where the hardware story gets uncomfortable for anyone hoping to run path tracing natively. According to benchmark data published by GameGPU, Nvidia’s flagship RTX 5090 32GB averaged 59 FPS at 4K with occasional dips to 49 FPS, tested with the RT graphics preset set to Ultra, path tracing active, and DLSS set to Performance mode, which renders the internal frame at roughly 720p before upscaling.
In other words, the single most powerful consumer GPU on the market, running its most aggressive upscaling mode and internally rendering at a fraction of the target resolution, still couldn’t hold a steady 60 FPS. GameGPU’s full comparison table at the same 4K, path-tracing, DLSS Performance settings shows how steep the drop-off is further down the product stack:
| GPU | VRAM | Avg. FPS (4K, Path Tracing, DLSS/FSR Performance) |
|---|---|---|
| RTX 5090 | 32GB | 59 (dips to 49) |
| RTX 5080 | 16GB | 43 |
| RTX 5070 Ti | 16GB | 40 |
| RTX 5070 | 12GB | 29 |
| Radeon RX 9070 XT | 16GB | 23 |
| RTX 5060 Ti | 16GB | 22 |
| Radeon RX 9070 | 16GB | 20 |
| Intel Arc B580 | 12GB | 7 (dips to 4) |
For context on just how demanding that path-tracing preset is relative to a GPU’s typical output, Tom’s Hardware’s own RTX 5090 review measured the card at roughly 25-26% faster than the RTX 4090 across its full 4K ultra test suite, a gain measured across standard rasterized and ray-traced titles, not The Witcher 3 Remastered’s path-traced preset specifically. The Witcher 3 Remastered’s path tracing mode is a considerably heavier workload than that general test suite, which is exactly why a similar generational uplift still isn’t enough to clear 60 FPS here. Source: Tom’s Hardware.
Hardware Unboxed ran an independent benchmark pass on the same build and landed on the same number: a 59 FPS average at 4K with path tracing and DLSS Performance, missing 60 FPS by a single frame. Club386 and iXBT Games both picked up the Hardware Unboxed figures on September 28, and GameGPU shared the same results from its own X account that day too, so the 59 FPS figure now has four independent outlets behind it rather than one. Hardware Unboxed also published a 1% low of 49 FPS, matching the dip GameGPU had already flagged, confirming the shortfall is a sustained pattern across the test run rather than a single stutter.
That testing also explains where the average comes from. Novigrad, the game’s largest city and the single heaviest area for path tracing, is what drags the RTX 5090’s number down to 59 FPS. Step outside Novigrad and Hardware Unboxed measured performance climbing to around 80 FPS at the same 4K, path-traced, DLSS Performance settings, a swing of more than 20 frames depending on location. Treat 59 FPS as the worst case tied to the game’s most demanding district, not a flat number that holds everywhere in the open world.
Nvidia’s 385 FPS claim and the 59 FPS benchmark aren’t a contradiction
Nvidia has separately promoted a much higher number for the same card in the same game: up to 385 FPS, using DLSS 4.5 with Multi Frame Generation enabled. That figure and the 59 FPS benchmark above are both accurate, because they measure different things. DLSS Performance mode, the setting GameGPU and Hardware Unboxed used to reach 59 FPS, only changes upscaling: it renders the game internally at a lower resolution and reconstructs a 4K image, but every frame it outputs corresponds to a frame the game engine actually rendered. Multi Frame Generation works on top of that. It takes the frames DLSS upscaling produces and inserts additional AI-generated frames between them, frames the game engine never independently rendered, to multiply the number displayed on screen. That’s how the same RTX 5090 can average 59 FPS in one measurement and show up to 385 FPS in another: the higher figure counts generated frames that smooth motion on screen without a one-to-one increase in rendered game logic.
For path tracing specifically, that distinction is worth knowing before chasing the bigger number. Frame generation works from whatever base frame rate is already on screen, and a 59 FPS average with a 49 FPS 1% low, the figures GameGPU and Hardware Unboxed both reported, is a usable but not generous starting point to generate frames from. The 385 FPS figure is a real measurement of display smoothness on a high-refresh monitor, not a substitute for the 59 FPS native path-tracing number this article’s benchmarks are built on, and the two numbers answer different questions rather than contradict each other.
Nvidia’s published figures for the RTX 5090 in this game actually come in two flavors, both sourced from the company’s GeForce news page. At 4K, with the Ultra+ path-traced preset, Ray Reconstruction, and DLSS 4.5’s 6X Multi Frame Generation mode all switched on, Nvidia claims up to 385 FPS. Drop the output resolution to 2560×1440 under those same settings and Nvidia’s claimed ceiling rises to up to 420 FPS, a 35-frame gap that tracks with the lighter rendering load at the lower resolution. Neither number describes native rendering performance. Both describe the same AI frame-generation pipeline, measured at two different output resolutions, and neither is a substitute for the frame rates independent outlets have measured with generation turned off.
A third independent benchmark narrows the RTX 5090’s range to 55-59 FPS
The 59 FPS figure wasn’t the last word on the subject. Into October 2026, more than a week past the review embargo, DSOGaming ran its own independent pass on the remastered build and measured the RTX 5090 at 55 to 57 FPS at 4K on the Ultra+ preset with DLSS 4.5 set to Performance Mode and frame generation switched off. That’s a few frames below the 59 FPS GameGPU and Hardware Unboxed reported under their RT Ultra preset, but the conclusion lands in the same place: no outlet that has tested the RTX 5090 natively, without Multi Frame Generation, has recorded a sustained 60 FPS average at 4K with path tracing enabled.
The small spread between outlets, 55 to 59 FPS, is easier to explain than it looks. GameGPU and Hardware Unboxed built their 59 FPS average around Novigrad, the city this article already flagged as the heaviest path-tracing load in the game, and DSOGaming’s Ultra+ preset label isn’t necessarily the same settings tier as the RT Ultra preset GameGPU and Hardware Unboxed used, since CD Projekt Red’s graphics menu separates a standard Ultra tier from a heavier Ultra+ tier built for exactly this kind of maximum-settings testing. Different test routes and slightly different preset tiers naturally produce slightly different numbers. What doesn’t change across any of these independent tests is the outcome: the fastest consumer GPU Nvidia sells still can’t clear 60 FPS at native 4K with path tracing on, missing it by anywhere from one to five frames depending on who’s holding the stopwatch.
That convergence matters more than any single number. When three separate testing teams, using three different capture setups and at least two different preset tiers, land within a five-frame band of each other, it rules out the usual excuses for a disappointing benchmark: a bad driver build on one tester’s machine, a non-representative test route, or a one-off thermal throttle. The RTX 5090’s sub-60 FPS result in The Witcher 3 Remastered’s path-tracing mode is now one of the more cross-verified numbers of this launch cycle, which also explains why Nvidia’s own marketing leans on frame-generated figures like 385 FPS and 420 FPS rather than a native frame rate for this particular showcase.
Where Patching Stands for the Remaster
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Remastered released on September 29, 2026, and patching has continued since. A hotfix identified as 5.00c was reported on October 1, 2026, and CD Projekt Red’s own pages list Patch 5.01 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Remastered as live, with a separate announcement that Patch 5.01 is out now for the Nintendo Switch 2 version. Reports also describe continued platform-specific fixes, including Switch 2 changes, during October 2026.
For PC owners, the official page lines list added support for NVIDIA DLSS 4.5, together with Ray Reconstruction, and for Intel XeSS 2.0, together with Frame Generation and Low Latency. Another listed change makes it possible to set Stick Sensitivity to the value of 0.69. Digital Foundry reportedly found that a later patch improved performance in the demanding Hierarch Square area by roughly 10 FPS, raising the floor from the mid-30s to around 45 FPS on an RTX 5090 system, still below 60 FPS in that scene. Readers comparing their own results with the benchmarks above should remember that the 59 FPS result reflects the specific game build, patch, settings, and bottlenecked Novigrad test area, not a change in the RTX 5090’s product status.
The classic version is still described as an available rollback option in October 2026, but it is not the current remastered build. That matters when numbers are compared across sources, because a figure measured on the classic version, on the launch build, or on a later patch describes a different build of the game. The practical step is to check which patch a given benchmark was run on before treating two results as directly comparable, and to keep the game updated if the aim is to match what the latest reports describe.
PC system requirements: two baseline tiers, plus an official path-tracing spec
CD Projekt Red’s official minimum and recommended specifications, as published by KitGuru, cover standard rasterized and selective ray-traced play, not the full path-tracing preset GameGPU tested. For that workload, CD Projekt Red publishes a separate, dedicated requirement tier, detailed by TechPowerUp and summarized by PC Gamer in October 2026.
| Tier | CPU | RAM | GPU | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Ryzen 5 2600 / Core i5-8400 | 12GB | RX 5500 XT / Arc A580 / GTX 1660 | 70GB SSD |
| Recommended | Ryzen 5 3600X / Core i7-8700K | 16GB | Arc B580 / RX 6600 XT / RTX 2060 Super | 70GB SSD |
That official path-tracing tier names an RTX 5080, not the RTX 5090, as the target GPU for 4K at 60 FPS, paired with DLSS and Frame Generation running together rather than DLSS alone. Players without an RTX 5080 or better should still expect to run path tracing at 1080p or 1440p with upscaling rather than native 4K.
RTX 5080 spec vs. benchmark: what Frame Generation is covering for
TechPowerUp published CD Projekt Red’s detailed PC requirements in October 2026, and PC Gamer’s summary of that report lands on a specific pairing for the path-tracing tier: an RTX 5080 for 4K at 60 FPS, with both DLSS and Frame Generation switched on. That’s notable mainly for which card it names. Most guidance that circulated right after launch pointed to the RTX 5090 as the card CD Projekt Red had in mind for 4K path tracing. The official tier says otherwise.
Read against this article’s own benchmark table above, the number only works one way. GameGPU measured the RTX 5080 averaging 43 FPS at 4K with the RT Ultra preset, path tracing on, and DLSS set to Performance mode, with no frame generation involved. That’s 17 frames under the 60 FPS CD Projekt Red’s spec sheet claims the same card can reach. The two figures aren’t in conflict once the method behind each one is accounted for. GameGPU’s 43 FPS is a native rendering number, counting only frames the engine actually computed. CD Projekt Red’s 60 FPS claim already has Frame Generation folded in, the same AI frame-insertion technology behind Nvidia’s 385 FPS marketing figure for the RTX 5090 in this same game, covered earlier in this article. Turn Frame Generation on over that 43 FPS base and crossing 60 FPS on the display becomes realistic, even though the engine underneath is still rendering well under that number natively.
That distinction matters beyond this one card. CD Projekt Red’s headline requirement numbers, like Nvidia’s marketing numbers, describe the finished output on screen after frame generation runs, not the frame rate the game engine is actually computing. Treat “RTX 5080 for 4K path tracing at 60 FPS” as shorthand for “RTX 5080, with upscaling and frame generation both enabled,” not as a claim that the card renders 60 real frames per second on its own. The RTX 5090 is the only card in GameGPU’s test that comes close to 60 FPS without frame generation at all, and even then it lands at 59 FPS with dips to 49 FPS, the benchmark this article leads with.
The gap widens further down the stack. The RTX 5070 Ti averaged 40 FPS natively under the same 4K, path-tracing, DLSS Performance settings, and the RTX 5070 dropped to 29 FPS. Neither card appears in CD Projekt Red’s official path-tracing tier, and both would need frame generation carrying a bigger share of the final frame count to approach 60 FPS on screen. That’s a workable trade-off for a controller-driven, story-focused RPG like this one, where a few added milliseconds of input latency from frame generation matter less than they would in a competitive shooter. It’s still worth knowing the number on the spec sheet and the number the engine renders aren’t the same measurement, a distinction that applies to this requirement tier just as much as it applies to Nvidia’s own 385 FPS figure for the RTX 5090.
Console versions: PS5, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X/S, and a new Switch 2 SKU
The remaster isn’t a PC-exclusive showcase. It ships day one on a lineup that spans PS5, PS5 Slim, and PS5 Pro with PS5 Pro enhancement support, on Xbox Series X/S as an Xbox Play Anywhere title, where Xbox Wire confirmed the free upgrade for existing Xbox Series X|S owners on August 25, 2026, and, for the first time, natively on Nintendo Switch 2, a console whose dock setup has already seen its own share of post-launch fixes this year. Counting PC alongside those three console families, the September 29 launch spanned four platforms in total. Download sizes sit around 45GB on PC, PS5, and Xbox, and roughly 50GB on Switch 2, according to MP1st’s reporting.
The Switch 2 version carries its own pricing wrinkle. Per Insider Gaming, players who already own the original Witcher 3 release on the first Nintendo Switch can claim the Switch 2 Remastered version free of charge. Anyone without that prior purchase pays $59.99 (ÂĢ45.99) for the standalone Switch 2 edition. On every other platform, the upgrade is free for existing owners with no purchase history requirement, and CD Projekt Red confirmed back in August 2026 that both previously released expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, would ship bundled in at no added cost.
Eleven years, three versions: how we got here
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt originally launched in May 2015. Its first major overhaul came in December 2022 with the next-gen update for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, a free patch that added selective ray tracing and a DX12 rendering path while leaving the moment-to-moment gameplay untouched. The 2026 Remastered edition is the third distinct version of the game and the first to touch combat, the skill tree, and core systems since the original release. It also marks the game’s debut on a Nintendo handheld built around a modern GPU architecture, and its first appearance on Battle.net through a new distribution partnership between CD Projekt Red and Blizzard Entertainment.
Market impact: a free remaster arriving during CD Projekt Red’s strongest stretch in years
The remaster’s release lands in the middle of a strong run for CD Projekt Red financially. According to the company’s own H1 2026 results, published on cdprojekt.com, the group posted 435 million PLN in revenue for the first half of 2026, up 23% year-over-year, alongside 249 million PLN in consolidated net profit, up 37%, for a net profitability margin of 57.2%. The company’s CFO attributed the results to “strong sales of games from the Cyberpunk and Witcher universes” combined with licensing income.
As of midday trading on September 28, the day the embargo lifted, shares of CD Projekt (WSE: CDR) sat at 246.90 PLN, up 0.94% on the day, according to StockAnalysis.com. That puts the stock roughly 17% below its 52-week high of 297.00 PLN but comfortably above its 52-week low of 211.30 PLN, with a market capitalization of 24.42 billion PLN. The company, which rebranded from CD Projekt S.A. to CD Projekt Red S.A. in August 2026, has laid out its release roadmap through 2028: the Remastered edition in September 2026, the Songs of the Past expansion in 2027, and The Witcher 4 in 2028.
The free-upgrade model also has a secondary market effect worth flagging: it’s a pure engagement play rather than a direct revenue driver on PC, PS5, and Xbox, since CD Projekt Red locked in a $0 upgrade price for existing owners when it first detailed the remaster in August 2026, meaning the vast majority of the install base pays nothing for it. The commercial upside instead flows through re-engagement (bringing lapsed players back into an ecosystem that also sells expansions, merchandise, and licensing) and through the paid Switch 2 SKU for new buyers who never owned the original.
Why this matters for the current GPU market
The Witcher 3 Remastered’s path-tracing benchmark numbers arrive at an interesting moment for GPU shoppers, and amid an ongoing GDDR7 supply squeeze that’s already tightening RTX 50-series availability. Nvidia’s RTX 50-series has been on shelves for well over a year, and a title from 2015 pushing the top-end card to 59 FPS at 4K is a reminder that path tracing remains the most demanding workload in PC gaming, regardless of how modern the underlying game engine is. Nvidia’s official MSRP for the card is $1,999, yet retail pricing rose dramatically above it during September and October 2026, with third-party listings reportedly running from roughly $6,499.99 to more than $8,999.99, and availability stayed inconsistent, with several high-priced cards listed out of stock on October 19â22, 2026. It also reinforces why upscaling technology, not raw rasterization power, has become the deciding factor in whether path tracing is playable at all outside of a handful of flagship cards. It’s also why Nvidia leans so heavily on frame-generation marketing numbers like the 385 FPS figure quoted for this same card and game: native path-tracing performance alone, even on the most powerful consumer GPU on the market, still isn’t enough to clear 60 FPS without help.
For AMD and Intel, the results are a tougher pill. The RX 9070 XT, the strongest Radeon card in GameGPU’s test, landed at 23 FPS under the same settings, even though AMD’s own Advanced Shader Delivery tech has cut load times by 96% on that same card in other titles. Intel’s Arc B580 dropped to single digits here. That gap illustrates how much ground both companies still need to cover in ray-tracing and path-tracing-specific hardware acceleration compared to Nvidia’s current lineup, even as FSR 4 and XeSS 2 close some of the upscaling-quality gap. Anyone weighing an upgrade specifically for this kind of workload should consult a general GPU upgrade guide before buying, since case clearance and power delivery matter as much as the card itself at this performance tier.
How The Witcher 3 Remastered compares to other major remasters this cycle
The Witcher 3 Remastered sits at the demanding end of the current remaster wave. Where many recent remasters focus on texture upgrades, higher frame-rate targets, and modest ray-tracing additions, CD Projekt Red’s update pairs full path tracing with a genuine gameplay overhaul, combat, skill tree, and systems changes that go well beyond a visual coat of paint. That’s a meaningfully larger scope than the 2022 next-gen update delivered, and it puts the 2026 version closer to a “definitive edition” in substance, even though CD Projekt Red is distributing it as a free patch rather than a paid re-release for existing owners.
| Version | Release | Lighting Tech | Gameplay Changes | Price for Existing Owners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original | May 2015 | Baked lighting, no ray tracing | N/A (baseline) | N/A |
| Next-Gen Update | December 2022 | Selective ray tracing (shadows, reflections, AO) | None | Free |
| Remastered | September 2026 | Full path tracing, ray reconstruction, ray-traced hair | Combat, skill tree, looting, movement, quest tracking | Free (paid on Switch 2 for new buyers) |
What reviewers focused on once the embargo lifted
Based on the scale of the confirmed changes, coverage after the embargo lifted centered on two questions: whether the combat and skill tree rework meaningfully changes how the eleven-year-old campaign plays, and whether path tracing is practically usable for anyone without a top-tier GPU. GameGPU’s own framing of the story noted that critics would evaluate how much the developers’ changes refresh the game’s experience and whether they justify replaying the story campaign years after the original release, a fair summary of the central tension reviewers had to resolve once their embargoes lifted that morning. On the first question the verdict came back strongly positive: PC reviews produced a 94 Metascore, according to Polygon, while previewers reported approximately 39 hours of combined playtime, according to VULKK.
What industry watchers expected once reviews landed
These were the expectations circulating as the embargo lifted and reviews began publishing on September 28:
- Review scores were expected to cluster in the high 80s to low 90s range, rewarding the scope of the free update while flagging that path tracing remains impractical for most PC owners without an RTX 5080 or 5090.
- A short-term spike in RTX 5090 and 5080 search interest and possibly retail demand was expected, mirroring the pattern seen after previous path-tracing showcase titles.
- Switch 2 sales of the paid standalone SKU were expected to outperform typical catalog re-releases, given the console’s limited but growing AAA-scale library.
- CD Projekt Red’s Q3 2026 earnings call, still pending as of this writing, is expected to cite Remastered’s launch-week engagement numbers as the company builds investor confidence ahead of Songs of the Past in 2027 and The Witcher 4 in 2028.
- AMD and Intel face renewed pressure to demonstrate path-tracing performance gains in their next GPU generations, given how far behind the RX 9070 XT and Arc B580 trail in this specific workload, a gap the Hardware Unboxed and GameGPU benchmarks only reinforced.
The bottom line
The September 28 embargo lift closed out one of the more unusual product cycles in recent memory: a free update to an eleven-year-old game that CD Projekt Red treated, in scope if not in price, like a new release. The reviews that landed that week shaped public perception of the gameplay changes, but the hardware numbers hold up well into October 2026: path tracing at 4K remains a job for the most expensive GPU on the market, and even that GPU, now benchmarked independently by GameGPU, Hardware Unboxed, Club386, iXBT Games, and DSOGaming, can’t quite finish it at 60 frames per second, landing anywhere from 55 to 59 FPS depending on who’s testing.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did the Witcher 3 Remastered review embargo lift?
It lifted September 28, 2026, at 6:00 AM ET (3:00 AM PT), according to GameGPU and MP1st.
When did The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Remastered release?
The update went live globally on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2, and has remained available on all four platforms since.
Is The Witcher 3 Remastered a free update?
Yes, for existing owners on PC, PS5, and Xbox. It includes the Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions at no extra cost. On Nintendo Switch 2, it’s free only for players who already own the original Switch version; otherwise it costs $59.99 (ÂĢ45.99).
Can the RTX 5090 run The Witcher 3 Remastered at 4K with path tracing?
According to benchmarks from GameGPU and Hardware Unboxed, the RTX 5090 averages 59 FPS at 4K with the RT Ultra preset, path tracing enabled, and DLSS set to Performance mode, with a 1% low of 49 FPS. It does not sustain a locked 60 FPS at these settings, though performance rises to around 80 FPS outside the demanding Novigrad city scene. DSOGaming’s independent test later found a similar 55-57 FPS at 4K on the Ultra+ preset, confirming the shortfall.
What are the minimum PC requirements for The Witcher 3 Remastered?
A Ryzen 5 2600 or Core i5-8400, 12GB of RAM, an RX 5500 XT, Arc A580, or GTX 1660, and 70GB of storage, per specs reported by KitGuru. These minimum and recommended tiers do not target path tracing.
What GPU does CD Projekt Red recommend for 4K path tracing in the Remastered edition?
An RTX 5080, according to CD Projekt Red’s detailed requirements as reported by TechPowerUp and summarized by PC Gamer in October 2026, running DLSS and Frame Generation together to reach 4K at 60 FPS. GameGPU’s native benchmark, with no frame generation, measured the RTX 5080 at 43 FPS under the same 4K path-tracing settings, so the 60 FPS target assumes frame generation is switched on.
What upscaling technologies does the PC version support?
Nvidia DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4, and Intel XeSS 2.0 are all supported.
How is Remastered different from the 2022 next-gen update?
The 2022 update added selective ray tracing without changing gameplay. The 2026 Remastered edition adds full path tracing plus a combat overhaul, a rebuilt skill tree, revamped movement, and reworked looting and quest tracking, according to reporting from Insider Gaming and GameGPU.
Is The Witcher 3 Remastered coming to Nintendo Switch 2?
Yes. It released natively alongside the other platforms on September 29, 2026, and has been available since.
Does Nvidia’s 385 FPS claim for the RTX 5090 contradict the 59 FPS benchmark?
No. The 385 FPS figure, and Nvidia’s related claim of up to 420 FPS at 2560×1440, use DLSS 4.5’s 6X Multi Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction, which insert AI-generated frames to multiply the displayed frame rate. The 59 FPS figure reported by GameGPU and Hardware Unboxed, and the similar 55-57 FPS DSOGaming measured independently, reflect DLSS Performance upscaling without frame generation, which is the more representative range for native path-tracing performance.
Do any outlets besides GameGPU and Hardware Unboxed confirm the RTX 5090 misses 60 FPS?
Yes. DSOGaming independently measured 55 to 57 FPS at 4K on the Ultra+ preset with DLSS 4.5 Performance Mode and no frame generation, a few frames below GameGPU and Hardware Unboxed’s 59 FPS figure but confirming the same result: the RTX 5090 does not sustain 60 FPS natively with path tracing enabled.
Why does the RTX 5090 average only 59 FPS in some areas but not others?
Hardware Unboxed’s testing found Novigrad, the game’s largest city, to be the heaviest scene for path tracing. Performance on the RTX 5090 rises to around 80 FPS at the same 4K, DLSS Performance settings outside of Novigrad.
