The Witcher 3 developer addresses next-gen update issues – and offers some solutions

Following the release of its much-anticipated next-gen update for The Witcher 3, developer CD Projekt RED has addressed the common issues players have been running into – even offering some potential short-term solutions.

On the game's official forum page, CD Projekt RED addressed known issues with The Witcher 3's recent next-gen update on both PS5 and PC. These include out-of-date drivers causing the game to crash, fixes for broken mods, low tracing on PCs with Intel GPUs, and PS5 versions of the DLC expansions not being available in some regions.

As well as acknowledging that some of these issues are still outstanding, the developer shared tips that could help to remedy others, with suggestions including updating your drivers to avoid crashes and restarting your game, or reverting to an earlier version of it, in order to get your beloved mods back – though this would mean playing an unsupported and outdated edition of The Witcher 3.

Problem child

(Image credit: CD Projekt RED)

For a game that’s nearing its eighth birthday, The Witcher 3 is looking pretty incredible for its age. In the award-winning RPG, you play as sword-swinging monster hunter Geralt of Rivia; laconic, gruff, and not-quite-human himself. Think Hitman 3’s Agent 47, but instead of being contracted to kill humans, you mainly go after bloodthirsty beasts that threaten the lives of the local townsfolk. 

The next-gen update for The Witcher 3 enhances the game to bring it up to the standard of higher-powered consoles, such as the PS5 and Xbox Series X│S. We already knew that brand-new content, with all those technical graphics reworks, might come at a hefty cost, especially if you’re already playing a modded version of the game. Still, it seems that PS5 and PC players, in particular, are suffering through some more annoying growing pains.

CD Projekt RED's forum post lists the existing problems players are experiencing. As previously mentioned, the developer suggests updating your drivers for the best experience – and to avoid frustrating crashes. However, you can report the issue if it persists, even with the most up-to-date drivers installed.

It also details that two versions of the game will be made available for people struggling to get it to work – or if you just really miss your mods.

Naturally, with so many assets getting reworked and rewritten, updates to modded scripts in particular will result in some of them breaking. If the promise of less junk loot isn’t enough to make you trade in your own mods for the baked-in ones given in the update, the developer has a solution for you.

One of the two versions of the game available, the DirectX 11 version, “has no Ray Tracing support and lacks some of the general graphical improvements introduced in the free next-gen update,” the forum post reads. This will work as a solution for “players with less powerful hardware who experience performance issues” and will allow you to run The Witcher 3 “with mods that are no longer compatible with the game".

However, for those who can't quite let go of their mods, but want to experience The Witcher 3's next-gen update, the post suggests starting a new game entirely.

While these fixes may help some, CD Projekt Red is currently investigating the issues thoroughly. So, if you're looking for a more permanent and reliable fix, then we suggest holding out until these are implemented.

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