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One of the biggest surprises from this year's Gamescom ONL showcase was the announcement of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Remastered for the Switch 2; a reveal made all the more sweet thanks to the confirmation that it would be free for current owners.
In speaking with The Game Business, CD Projekt Red CEO Michał Nowakowski stated that charging current owners for the remastered version simply never entered the developers' minds. In his mind, the studio will be fulfilling its commercial goals with the release of the upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past from developer Fool's Theory, in 2027. The remaster, meanwhile, is viewed more as a gift for current fans.
“It was never a question we asked ourselves. We were going deeper into the development of Songs of the Past with Fool’s Theory, and we started chatting: ‘Why don’t we make the game more modern? Everything felt like it was developed 10 years ago’. Because it was developed more than 10 years ago.
"We started chatting about what we could do to improve it. It started with small things and then it turned into this larger project, and we suddenly realized we had a remaster on our hands.
“But coming back to your original commercial question, we never thought about it this way. The commercial bit is the expansion, but with the game, we really felt this is the CDPR way to gift it to the players who already own it. It was just never a question we asked ourselves.”
And that's just awesome, y'know? It makes other Switch 2 ports from the likes of Square Enix and Sega look particularly cynical by comparison – especially when you consider just how extensive this remaster from CDPR really is.
Not only is the team implementing improved visuals on Switch 2, but it's also adding mouse controls, gyro, motion commands, and more. Combat has been overhauled, traversal has been improved, and the levelling system has been changed.
Meanwhile, you've got Square Enix charging current owners of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster full price for a Switch 2 release that includes barely noticeable resolution enhancements. C'mon.
So yeah, keep it up, CDPR. We're itching to get our hands on The Witcher III: Wild Hunt - Remastered when it launches on 29th September 2026, and we'll keep an eye out for more news on the expansion in the coming months.