Quests, secondary quests, boss tips, new activities – everything you need to make the most of Geralt’s final adventure.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt comes to Nintendo Switch this week, complete with the Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine DLCs.

Presenting an all-new landmass populated with quests and open-world content offering roughly 20 hours of gameplay, Blood and Wine takes us through a stirring tale of chivalric knights, creeping horrors and lots and lots of wine.

Consider this Geralt’s summer holiday. Collect some tasty loot, face the toughest beasts you’ll ever encounter, enjoy the company of a colourful cast and drink Geralt into a stupor. There might not be a bathtub, but there’s a quest where you can talk to Roach that’s just as wild as it sounds.

As part of our The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt guide and walkthrough, we’ve gathered together everything you need to know about Blood and Wine.

Blood and Wine main quest walkthrough

After downloading and installing Blood and Wine, look for a new post on notice boards throughout Velen to acquire this first quest. Alternatively, you can elect to play a standalone version with a levelled Geralt kitted out in okay-ish end-game gear. This is more challenging than attempting Blood and Wine with a Geralt who has seen and done the majority of Wild Hunt’s activities.

• Envoys, Wineboys

• The Beast of Toussaint

• Blood Run

• La Cage au Fou

• Where Children Toil, Toys Waste Away

• Wine is Sacred

• The Man From Cintra

• Capture the Castle

• The Night of Long Fangs

The main story quest branches here:

Beyond Hill and Dale branch:
• Blood Simple (optional)

• Beyond Hill and Dale

• Tesham Mutna

  • Pomp and Strange Circumstance

  • OR

  • Burlap is the New Stripe

What Lies Unseen Branch:

• Blood Simple

• What Lies Unseen

• Tesham Mutna

• Pomp and Strange Circumstance

The Blood and Wine main storyline terminates in a post-ending quest called Be It Ever So Humble. See our Blood and Wine endings guide for more information.

Secondary quests

There are loads of secondary quests in Blood and Wine, and some of them are real corkers. Here we’ll list their titles and recommended levels as we find them, along with acquisition notes.

• Knight for Hire

  No level. Notice board near the Cockatrice Inn.

• There Can Be Only One

  No level. Noticeboard in Beauclair. Start this as early as you can.

• No Place Like Home

  No level. Automatically acquired during main quest.

• Turn and Face The Strange

  No level. Automatically acquired while exploring Beauclair.

• The Warble of a Smitten Knight

  Level 35. Automatically acquired during main quest.

• Paperchase

  Level 36. Exclamation mark near armorer and blacksmith in Beauclair.

• Fists of Fury: Toussaint

  Level 36. Noticeboard in Beauclair.

• Raging Wolf

  Level 36. Complete Fists of Fury: Toussaint.

• Til Death Do You Part

  Level 36. Noticeboard in Beauclair.

• Goodness Gracious Great Balls of Granite

  Level 37. Exclamation mark or notice boards in Beauclair.

• Father Knows Worst

  Level 37. Noticeboard in Beauclair.

• Big Feet to Fill

  Level 37. Via the Bovine Blues Witcher Contract.

• Master, Master, Master, Master

  Level 40. Exclamation mark in a shop in Beauclair.

• Extreme Cosplay

  Level 40. Exclamation mark between Mere-Lachaislongue Cemetery and Trestamara Hunting Lodge.

• A Knight’s Tales

  Level 40. Notice board at Castel Ravello Vineyard.

• The Hunger Game

  Level 42. Speak with Marlene at Corvo Bianco after peacefully resolving a confrontation during La Cage au Fou.

• Mutual of Beauclair’s Wild Kingdom

  Level 46. Notice board near the Cockatrice Inn.

• Equine Phantoms

  Level 44. Exclamation mark on a road leading north west from Dun Tynne Crossroads. Arguably the best side quest in The Witcher 3.

• The Perks of Being a Jailbird

  Level 49. Examine the loose stone on the wall at the start of Burlap is the New Stripe.

Secondary quests – Wine Wars

• Wine Wars: Belgaard

  Level 37. Notice board near the Cockatrice Inn. Begins quest chain.

• Wine Wars: Vermentino

• Wine Wars: Coronata

• Wine Wars: Deus in the Machina

• Wine Wars: Belgaard (Part Two)

Witcher Contracts

• Big Game Hunter

  Level 37. Notice board near the Cockatrice Inn.

• Bovine Blues

  Level 38. Notice board in Toussaint.

• Feet as Cold as Ice

  Level 45. Exclamation mark near Nilfgaardian Embassy in Beauclair.

• The Tufo Monster

  Level 48. Notice board in Toussaint.

Gwent in Blood and Wine

A whole new deck, a new collection quest, a tournament and more. (If you need help learning to play, check out our Witcher 3: Wild Hunt guide to how to kick ass at Gwent.)

• The Skellige deck

  A basic introduction to the strengths of the Skellige deck – and how to beat it.

• Gwent: To Everything – Turn, Turn, Tournament

  Includes tips on how to play as Skellige so you can win the tournament.

• Gwent: Never Fear, Skellige’s Here

  Collect ’em all with our guide to Gwent NPC locations.

Treasure Hunts

• Treasure Hunts list

  Open world and random treasure hunts, with walkthroughs.

• Grandmaster Feline Gear

  Acquire top-tier light armour via a bit of burglary, and grant Geralt the hood he’s never dreamed of.

• Grandmaster Wolven Gear

  Another hot set of Witcher armour to adorn geralt’s toned bod.

• Grandmaster Manticore Gear

  Google “manticore” before you decide to go after this one.

• Grandmaster Ursine Gear

  Is Geralt a bear? He could be. Grow your beard out, for starters.

• Grandmaster Griffen Gear

  A nice upgrade to one of the most balanced armour sets in the game.

New open-world activities

Visit unknown markers around the map to unlock all the usual open-world activities like abandoned sites and guarded treasures – plus some new activities exclusive to Toussaint.

• Vintner’s Contracts

  A wine merchant will ask you to clear a nearby location, usually a monster den or monster nest, for a reward.

• Hanse Bases

  Large strongholds of high-level bandits with a name boss duel at the end. Beat them and exit to secure the area.

• Knight Errant in Distress

  Some bandits are beating up a knight! Try to kill them before the knight dies. Never mind if he does, just loot everything.

You can also check out our The Witcher 3 main quest guide, as well as our Hearts of Stone walkthrough.

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The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone adds a ton of new content to CD Projekt RED’s best-selling RPG. Here’s how to find it – and how to beat it.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt comes to Nintendo Switch on October 15, complete with Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, as if you needed another reason to play it.

As part of our The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt walkthrough, we’ve gathered everything you need to know about Hearts of Stone.

The expansion adds about ten hours of story content including the main questline as well as multiple optional secondary missions. It also adds loads of new open-world markers to explore, a new short term romance option for Geralt, many expanded locations, several Gwent cards and an entirely new kind of craftsman.

How to access Hearts of Stone content

To start playing Hearts of Stone you will, of course, need to have downloaded and installed the expansion.

There are three ways to get started with the new content of Hearts of Stone. The easiest way is to select it right from the game’s start-up menu; this will drop you in with a level 32 character.

Otherwise, you can load up your existing save or even begin a brand new game, following your quest journal to the Seven Cats Inn to kick off the adventure at the notice board. If you choose either of these two options, be aware that CD Projekt RED recommends a minimum level of 30 before starting, as the enemies in this questline are much tougher than regular foes.

• 7 tips for The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone

  Some points for returning players, even veterans.

Hearts of Stone main quest line

Below you’ll find links to our full walkthrough of the Hearts of Stone main questline.

• Evil’s Soft First Touches

  • How to beat the Toad boss fight
  • How to beat the Olfieri Mage

• Dead Man’s Party

  • How to romance Shani

• Open Sesame

  • Safecracker
  • Breaking and Entering
  • Witcher Seasoning

• Scenes from a Marriage

  • How to beat the Caretaker boss fight
  • How to beat the Wraith from the Painting boss fight
  • How to beat the Iris von Emerec’s Worst Nightmare boss fight

• Whatsoever a Man Soeth

  • How to get into Master Shakelock’s house
  • How to find Master Mirror

Secondary quests included in Hearts of Stone

Hearts of Stone secondary quests

• Enchanting: Start-Up Costs

  This quest is available right after checking the board at the Seven Cats Inn and unlocks the services of the new rune crafter. He’s a fun guy. You’ll need 5,000 gold to complete the first step of this process, mind.

• Enchanting: Quality has its Price

  Help your new friend acquire the materials he needs to get back in business – and maybe find some extra treasure on the way.

• Races: Swift as the Western Wind

  The friendly Ofieri merchant by the runecrafter is willing to gamble the best saddle you’ve ever seen.

• From Ofier’s Distant Shores

  A scavenger hunt offered by the Ofieri merchant near the runecrafter. Best accepted before you start the main quest.

• Rose on a Red Field

  You’re automatically given this quest after your first meeting with Olgierd. It can be completed fairly quickly so it’s worthwhile doing immediately.

• A Midnight Clear

  Shani’s romance quest. Available towards the conclusion of Dead Man’s Party if you don’t mess things up too badly.

• Without a Trace

  Found on message boards near Oxenfurt. A short, uncomplicated quest from a herbalist you’ll have to visit multiple times during Open Sesame. May as well get it started on your first visit and finish it before your second.

• The Royal Air Force

  A treasure hunt in an abandoned laboratory. You’ll pass this marker riding between missions; watch for a harpy attack.

• The Drakenborg Redemption

  A treasure hunt in a cave full of creepy crawlies visited during Enchanting: Quality has its Price.

You can also check out our The Witcher 3 main quest guide, as well as our Blood and Wine guide if you want to jump straight into the DLC.

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Geralt has reason to dislike Olgierd von Everlec, but there’s more to Gaunter O’Dimm than meets the eye. What will you do?

This page, part of our The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt guide and walkthrough and The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone guide and walkthrough, takes you right through the main story quest of the first DLC, Hearts of Stone.

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone begins when Geralt reads the notice board at the Seven Cats Inn near Novigrad. The adventure that follows is lengthy, convoluted, and completely stand-alone. It’s also pretty tough, with nastier enemies than most you will have encountered in your career, and some quick and hard choices to be made.

But the rewards – and the story – are worth it. Our walkthrough won’t go into exhaustive detail on ever location and random encounter (you’re a grown-up and can follow a waypoint) but will take you through from woe to go, noting likely side quest points, highlighting the best loot, and never missing an opportunity to play Gwent.

One top tip is to get the Ofieri runecrafter quest done before you start the main story, assuming you have the 5,000 gold needed to kick it off; his gear will be very useful in the battles ahead. Additionally, if you pick up the quest From Ofier’s Distant Shores from the nearby merchant before you start you’ll find you collect many of the needed items as you progress. Let’s get going.

Evil’s Soft First Touches

You begin this quest by visiting the Von Everec estate after reading the board at the Seven Cats Inn. You’re sent to Oxenfurt to dispatch a monster in the sewers.

Save before entering this dungeon, as you may find yourself outclassed by the enemies you meet and realise you need to level before tackling the expansion. You’ll encounter Shani in here; be sure to choose positive dialogue options if you want to romance her later. There’s little else of note in the dungeon – lots of trash loot, a linear path, and then the boss fight.

How to beat the Toad boss fight

Potions, consumables like Golden Oriole and abilities that strengthen you against poison are helpful here, but make sure you’ve also got plenty of health consumables on hand. Cursed Oil helps and the Toad does not like Northern Wind bombs.

Igni works fairly well against the Toad, especially if you have the burning chance variant equipped, as it’ll do damage while you get out of its way. Otherwise, Thunderbolt’s never a bad idea.

Be conservative; hit once or twice and roll far away. The Toad has multiple ground pound attacks which can stagger you. Try to keep to one side or behind it – it’s not easy, the way it jumps around – to avoid its poison spits and tongue attacks.

After the fight, you awaken on a ship. You’ll encounter a limited time decision in the dialogue with the guards. There don’t seem to be any consequences to this choice but the correct option is the third one.

How to beat the Olfieri mage

You’ll face a tough battle when you make landfall. The best tactic is to keep your distance and pick off the easy enemies first, then get the guy with the shield, using Aard to stagger him quickly, before going for the mage. You need to stay very mobile to avoid the magic constantly spammed throughout the fight, so keep rolling.

Meet with Gaunter at the indicated location at midnight – meditate if necessary – and then return to the Von Everec estate to advance the story. There are now two possible quests to pursue. Both of them kick off in Oxenfurt where you’ll want to be next, but only one ends there, so I recommend kicking off Dead Man’s Party first by visiting Shani.

Dead Man’s Party

This is a fun mission. After talking with Shani in Oxenfurt, meet her at the crypt (remembering to be nice to her if you want to initiate a romantic encounter later). Apply spectre oil to your silver sword before descending. Search the crypt thoroughly for some nice loot – mostly coins – before equipping the Censer and filling the room with incense smoke. When you activate the fount in the round central chamber you’ll have to battle half a dozen ghosts at once.

Converse with the remaining ghost for a while and you’ll find you’re off to a party. Your conversation choices here may affect your chances with Shani, so try to balance letting her know your feelings while remaining respectful.

After talking to the happy couple you can engage in various merrymaking activities. You can play cards, fetch a boot out of a lake (use Witcher senses and collect everyone’s shoes, if you like), herd some pigs into a pen (for best results don’t use Signs here), fetch back a fire eater who has gotten lost in the woods, juggle for the crowd’s entertainment, attempt to woo a woman, drink with two different groups, dance with Shani, optionally dance again and finally flirt with two different women. You also need to speak with Gaunter. Watch the capping ceremony to end this part of the mission.

How to romance Shani

If you’d like to complete Shani’s romance mission, A Midnight Clear, be sure to say that you can stay a little longer after the wedding ends. Pretty easy to complete if you’ve been pleasant and respectful so far; just look for a rowan tree in one of the three search zones and bring her some of its blossom as a gift, instead of a drink. Be honest about your intentions to lover her and leave her, and you won’t find her uninterested.

Whether you romance Shani or not, report back to Olgierd in Oxenfurt. Be sure to challenge him to Gwent while he’s here, if that’s your thing, then head onto his second mission.

• Next: Assemble a crew and complete a heist in Open Sesame.
• Back to The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone guide.

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Find every Gwent card in The Witcher 3 without having to consult long tables and shuffle through your deck to check what you’ve already got.

Now that The Witcher 3 is coming to Nintendo Switch, you’ll be able to play Gwent on the go, but you won’t get very far without a good deck.

The Witcher 3’s hardest quest is probably Collect ‘Em All, and it behoves us to include detailed instructions as part of our The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt guide and walkthrough.

It’s not that Gwent itself is particularly difficult (with our guide to how to kick ass at Gwent, you’ll be triumphant in no time), it’s that it’s very hard to track what you have and haven’t got, or know in advance what needs to be done to avoid missing unique opportunities.

Most “answers” to this problem give you a list of every card in the game, sorted by faction, and vaguely describing where to find them. Reconciling these lists with your current Gwent deck is a pain thanks to how cards are sorted in the deck menu, and there are so many missable cards that consulting this list at the end of the game can be heartbreaking.

Here’s my proposed solution: a list of everything you need to do to collect every Gwent card. If you follow this guide, you too can know the joy of seeing the Card Collector achievement notification.

There are three ways to acquire Gwent cards, in addition to those granted to you at the start of the game: purchase them from vendors, win them during quests, and win them during random matches. Let’s look at each in turn.

1. Buying Gwent cards from vendors

To complete your Gwent collection, you must purchase every card on sale in the Northern Realms. This is the easiest way to collect cards and CD Projekt RED has helpfully patched out an issue with the innkeeper in White Orchard after many players found themselves unable to obtain the Gwent cards there. Check out the merchants by the bridge in White Orchard if you miss the innkeeper.

When shopping for Gwent cards, make sure you exit the vendor’s storefront and then pop back in; sometimes you can purchase duplicate cards this way. Having multiple Decoy and Commander’s Horn cards can make your life a lot easier when you go after rare cards.

Here’s a list of all the vendors you need to visit to purchase every card. If you trot round all of these as soon as you have access to each major area, you’ll have gathered a pretty varied deck with little to no effort – just a bit of galloping past high-level threats.

• Innkeeper, White Orchard
• Innkeeper, Inn at the Crossroads, Velen
• Trader, Crow’s Perch, Velen
• Quartermaster, Crow’s Perch, Velen
• Trader, Midcopse, Velen
• Trader, Claywich, Velen
• Trader, Lindendale, Velen
• Missable: Olivier (innkeeper), Kingfisher Inn, Novigrad
• Marquise Serenity (innkeeper), Passiflora, Novigrad
• Innkeeper, The Golden Sturgeon, Novigrad
• Trader, Seven Cats Inn, Novigrad
• Innkeeper, Cunny of the Goose, Novigrad
• Stjepan (innkeeper), Oxenfurt
• Innkeeper, Kaer Trolde Harbour, Skellige
• Innkeeper, Urialla, Skellige
• Innkeeper, Arinbjorn, Skellige
• Innkeeper, Svorlag, Skellige
• Innkeeper, Harviken, Skellige

2. Completing Gwent quests

There are several Gwent quests where you’ll face better than average opponents, which will reward you with Gwent cards you can’t get anywhere else (even though random NPCs use them in their decks). Here’s the low down on each of them.

It’s possible to miss or fail these quests, or just complete them without playing Gwent – but as of patch 1.05 and later, fail-safes were added for most of the cards you could miss if a character became unavailable. All you need to do to track down the NPC specific card is to select the Gwent quest and follow the waypoint to the card. For example, if your actions cause the Bloody Baron to leave Velen before you win a card from him, you’ll find the card in his home.

There is an exception: as noted below, depending on what DLC you have installed you can miss Dandelion and a couple of other cards by failing to win a tournament during the quest A Matter of Life and Death.

• Gwent: Playing Innkeeps

  You receive this quest after the tutorial match in White Orchard. Battle Stepjan at the Alchemy Inn in Oxenfurt, the unnamed Barkeep at the Inn at the Crossroads, and Olivier at the Kingfisher Inn in Novigrad. Complete this quest before secondary quest Now or Never, or miss out forever.

• Nilfgaardian Nobleman

  It’s not listed as a side quest, but it does reward you with a card not found anywhere else, unlike random opponents. Note that you can come back to the palace and beat him at any time; you don’t need to do it on your first visit.

• Gwent: Velen Players

  You receive this quest by checking the notice board in Crow’s Perch. Battle The Bloody Baron at Crow’s Perch, the Old Sage at Beken, the Boatmaker at Oreton, and the prodigy Haddy at Midcopse; each of the players will point you to another one. If you do not complete this quest before the conclusion of Family Matters, when the Baron leaves his castle, search his rooms thoroughly after Return to Crookback Bog to find his card and a lead on the next player.

• Gwent: Big City Players

  You receive this quest by playing Gwent with Vimme Vivaldi, or by checking notice boards around Novigrad. Battle Vimme Vivaldi at the bank in Novigrad, Marquise Serenity at the Passiflora in Novigrad, Sigismund Dijkstra in the Bathhouse in Novigrad and the Scoia’Tael Trader in the camp near Lucian’s Windmill. Complete this quest before Reason of State or risk missing out forever.

• Gwent: Old Pals

  Receive this quest by challenging Zoltan Chivay or Vernon Roche. Battle Zoltan Chivay at the Thyme and Rosemary in Novigrad any time after reporting back to him during Broken Flowers; Vernon Roche at the Temerian Partisan Camp outside Novigrad any time he is not absent due to quests such as A Deadly Plot and An Eye for an Eye (feel free to wander in as soon as you cross the Pontac); Lambert either in The Nowhere Inn during Pulling the Thread (you have to tell him you’ll meet him at your next objective, then talk to him as he walks out) or at Kaer Morhen; and Thaler either during A Deadly Plot or at the Seven Cats Inn thereafter. Complete this quest before The Battle of Kaer Morhen and Reason of State or risk missing out forever.

• Gwent: Skellige Style

  Receive this quest by challenging Crach an Craite or Ermion. Battle Crach an Craite at Kaer Trolde; Ermion at Kaer Trolde or Gedyneith; Sjusta the Tailor (barber) at Kaer Trolde Harbour; Germist the Druid at Gedyneith after completing the secondary quest Practicum in Advanced Alchemy; and “Madman” Lugos at Kaer Muire. Complete this quest before Battle Preparations or miss out forever.

• A Matter of Life and Death

  The only way to get the Dandelion card, plus some other cards depending on which DLC you have installed, is to be victorious at the three-game tournament optionally playable during secondary quest A Matter of Life and Death.

• A Dangerous Game

  Complete this side quest for Zoltan Chivay to receive three cards not available anywhere else. At the end of the mission, you can elect to keep the cards or take the money. Keep the cards.

• Shock Therapy

  Complete this quest at Gedyneith, harassing a druid into speaking, to receive the Iorveth card.

• Gwent: High Stakes

  This secondary quest is available as soon as you arrive in Novigrad, but you need 1,000 crowns to enter and a tournament-ready deck. Save this one for later on, as you’ll need the best cards you can find; it’s not easy. Warning: This quest is easily failed, so make back up saves.

3. Winning cards from matches

The rest of the Gwent cards in the Witcher 3 are won by winning matches against opponents. There are a few things to bear in mind here:

• You can’t lose cards.
• You can only win one card from each opponent; after that, they’ll give you random items instead.
• The card you win is random, selected from the available pool.
• You’ll know if you’ve played with a particular opponent before if you win and don’t receive a card. However, there are more opponents than there are cards to collect, so if you’re sure you’re playing new characters and you’re not winning cards, you’ve exhausted this method of collecting. Try shopping or doing quests instead.

There are opponents to be found in almost every town – check innkeepers, merchants, blacksmiths and armourers specifically.

That’s it! Not so difficult, right? Just ensure you’ve completed each of the steps and quests above and that elusive Gwent Collect ‘Em All trophy will be yours.

You can also check out our The Witcher 3 main quest guide, as well as our Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine guides if you want to jump straight into the DLC.

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Four new photos from the Witcher Netflix series have been published online ahead of its highly-anticipated launch later this year.

Details about the show have received quite a mixed response from fans so far. Consider the infamous short video during which Henry Cavill drank a decoction, and an army of very upset Twitter folk marched ferociously into hashtag trending words blazing, citing his quite-clearly-not-the-actual wig as a riposte against all things good in the world of The Witcher.

However, fans on Reddit seem at least marginally happier with the new material, which you can see below.

It’s a little unclear what’s happening in the top-left photo. If anything it just looks like ordinary folk are congregating for a chat, and somehow cameras and microphones have magically been invented on The Continent, likely having mysteriously emerged as a byproduct of the Conjunction of the Spheres. Top-right shows Geralt with a big sword surrounded by angry looking armor-wearers, who he’ll probably beat up by twirling around like a windmill with serrated sails.

Bottom-left is Ciri, alone in a forest, perhaps on the outskirts of Brokilon if early Witcher literature is anything to go by. Seeing the weird majesty of Brokilon visualized will be a treat for series vets and newcomers alike. Bottom-right is a battle, which is good, because battles are good. Most of the time.

Despite this wave of new Witcher photos, very little has been revealed about The Witcher aside from the fact that it’s slated for a late 2019 release, with a potential leak pointing specifically towards December 17. Given that it’s already late October, it’s probably going to spontaneously explode at some point in the near future and hurtle headlong towards launch before anyone even realizes what’s happening. Not a bad idea given how angrily people responded to showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich once they realized that Geralt only had one sword (the other is likely on Roach, which true fans, aka readers, already knew).

Will there be a rumble between book-lovers and gamers by the end of the day? #Swordgate2019

— Lauren S. Hissrich (@LHissrich) July 1, 2019

Oh, and we also know it will have a bathtub scene. While you’re waiting check out Jeremy Peel’s excellent piece on how the first Netflix trailer perfectly captured Geralt’s most relatable trait: reluctance.

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It looks like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is coming to Xbox Game Pass, according to a video advertisement.

The Witcher 3 may be heading to Xbox Game Pass if an advertisement that popped up on Twitch is any indication.

Spotted by reddit user tombonez, the advert for Xbox Game Pass looks legit. We expect Microsoft to announce it today.

Microsoft said it would be announcing Xbox Game Pass news during X019 today via Inside Xbox Live. So keep your eyes peeled.

The Witcher 3 revealed as coming to Xbox Game Pass via Twitch ad from r/xboxone

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CD Projekt Red recently announced that Cyberpunk 2077 has entered the final stages of development.

The team recently posted a video detailing their fiscal report for the third quarter of 2019, during which success stories tied to The Switcher and Gwent’s iOS launch where blanketed by the news that Cyberpunk 2077 is almost ready.

The highly-anticipated game has reached a point where the CD Projekt Red team is ready to start localizing text into supported languages. As a result, it seems Cyberpunk 2077 is well on its way to its scheduled April 16 release date, despite initial delays. In a world teeming with crunch culture, it’s difficult to know whether or not this is a good thing, but being localization-ready five months ahead of launch at least seems to indicate comfortable working conditions.

In other news, the video also features a report on the continued success of The Witcher 3. The Geralt simulator was the driving factor behind CD Projekt Red posting almost 93 million PLN for their fiscal report, which is close to £18.6 million and indicates a 38% increase from last year. Their cumulative net profit for 2019 is currently sitting pretty just past the 66 million PLN mark (about £13.2 million).

The video also notes that CD Projekt Red has recently purchased a lovely new office complex, which will apparently allow the company to continue expanding in future.

Cyberpunk 2077 launches on April 16, 2020 and will be playable on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia. It’s unlikely that it will come to Switch.

If you’re already excited and are looking for a way to make the wait a little bit less painful, you can satiate your hunger for details by reading about how Keanu wanted extra screen time, or how, much to people’s dismay, you can’t smooch Keanu in-game. We’ve also got some nice info about how companions and lifepaths can completely change your playthrough.

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Daemon X Machina players can now pilot their mechs as Geralt and Ciri from The Witcher 3.

This free content pack for Daemon X Machina adds outfits, body types, hairstyles, and more to the character creation tool.

Who wouldn’t want to pilot a mech as Geralt or Ciri? That’s pretty cool. In order to acquire The Witcher Collaboration Set, hit up the Nintendo Switch eShop.

Released in September, the mech game was created by Armored Core developer Kenichiro Tsukuda, and tasks you with defending the planet against corrupted A.I. controlled robots. You will do this by using Arsenal, a fully customizable mechanized battle suit.

You can equip your Arsenal with various weapons on its arms and shoulders, and these can be swapped on the fly, so you can choose what weapon is best for taking on the challenge at hand.

The game features both local and online co-op modes with up to four players.

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The Witcher Netflix show has caused a massive boost to The Witcher 3’s numbers on Steam.

Over the holiday break, Netflix debuted all episodes of the first season of its Witcher series. Despite being based on the books rather than the games, the discussion around the show created an influx of interest into the games.

More specifically, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. On December 22, two days after the show dropped, Wild Hunt broke its previous concurrent player record on Steam, climbing to just above 48,000 players. This previous figure was achieved at the game’s launch, and it’s often rare for a game’s numbers to reach launch highs ever again.

For Wild Hunt, however, this was only the beginning. Steadily and over the course of the break, the game continued to gain more and more players, setting a new peak concurrent of nearly 102,000 players, comfortably landing it in Steam’s top five, alongside behemoths like PUBG, Dota 2 and GTA 5.

The game has been, of course, on sale during that period for just $12, and $15 for the full bundle, but sales rarely boost concurrent player numbers.

These figures, more than sales data or really any other metric on Steam, are good indicators of relevancy and player interest. In 2020, The Witcher 3 is seemingly more relevant than ever.

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Toss a coin to your Witcher in the latest mod for the original The Witcher game.

The Witcher on Netflix has already made an impact on its gaming counterpart. Thanks to modding magic, you can play The Witcher 3 on PC with a Henry Cavill-faced Geralt. But what about the true star of the streaming series? Which, of course, is the song “Toss A Coin to Your Witcher” sung by Jaskier in the show.

One modder has taken it upon themself to bring the episode-stealing scene to life in the original game. The “Toss A Coin to Your Witcher Cutscene” mod introduces the ballad to The Witcher, along with additional dialogue options with its balladeer Dandelion (as Jaskier is known in the game series). A version is currently in the works for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

“I’m also planning a second cutscene with another song from the Netflix series The Witcher, as well as alternative cutscenes with a song from Alzur’s Legacy,” writes modder hub997. Check out the mod in action below:

The Witcher Netflix show has caused a massive boost to The Witcher 3’s numbers on Steam. Two days after the show dropped, Wild Hunt broke its previous concurrent player record on Steam, climbing to just above 48,000 players. This previous figure was achieved at the game’s launch.

The game continued to gain more and more players, setting a new peak concurrent of nearly 102,000 players, comfortably landing it in Steam’s top five, alongside behemoths like PUBG, Dota 2 and GTA 5.

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Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is now available on PC and across all consoles, including the Nintendo Switch.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales is set in The Witcher universe, but it’s a little different to the open-world trilogy and standalone Gwent game. It’s a 30-hour long RPG that employs Gwent: Homecoming as its mode of combat, rather than hacking and slashing your way to victory as Queen Meve. Thronebreaker finally came to the Nintendo Switch this month, so you can enjoy some Gwent on the go.

Whilst the game offers a short tutorial at the start, getting to grips with deck building and card synergy can be a little challenging. If you aren’t familiar with the standalone Gwent meta or if you’ve only played The Witcher 3 version, it can take a while to get used to the new dynamics and meta of Gwent: Homecoming. You’ll also need to consider upgrading the various tents in your base camp, which companions to side with and how to tackle the various puzzles and battles on the map.

We’ve listed some tips for getting started and will elaborate on Gwent card synergy later. You can check out our review of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales here, as well as our guide to finding the golden chests in Lyria.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales base camp

Your base camp acts as your hub and inventory management screen. There’s a Royal tent, the Mess tent, the Command tent, the Training Grounds and the Workshop. Each element of the base camp can my improved upon, with various perks or items becoming available as you unlock each upgrade.

The top right-hand corner displays the number of recruits you have, your resources and the amount of Gold you are carrying.

You need to access the Workshop to make any upgrades. Your tents, or skills, are upgraded through a skill tree from each tents submenu in the Workshop, and the Workshop itself can also be upgraded.

The Royal tent stores letters, keys, maps and quest information, and upgrading it will improve map visibility as well as allowing Meve to equip more Trinkets in battle, but more on that later.

The Command tent, as the name suggests, is where you’ll decide what troops you want to use in battle. That is, what cards you want in your deck. Here, you can build your deck by using existing cards or creating new ones, which costs resources and gold. By upgrading the Command tent, you’ll be able to increase your recruitment cap which means you can have more units in your hand, as well as decreasing the cost of recruitment.

Upgrading the Mess tent equally decreases the cost of having it, as you’ll want to expand it to allow for new companions. It’s a similar story with the Training Grounds; upgrading it will allow you to recruit more combat units, as well as earn more gold and gain more troops after each win.

The Workshop can be upgraded to increase Meve’s movement across the map, as well as being able to recruit support units, alchemy and magic units engineering units.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales resources

There’s a tonne of loot points around the map and it’s important to pick them all up. You’ll need all the Gold, wood and recruits you can get your hands on to succeed in Thronebreaker, so it’s worth spending 50 Gold on Scouts to reveal all the loot drops in the world.

Loot can be identified either by a hand icon on the map or above the item, as well as bright green ribbon on the item.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales dialogue, choices and companions

Throughout the story, you’ll meet a host of new characters and some familiar names. Without spoiling too much for you, there will be named and voiced characters who will become available as Gold cards, and will be visible in your Mess tent. You’ll be able to interact with these characters at regular intervals, and you’re encouraged to do so to form stronger bonds with them. Anyone that ends up in the Mess tent is what we’ll dub a key player.

The rule of thumb in Witcher games is to recruit everyone you meet, so it’s a good idea to recruit Black Rayla, Eyck, Isbel and Gascon as soon as you can. Be mindful of their intentions, however, as there is a general air of distrust and paranoia in the ranks.

The key players each have unique tactics and style and will try to influence Meve to follow their lead. You can, of course, choose not to recruit them or, as I did, accidentally not recruit them by choosing the wrong option. There isn’t much scope to load back and try again in Thronebreaker, so choose carefully when deciding on who to bring for the ride.

You’ll also encounter various NPCs that you can recruit to your army who aren’t key players, such as allowing peasants to join your ranks to spare them an untimely death or meeting the odd elf. Each interaction with a group of NPCs has consequences, immediate or not, with sometimes very positive or disastrous results for you and your army.

If you complete a challenge in a town, win a battle or defeat a monster, it’s worthwhile going back and engaging NPCs in dialogue three or four times because there’s a chance they’ll come and join your ranks. At worse, they’ll belittle your previous choice with a dry quip.

You’ll often see the phrase “You’ve chosen one evil in favour of another”, emulating the morally ambiguous nature of The Witcher universe. It’s even less obvious than in previous Witcher games which of the options is the “right” one, more so because you play as a monarch as opposed to a lone Witcher on the Path.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Gwent

As previously stated, the version of Gwent that Thronebreaker uses is Homecoming, which is the base format of the standalone version of Gwent. Gwent, at its core, is a very simple card game wherein you have to beat your opponent’s high score. It’s a little different in Thronebreaker and you’ll need more than high-value cards to win.

Gwent: Homecoming is starkly different from The Witcher 3 version. These cards have varying base values, as well as abilities. Some cards deal damage and others can be used for healing, as you’d expect.

Others have a rechargeable ability, or one that stacks over time, and many high-value cards have recharge abilities. Meve also has Leadership abilities which can vary between boosting your allies power, damaging the enemy and moving cards around the board.

The opening tutorial underpins the key concepts of Gwent in a very straightforward way, but what it lacks is an adequate explanation of how synergies work. It also doesn’t really explain the types of games you’ll have, namely battles, puzzles and random encounters.

Many of these encounters will be a Special Rules game, where you’ll need to use a preselected hand, or choose cards out of a predetermined deck. There may also be specific instructions, such as not letting any cows die, defeat all foes or reduce all enemies to one health. Quite often, a Special Rules game will last one round, adding another layer of difficulty to the match.

Meve has a special leadership ability and can also equip Trinkets to enhance gameplay, such as a runestone that deals high damage or a card that will heal your units and damage your opponents. There’s a fair bit of freedom to pick and choose what cards you want to use to best fit your style of gameplay.

The puzzles appear to be the most challenging element of the game, mostly because of the reliance on synergy to try and trip you up. Unlike many other puzzle or card-based games, none of the cards in your hand are a ruse. There has only been one match where I have not used every card in my hand, so don’t disregard a card just because it appears to be useless.

It is important to read and understand the use of every card in your deck. One of the most common cards you’ll see in a puzzle is the Wagenburg, so here’s a brief example of how you could use it in a puzzle.

Puzzles and Synergy

Say you had an enemy with a health value of 11 and the Special Rule was that the enemy had to be eliminated. Your predetermined hand includes the Wagenburg, a War Wagon, and Reynard.

Once a Wagenburg is played, every time another card plays on this row, it will gain one armour and one damage point. Ergo, the more cards you play on that row, the higher the damage it will do. You would then play the War Wagon, which pulls two low-value Light Infantry cards from your deck and plays them. By now, there are four cards on the board and the Wagenburg will now have a damage value of three.

You might be wondering at this point how you intend to damage your opponent at this point. If you look again at the Light Infantry card, you’ll see that it has a Deathwish perk, when upon being killed, it will inflict five damage points on an enemy. You can use a card’s perk, such as stacked damage, at any point during a round and if you have a recharge power like your Reynard card does, it is wise to use the power first, then deploy the recharge card to use it again.

So, what you would do is use the Wagenburg’s three damage points on your own row, destroying the two Light Infantry. These will inflict 10 damage on your enemy. You would then play Reynard, who would give the Wagenburg one damage point and recharge its damage ability. You would then use that remaining damage point on the enemy and win the match.

The solution to various battles or puzzles may not be obvious the first time around, but with practice, you do pick up the knowledge and experience to work out what you need to do.

CDPR have really pulled off something quite unique with this style of combat. There’s a real subtlety to Gwent in Thronebreaker, with card choices and layouts that aren’t as they appear and forcing you to think quickly to defeat a boss. And believe, there will be a lot of defeats, which makes the resulting victory even sweeter.

Thronebreaker is out now on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.

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The most downloaded games on the PS Store January were GTA 5, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and The Witcher 3, depending upon the region.

Sony has announced the most downloaded games on the PS Store for January, and GTA 5 topped both the European and US charts.

In the US, GTA 5 was followed by 2019’s most downloaded game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. In third was the new release Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, followed by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition and Star Wars Battlefront 2, respectively.

The Witcher 3 was the second most downloaded game over in Europe, and was followed by FIFA 20, UFC 3, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare rounding out the top five.

You can find the top 20 most downloaded games for the respective stores below. If you head through the links, you can also find out which VR, DLC, and free-to-play games were downloaded the most by PS4 users.

PS Store January download chart – US

1. Grand Theft Auto 5
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
3. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
4. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition
5. Star Wars Battlefront 2
6. Madden NFL 20
7. Minecraft
8. UFC 3
9. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
10. Payday 2: Crimewave Edition
11. NBA 2K20
12. God of War
13. Need for Speed Heat
14. Rainbow Six Siege
15. Red Dead Redemption 2
16. Rocket League
17. Resident Evil 2
18. Skyrim Special Edition
19. Need for Speed Payback
20. Marvel’s Spider-Man

PS Store January download chart – Europe

1. Grand Theft Auto 5
2. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
3. FIFA 20
4. UFC 3
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
6. Real Farm
7. Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot
8. Minecraft
9. Tekken 7
10. Rocket League
11. Star Wars Battlefront 2
12. Need for Speed Heat
13. Marvel’s Spider-Man
14. Red Dead Redemption 2
15. ARK: Survival Evolved
16. Rainbow Six Siege
17. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
18. Need for Speed
19. Gran Turismo Sport
20. Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration

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The update with adds new graphics options and cross-save support between PC and Switch has been released for The Witcher 3.

Update

Earlier today, The Witcher 3 patch for Switch started rolling out on Korea and Europe and is now available in all regions.

Here are the patch notes straight from CD Projekt Red:

Update 3.6 — list of changes:

• Added touch control support.
• Added save file integration with GOG, Steam and versions of the game for Switch from different regions.
• Added more text languages (in selected regions)
• Added more graphical options.
• Added multiple performance optimizations.
• Fixed various visual and functional bugs.
• Various gameplay and crash fixes.

While transferring saves from PC, please keep in mind:

• Mod-related bugs and blockers might get transferred from a modded PC game save file.
• If the save file name has been changed on PC, the Switch’s Cloud Save feature won’t be able to recognize it.
• Additional voice-over languages, added as free DLCs in selected regions, will follow later.

The original story follows.

Original

It appears a large update to the Switch version of The Witcher 3 is rolling out in Korea, and it not only updates the graphics but also features save compatibility with the PC version.

That’s the report this morning according to players in Korea who noticed The Witcher 3 update 3.6 had rolled out.

Last week, Saber Interactive mentioned on its Korean social media channel the next Switch update for the game would be “worth the wait,” but it quickly removed the status update leaving many to wonder why. It’s possible someone slipped up before a planned, official announcement (thanks, Nintendo Everything).

According to a translation on reddit, the game now not only features cross-save compatibility with the GOG and Steam versions but has eight different graphics options.

It’s also said to be rolling out in Europe as we type.

New patch for Witcher 3 on Switch offers cross-save functionality (import your Steam/GOG saves), improved graphics and new graphics optionshttps://t.co/ogYSkRLGFG

Left: old
Right: new pic.twitter.com/anjj4quoNK

— Nibel (@Nibellion) February 18, 2020

Whether the update will roll out for other regions soon isn’t known as of press time, but it would be odd if it didn’t happen.

We’ll keep you up-to-date on this as more information becomes available.

The Witcher 3: Complete Edition was released for Switch last year on October 15.

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CD Projekt Red has said there are no plans to bring cross-save functionality to The Witcher 3 on platforms other than Switch.

A patch was released today for The Witcher 3 that allows cross-save functionality between Switch and PC versions of the game. But CD Projekt Red said it doesn’t have similar plans for the PS4 or Xbox One versions of the game.

According to CDP, the option was designed for the Switch version “specifically, together with Saber Interactive—the team which was closely cooperating with us on the Switch port,” a CDP spokesperson told USgamer.

“There are no plans regarding similar functionality in the other versions of The Witcher 3.”

Today’s update for Switch also added touch control support, additional graphical options, multiple performance optimizations and fixed various visual bugs and crashes.

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The Witcher 3 has pulled the numbers on Steam.

According to CD Projekt Red, since October 2018, The Witcher 3 has pulled in over $50 million.

That’s accumulative revenue, as Steam takes a cut from sales. As a result, CDP said it is now getting an 80% share of sales through the service (thanks, resetera).

The accumulated revenue from sales of The Witcher 3 on @Steam platform for the period of time between October 1st 2018 and today has exceeded 50M USD. As a result, we are now getting 80% on any subsequent sales of TW3 on Steam.
Thank you all for your support! pic.twitter.com/JgNgrrI5h0

— CD PROJEKT IR (@CDPROJEKTRED_IR) February 20, 2020

The game broke its previous concurrent players record on Steam over the holidays after The Witcher Netflix series aired. The peak concurrent players hit nearly 102,000 players.

NPD also estimated sales of the game were up by 554% in December 2019, coinciding with the release of the the series.

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As we inch ever so closer to launch, new Cyberpunk 2077 info has started to crop up all over the internet. A lot of it is merely speculation but, occasionally, something slightly more concrete appears.

CD Projekt Red has remained pretty tight-lipped on the subject, which makes the legitimacy of new Cyberpunk 2077 info difficult to assess. However, a recent YouTube video posted by Madqueen Show introduces one of the many gangs that roam Night City: the Tyger Claws (called Tyger’s Claw in Mike Pondsmith’s tabletop RPG, but seemingly renamed for CDPR’s adaptation). You can watch the full video below.

“The Tyger Claws are a Japanese booster gang in Night City, settled in the district of Westbrook, also known as ‘Japantown,’ the part of the city where people go when they’re looking for thrills,” the video description reads. “As they are the protectors of the Japanese community at large, it is thought they are backed up by one of the most powerful megacorporations of Cyberpunk 2077: Arasaka.” Apparently the Tyger Claws eschew hi-tech cyber weapons for a more traditional style of combat: martial arts.

There are two main pieces of evidence that support the information in the video. First of all, an artist who goes by the handle “Death Burger” posted a collection of concept art they apparently worked on for the official Cyberpunk 2077 steelbook. It appeared over at ArtStation a few months ago and consists of four different pieces of cover art, each depicting one of Night City’s notorious criminal gangs: Tyger Claws, Valentinos, Maelstrom, and Voodoo Boys.

What further legitimizes this is the presence of a Tyger Claws poster that’s currently listed over at CD Projekt Red’s official store. “Riding out from the heart of Japantown in a psychedelic blur, the Tyger Claws are dead-set on staking claim to fresh territory,” the description reads. “Word has it they’ve already picked out the perfect spot on your walls.”

If you want to know more about the Tyger Claws, check out the video embedded above. If you’re curious about other Cyberpunky trivia, check out the recent revelation about the Cyberpunk 2077 map, or dig into the new Cyberpunk 2077 info Grimes spilled about her character.

Cyberpunk 2077 launches for Xbox One, PS4, PC, and Google Stadia on September 17, 2020. Check out our full Cyberpunk 2077 primer if you want to bring yourself up to speed. If you’re bored and are considering a return to the mean streets of Novigrad while you wait, check out our list of the best Witcher 3 mods.

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It appears that a Russian laboratory specializing in AI is working on making Geralt of Rivia… alive.

The Mind Simulation Lab is a company based in Russia who, according to their website, “make AGI (artificial general intelligence) and alive video game characters.” They recently shared a video on their YouTube channel in which they have a candid chat with a digital Geralt of Rivia in a virtual tavern. You can watch it below.

It’s pretty rusty at the moment, but it’s impressive nonetheless. The conversation begins with a simple exchange of greetings, after which the people at Mind Sim Lab ask, “What do you think about Corvo Bianco?”

“In Corvo Bianco I want to meet an old age,” Geralt responds. The answer appears in text format on the left-hand side of the screen, and is also relayed through a sort of robotic voice that isn’t particularly befitting of a 13th Century witcher. “I love to meet in Corvo Bianco with friends,” he adds.

Some slightly less coherent responses include, “Alghouls aggressive dangerous enemy,” and, “Alghouls afraid of fire silver.” I mean, I know what he’s trying to say, but he’s not quite as articulate as the gruff and grunting monster hunter we’re familiar with.

Also worth noting, is that apparently Novigrad is the “city of anger.”

What the AI rendering does get right is that its version of Geralt is very considerate, and actually asks you questions, too. He’s very concerned about his old pal Zoltan, who he hasn’t seen since an unspecified battle/cabaret hybrid event. “How is he doing?” AI Geralt asks.

If you were curious about how Yen is, by the way, fear not: Geralt gives you loads of information. “She is fine,” he says.

Regardless of its current state, which is a tad rough, Mind Sim’s attempt to bring Geralt to life is remarkably impressive. He genuinely is sitting across from you, pint in hand, ready and willing to chat about wine and alghouls. It’s quite lovely, really.

If you’re after more Witcher news, season 2 of Netflix’s Witcher series recently halted production due to the coronavirus, after bringing four new witchers to set shortly beforehand. If you want to play the Geralt sim in the meantime, check out our list of the best Witcher 3 mods.

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So that’s why we never get to see a full-on view of Geralt.

Apparently, Geralt is a never-nude in The Witcher 3 because rating boards frown upon it – not because he’s afraid or ashamed to run around in the nip.

According to CD Projekt Red, speaking with Gamestar, the ratings board in Germany frowns upon players being able to control a naked player in the game. But it’s not just Germany, as there are restrictions in place with rating boards in other countries as well. So, it was probably easier to conform with one region’s rules instead of developing extra bits for regions where it might be considered acceptable.

That’s why you always see Geralt in saggy, dingy boxers instead of partially or fully nude. You do get the one-off when he hops on the unicorn with Yennefer, but that’s it. And of course, there is never a shot of his, um, well you know, shown. Which could be a good thing, depending on which camp you’re in.

However, it is okay for NPCs to run around in their birthday suits because you don’t physically control them.

Speaking with Gamestar, quest designer Phillip Weber said the moment a player has “active control, [the game] is always evaluated differently.”

In Germany, controlling a naked character is considered detrimental, or in the USK’s own words “development-impairing” and possibly even “youth-endangering.” This is despite The Witcher being a mature-rated series, meaning underage folks shouldn’t be playing it to begin with.

While a full-on naked Geralt not being available may be disappointing for some Witcher players, at least we have bathtub Geralt to lust over. Imagination is sometimes better than the full monty anyway.

Thanks, PCgamesN.

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You can no longer get The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for $5 on the Epic Games Store.

The Epic Games Store Mega Sale kicked off last week, dropping the prices of many games on the store. Epic also brought back the $10 coupon promo, which gives everyone a free $10 discount on any game at $14.99 or above.

Anytime you use that coupon to buy something, you get another, and another for every time you buy something, which effectively means anything above $15 is $10 cheaper. Unfortunately, this got at least one developer to drop the price of its game just enough to take it out of the list of eligible games.

One such as developer is CD Projekt Red, which reduced the price of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Game of the Year Edition to $14.98, one cent below $14.99, its price at the start of sale. For a time, applying the $10 coupon meant that you could get the game for the unbeatable price of just $5.

After pointing out to his followers how great of a deal that was, @Wario64 then noticed that the price changed, and that the $10 coupon no longer applies.

Looks like the coupon doesn't work for The Witcher 3 anymore…the price got lowered by 1 cent to $14.98, disabling the use of the Epic coupon (only works on $14.99 or more) https://t.co/Or1RuvGaL9

— Wario64 (@Wario64) May 16, 2020

Epic Games previously said that the $10 doesn’t get taken out of developers’ cut, meaning that it’s paid for entirely. With that in mind, however, developers also like to protect the perception of how cheap/expensive their games are, so that could be the reason why this change was made.

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Who’s up for The Witcher 4 with Ciri as a lead character? I am.

“Have you ever considered continuing The Witcher series with Ciri as a lead?”

That’s a question I posed to principal writer Jakub Szamałek during a recent Q&A with The Witcher 3 developer CD Projekt Red.

“Interesting question,” he replied, teasingly. “Would you like to play a game with Ciri as a lead character?”

Yes, mate. Yes I would.

Elsewhere in our chat, Szamałek spoke about his biggest regret, looking back at development on The Witcher 3.

“I regret we didn’t get to explore Ciri’s past a bit more,” he explained. “She’s such an amazingly rich and complex character.

“Due to obvious reasons – well, she’s pretty much gone for two thirds of the game – she didn’t get quite as much screen time as we writers would have liked. But hey, maybe it’s something we’ll get to get back to in the future.”

Personally, I’d love a Witcher game where you hop between worlds as Ciri. You could explore weird and wonderful dimensions and really go wild with the storytelling. Perhaps you could even play around with the timelines, letting us experience more of Ciri’s past while also showing us what happens in her future.

Perhaps a prequel would make more sense, however, since her position in that world is wildly different depending on what options you choose over the course of The Witcher 3, and I can’t see CD Projekt Red settling on a canon when that story is so personal to many.

What would you like to see from a new Witcher game? Let us know in the comments. Keep an eye on the site tomorrow for lots of Witcher 3 content, to celebrate the game’s fifth anniversary, including our full interview.

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