The Witcher 3 Remastered Release Times: When the Free Upgrade Unlocks in Your Region
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is almost here, and CD Projekt Red has now confirmed exactly when the free upgrade goes live. The remaster unlocks simultaneously worldwide on Tuesday, September 29, at 10:00 AM UTC, across PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. There is no staggered midnight rollout, so everyone gets access at the same moment, just at very different local times.
The Witcher 3 Remastered Release Times by Region
Because the launch is a single global unlock, players in the Americas will be jumping in early in the morning, Europe gets it around lunchtime, and Asia and Oceania will be playing in the evening. Here is when the upgrade goes live in major time zones on September 29:
- Los Angeles (PDT): 3:00 AM
- New York (EDT): 6:00 AM
- Brasília (BRT): 7:00 AM
- UTC: 10:00 AM
- London (BST): 11:00 AM
- Berlin, Vienna, Warsaw, Paris (CEST): 12:00 PM
- Kyiv (EEST): 1:00 PM
- Beijing, Singapore: 6:00 PM
- Tokyo (JST), Seoul (KST): 7:00 PM
- Sydney, Melbourne (AEST): 8:00 PM
- Auckland (NZDT): 11:00 PM
Since every region unlocks at the same instant, switching your console or PC to another time zone won’t get you in any earlier.
Ciri in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered
How to Get the Free Upgrade on Every Platform
If you already own The Witcher 3, you don’t need to buy anything. On PC (Steam, GOG, and Epic Games Store), PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, the Remastered upgrade arrives as a free update to your existing copy. PS4 and Xbox One players won’t get the remaster, so you’ll need a current-gen console or a PC to play it.
For newcomers, there is also a new place to buy the game: The Witcher 3 launches on Battle.net for the first time on September 29, as part of CD Projekt Red’s partnership with Blizzard.
Nintendo Switch 2 gets a native version of the remaster. Owners of The Witcher 3 on the original Switch can claim it at no extra cost: digital owners can already grab a free pre-order in the Nintendo eShop, while physical owners can claim the upgrade from launch day. The Switch 2 version supports motion controls, gyro aiming, mouse controls, and touch screen support for menus, the map, and Gwent.
Xbox players get a bonus on top. With the Remastered update, The Witcher 3 on Xbox becomes an Xbox Play Anywhere title, so anyone who owns it on Xbox can also get the PC version through the Microsoft Store and the Xbox app at no additional cost, with saves syncing between the two.
What the Remastered Upgrade Includes
Remastered bundles the base game with both of its expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, which CD Projekt Red already made free for all owners back in August. On top of upgraded visuals and performance, the update brings enhanced combat, improved traversal, new witcher sign effects, revamped mount handling, enhanced monster behaviors, a reworked skill tree, transmogrification, new finishers, and an expanded photo mode. The remaster is being co-developed with Hungarian studio Yigsoft.
We already covered the surprise reveal at Gamescom Opening Night Live and what the studio’s producer had to say about how much of the game has been reworked. After the remaster, the next stop for Geralt is Songs of the Past, the paid third expansion set in the new region of Letten, which is due in 2027.
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Picture Source: CD Projekt Red
