''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' is a 2015
action role-playing game
An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre.
Definition
The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...
developed and published by
CD Projekt
CD Projekt S.A. () is a Polish video game developer, publisher and distributor based in Warsaw, founded in May 1994 by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński. Iwiński and Kiciński were video game retailers before they founded the company, whi ...
. It is the sequel to the 2011 game ''
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings'' and the third game in
''The Witcher'' video game series, played in an open world with a
third-person perspective
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...
. The games follow ''
The Witcher
''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a series of six fantasy novels and 15 short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are bea ...
'' series of fantasy novels written by
Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer, essayist, translator and a trained economist. He is best known for his six-volume series of books ''The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous "witcher," a monster-hunte ...
.
The game takes place in a fictional
fantasy world
A fantasy world is a world created for/from fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds involve magic or magical abilities, nonexistent technology and, sometimes, either a historical or futuristic theme. Some wor ...
based on
Slavic mythology
Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the B ...
. Players control
Geralt of Rivia
Geralt of Rivia ( pl, Geralt z Rivii) is a fictional character and the protagonist of ''The Witcher'' series of short stories and novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. He is a magically enhanced monster-hunter known as a "witcher", who posse ...
, a monster slayer for hire known as a Witcher, and search for his adopted daughter, who is on the run from the otherworldly
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...
. Players battle the game's many dangers with weapons and magic, interact with non-player characters, and complete quests to acquire experience points and gold, which are used to increase Geralt's abilities and purchase equipment. The game's story has three possible endings, determined by the player's choices at key points in the narrative.
Development began in 2011 and lasted for three and a half years. Central and Northern European cultures formed the basis of the game's world. The game was developed using the
REDengine 3, which enabled CD Projekt to create a complex story without compromising its open world. The music was primarily composed by
Marcin Przybyłowicz and performed by the
Brandenburg State Orchestra.
''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' was released for
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
,
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
, and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
in May 2015, with a
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
version released in October 2019, and
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
and
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...
versions titled ''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Complete Edition'' which was released in December 2022. The game received critical acclaim, with praise for its gameplay, narrative, world design, combat, and visuals, although it received minor criticism due to technical issues. It holds more than 200
game of the year
Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given by various award events and media publications to a video game that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year.
Events and ceremonies
British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards)
...
awards and has been cited as one of the
greatest video games ever made
This is a list of video games that multiple reputable video game journalists or List of video game magazines, magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest ...
. Two expansions were also released to critical acclaim: ''
Hearts of Stone
"Hearts of Stone" is an American R&B song. It became a List of Billboard number-one singles of 1955, #1 hit on two of the Billboard (magazine), Billboard three Billboard_Hot_100#History, lists, ''Best Sellers in Stores'' and ''Most Played in Ju ...
'' and ''
Blood and Wine
''Blood and Wine'' is a 1996 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Bob Rafelson and starring Jack Nicholson, Stephen Dorff, Jennifer Lopez, Judy Davis, and Michael Caine. The screenplay was written by Nick Villiers and Alison Cross. ...
''. A Game of the Year edition was released in August 2016, with the base game, expansions and all downloadable content included. The game shipped over 40 million copies, making it one of the
best-selling video games of all time
This is a list of video games that have sold the highest number of software units worldwide. The best-selling video game to date is ''Minecraft'', a sandbox game released by Mojang in May 2009 for a wide range of PC, mobile and console platfo ...
.
Gameplay
''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' is an
action role-playing game
An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre.
Definition
The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...
with a
third-person perspective
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...
. Players control
Geralt of Rivia
Geralt of Rivia ( pl, Geralt z Rivii) is a fictional character and the protagonist of ''The Witcher'' series of short stories and novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. He is a magically enhanced monster-hunter known as a "witcher", who posse ...
, a monster slayer known as a Witcher.
Geralt walks, runs, rolls and dodges, and (for the first time in the series) jumps, climbs and swims.
He has a variety of weapons, including bombs, a crossbow and two swords (one steel and one silver).
The steel sword is used primarily to kill humans while the silver sword is more effective against creatures and monsters.
Players can draw out, switch and sheathe their swords at will. There are two modes of melee attack; light attacks are fast but weak, and heavy attacks are slow but strong.
Players can block and counter enemy attacks with their swords.
Swords have limited endurance and require regular repair.
In addition to physical attacks, Geralt has five magical signs at his disposal: Aard, Axii, Igni, Yrden and Quen.
Aard prompts Geralt to unleash a telekinetic blast, Axii confuses enemies, Igni burns them, Yrden slows them down and Quen offers players a temporary, protective shield.
The signs use stamina, and cannot be used indefinitely.
Players can use
mutagens
In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that permanently changes genetic material, usually DNA, in an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations can cause cancer in ...
to increase Geralt's magic power. Geralt loses
health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
when attacked by enemies, although wearing armour can help reduce health loss. Health is restored with
meditation
Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally cal ...
or consumables, such as food and potions.
Players occasionally control Ciri, Geralt's adoptive daughter who can
teleport short distances.
The game has responsive, advanced
artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech re ...
(AI) and dynamic environments. The day-night cycle influences some monsters; a werewolf becomes powerful during the night of a full moon.
Players can learn about their enemies and prepare for combat by reading the in-game
bestiary
A bestiary (from ''bestiarum vocabulum'') is a compendium of beasts. Originating in the ancient world, bestiaries were made popular in the Middle Ages in illustrated volumes that described various animals and even rocks. The natural history a ...
.
When they kill an enemy, they can loot its corpse for valuables.
Geralt's witcher sense enables players to find objects of interest, including items that can be collected or scavenged.
Items are stored in the inventory, which can be expanded by purchasing upgrades.
Players can sell items to vendors
or use them to craft potions and bombs.
They can visit
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
s to craft new weapons and armorers to craft new armour with what they have gathered.
The price of an item and the cost of crafting it depend on a region's local economy.
Players earn
experience point
An experience point (often abbreviated as exp or XP) is a unit of measurement used in some tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's life experience and progression through the game. Experi ...
s by completing quests.
When a player earns enough experience, Geralt's
level
Level or levels may refer to:
Engineering
*Level (instrument), a device used to measure true horizontal or relative heights
*Spirit level, an instrument designed to indicate whether a surface is horizontal or vertical
*Canal pound or level
*Regr ...
increases and the player receives ability points.
These points may be used on four
skill tree
This list includes terms used in video games and the video game industry, as well as slang used by players.
0–9
A
...
s: combat, signs, alchemy and general. Combat upgrades enhance Geralt's attacks and unlock new fighting techniques; signs upgrades enable him to use magic more efficiently, and alchemy upgrades improve crafting abilities. General upgrades have a variety of functions, from raising Geralt's vitality to increasing crossbow damage.
The game focuses on narrative and has a
dialogue tree
A dialogue tree, or conversation tree, is a gameplay mechanic that is used throughout many adventure games (including action-adventure games) and role-playing video games. When interacting with a non-player character, the player is given a choice ...
which allows players to choose how to respond to
non-player character
A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...
s. Geralt must make decisions which change the state of the world and lead to 36 possible endings, affecting the lives of in-game characters.
He can have a romantic relationship with some of the game's female characters by completing certain quests.
In addition to the main quests, books offer more information on the game's world.
Players can begin
side quest
Side or Sides may refer to:
Geometry
* Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape)
* Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape)
Places
* Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Greece
* Side (Caria), a town of an ...
s after visiting a town's noticeboard.
These side missions include Witcher Contracts (elaborate missions requiring players to hunt monsters)
and Treasure Hunt quests, which reward players with top-tier weapons or armour.
The game's
open world is divided into several regions. Geralt can explore each region on foot or by transportation, such as a boat. Roach, his horse, may be summoned at will.
Players can kill enemies with their sword while riding Roach,
but an enemy presence may frighten the horse and unseat Geralt.
Points of interest may be found on the map, and players receive experience points after completing mini-missions in these regions.
Players can discover Places of Power for additional ability points.
Other activities include
horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...
,
boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...
and
card playing
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific.
Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ga ...
;
the card-playing
mechanic
A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars.
Duties
Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning and r ...
was later expanded into a standalone game, ''
Gwent: The Witcher Card Game''.
Synopsis
Setting
The game is set in the Continent, a fictional
fantasy world
A fantasy world is a world created for/from fictional media, such as literature, film or games. Typical fantasy worlds involve magic or magical abilities, nonexistent technology and, sometimes, either a historical or futuristic theme. Some wor ...
based on
Slavonic mythology
Slavic mythology or Slavic religion is the religious beliefs, myths, and ritual practices of the Slavs before Christianisation, which occurred at various stages between the 8th and the 13th century. The South Slavs, who likely settled in the B ...
. It is surrounded by parallel dimensions and extra-dimensional worlds. Humans, elves, dwarves, monsters and other creatures co-exist on the Continent, but non-humans are often persecuted for their differences. The Continent is caught up in a war between the empire of Nilfgaard
—led by Emperor Emhyr var Emreis (
Charles Dance
Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. His most notable film roles include Sardo Numspa in ''The Golden Child'' (1986), Dr. Jonathan Clemens in ''A ...
),
who invaded the Northern Kingdoms
—and Redania, ruled by King Radovid V.
Several locations appear, including the free city of Novigrad,
the Redanian city of Oxenfurt, the
no man's land
No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
of Velen, the city of Vizima (former capital of the recently conquered Temeria), the Skellige islands (home to several
Norse-Gaels Viking clans) and the witcher stronghold of Kaer Morhen.
The main character is the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia (
Doug Cockle
Doug Cockle is an American actor and director. He is currently working as a freelance actor.
Cockle is known for his voice-over roles in video games, most notably of Geralt of Rivia in ''The Witcher
''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a ...
),
a monster hunter trained since childhood in combat, tracking, alchemy and magic, and made stronger, faster and resistant to toxins by mutagens. He is aided by his lover, the powerful sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (
Denise Gough
Denise Gough (born 28 February 1980) is an Irish actress. She is the elder sister of the actress Kelly Gough. She has worked in film, television, video games and theatre.
Gough is a double Olivier Award winner.
Early life
Born in Ennis, Cou ...
),
his former love interest Triss Merigold (Jaimi Barbakoff),
the bard Dandelion (
John Schwab
John Schwab (born 15 September 1972) is an American actor, TV producer and musician who resides in London. He produced '' The Hide'' with Christopher Granier-Deferre, which was nominated for a BIFA 2010.
He is best known for his film and televi ...
), the dwarf warrior Zoltan Chivay (
Alexander Morton
Alexander Morton (born 24 March 1945) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for his roles as Andy Semple in ''Take The High Road'', Golly MacKenzie in ''Monarch of the Glen (TV series), Monarch of the Glen'' and Billy Kennedy in ''River City''. ...
),
and Geralt's Witcher mentor Vesemir (William Roberts).
Geralt is spurred into action by the reappearance of his and Yennefer's adopted daughter, Ciri (
Jo Wyatt
Jo Wyatt is an English actress. She is known for her voice as Tweak in ''The Octonauts'', Little Miss Helpful, Little Miss Naughty, Little Miss Scary and Little Miss Sunshine in ''The Mr. Men Show''. She also voiced Daisy Kribotnik in ''Love ...
).
Ciri is a Source, born with innate (and potentially vast) magical abilities; after the apparent death of her parents, she was trained as a witcher while Yennefer taught her magic.
Ciri disappeared years before to escape the
Wild Hunt
The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...
, a group of spectral warriors led by the King of the Wild Hunt: the elf Eredin, from a parallel dimension.
Plot
Geralt and his mentor Vesemir arrive at the town of White Orchard after receiving a letter from Geralt's long-lost lover Yennefer. After defeating a griffin for the local Nilfgaardian garrison, Geralt accompanies Yennefer to the city of Vizima, where they meet with Emperor Emhyr. Emhyr orders Geralt to find Ciri, who is Emhyr's biological, and Geralt's adopted daughter. Ciri is a Child of the Elder Blood, the last heir to an ancient Elven bloodline that grants her the power to manipulate time and space, and is being relentlessly stalked by the enigmatic Wild Hunt. Geralt learns of three places Ciri was recently seen: the war-ravaged swamp province of Velen, the free city-state of Novigrad, and the Skellige Isles.
In Velen, Geralt tracks Ciri to the fortress of the
Bloody Baron, a warlord who recently took over the province. The Baron demands that Geralt find his missing wife and daughter in exchange for information about Ciri. Geralt learns that the Baron drove his own family away with his drunken rages; while his daughter fled to Oxenfurt, his wife Anna became a servant of the Crones, three malicious witches that watch over Velen. He also discovers that Ciri was briefly captured by the Crones, but escaped to the Baron's stronghold before continuing on to Novigrad.
At Novigrad, Geralt reunites with his former lover Triss Merigold, who has gone underground to escape persecution by the Church of the Eternal Fire. He learns that Ciri and his old friend Dandelion ran afoul of Novigrad's powerful crime bosses while seeking to break a curse related to a mysterious phylactery. With the help of Triss and several old acquaintances, Geralt rescues Dandelion, who tells him that Ciri teleported to Skellige to escape pursuit by guards.
Geralt sails to Skellige and reunites with Yennefer, who is investigating a magical explosion near where Ciri was last seen. They discover that Ciri visited the island of Lofoten, but when the Wild Hunt attacked again, fled in a boat with an unidentified elf. When the boat returned to shore, its only occupant was Uma, a deformed creature Geralt previously saw living with the Bloody Baron. Deducing that Uma was the victim of the curse Ciri tried to lift in Novigrad, Geralt collects Uma in Velen and takes him to the nearly abandoned witcher school at Kaer Morhen. Working with Yennefer and his fellow witchers, Geralt breaks the curse and restores Uma's true identity: Avallac'h, Ciri's teacher and the elf seen with her on her travels. Avallac'h tells Geralt that he placed Ciri in an enchanted sleep on the Isle of Mists to keep her temporarily safe from the Wild Hunt.
Geralt finds Ciri on the Isle of Mists and learns from her that Eredin, the leader of the Wild Hunt, wants her Elder Blood powers to save his homeworld from a catastrophe known as the White Frost. They return to Kaer Morhen and fortify it against the inevitable arrival of the Hunt. In the battle that ensues, Vesemir is killed, causing Ciri to unleash her uncontrolled power and temporarily send the Hunt into retreat.
Realizing that the Hunt will never stop, Ciri and Geralt decide to fight Eredin at a time and place of their choosing. While Triss and Yennefer reform the Lodge of Sorceresses to aid in the fight, Geralt recovers the Sunstone, an artifact that can communicate between worlds. Using the Sunstone, Avallac'h lures Eredin to Skellige, where Geralt defeats him in combat. As he dies, Eredin tells Geralt that Avallac'h has betrayed him, and plans to use Ciri's power for his own ends.
As the White Frost begins to encroach on the Continent, Geralt and Yennefer pursue Avallac'h, but find Ciri alive and well. She tells Geralt that Avallac'h is not a traitor, and has only ever intended to fight the White Frost. Thinking back on her relationship with Geralt, Ciri finds the strength to stop the cataclysm; if Geralt patronized and protected her throughout the game, she dies in the attempt, but if he guided her to mature and make her own choices, she survives.
The player's choices can lead to several different endings. If Ciri survives after defeating the White Frost and Geralt took her to meet her father, she will become the Empress of Nilfgaard. If Ciri survives but did not meet the emperor, Geralt helps her fake her death, and she becomes a witcher. If Ciri is killed in her confrontation with the White Frost, the story ends with Geralt retrieving her medallion from the last remaining Crone. The player's choices also determine whether Geralt ends up in a romantic relationship with Yennefer, Triss, or neither, and how much of the North is ultimately conquered by Nilfgaard.
Development
Although the game was planned to begin production in 2008,
CD Projekt Red
CD Projekt S.A. () is a Polish video game developer, publisher and distributor based in Warsaw, founded in May 1994 by Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński. Iwiński and Kiciński were video game retailers before they founded the company, whi ...
's preoccupation with ''
Rise of the White Wolf'' pushed it back to 2011.
The company developed ''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' with a self-funded budget of
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
81 million over three-and-a-half years. The project began with 150 employees, eventually growing to over 250 in-house staff. 1,500 people were involved in the production globally. While the game is based on
Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer, essayist, translator and a trained economist. He is best known for his six-volume series of books ''The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous "witcher," a monster-hunte ...
's novels, it is not an official continuation of them and Sapkowski's involvement with the game was limited to the creation of its in-game map.
The game was
localised in 15 languages, with a total of 500 voice actors.
The game was scripted concurrently in Polish and English to alleviate difficulty in localisation.
According to Side (the company which handled voice casting and recording), the 450,000-word script had 950 speaking roles. The voices were recorded from late 2012 to early 2015.
CD Projekt Red wanted the game to be free of any
digital rights management
Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures (TPM) such as access control technologies can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. ...
(DRM) due to the developer's unsuccessful control of
piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
with its predecessor, ''The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings'', whose DRM also made it run slowly.
''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' was created with the
REDengine 3, CD Projekt Red's proprietary game engine designed for
nonlinear role-playing video games set in
open world environments,
aided by the
PlayStation 4
The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and
Xbox One
The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third base console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of ...
consoles and prepared for use in October 2014. The first play-through indicated to the developers that the open world, despite its content and generation around the quests, seemed empty. As a solution, they added
points of interest
A point of interest (POI) is a specific point location that someone may find useful or interesting. An example is a point on the Earth representing the location of the Eiffel Tower, or a point on Mars representing the location of its highest m ...
. The game had 5,000
bugs that December, which (with a launch date of February 2015) necessitated its postponement.
Like the previous two ''Witcher'' games, players are given a complex story with multiple choices and
consequences
Consequence may refer to:
* Logical consequence, also known as a ''consequence relation'', or ''entailment''
* In operant conditioning, a result of some behavior
* Consequentialism, a theory in philosophy in which the morality of an act is determi ...
. Unlike other game engines, REDengine 3 permits a complex storyline without sacrificing
virtual world
A virtual world (also called a virtual space) is a computer-simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities ...
design.
The
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
was made more intuitive with
grid-based solutions. The camera system was improved to use
long shot
In photography, filmmaking and video production, a wide shot (sometimes referred to as a full shot or long shot) is a shot that typically shows the entire object or human figure and is usually intended to place it in some relation to its surrou ...
s for battles with multiple enemies and
close-up
A close-up or closeup in filmmaking, television production, still photography, and the comic strip medium is a type of shot that tightly frames a person or object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium and long s ...
s for more-intimate confrontations.
More animations were used for combat sequences than in ''The Witcher 2'', with each lasting less than one second for quick succession.
Game director Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and senior game designer Damien Monnier cited ''
Dark Souls
is a series of action role-playing games created by Hidetaka Miyazaki of FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The series began with the release of ''Dark Souls'' (2011) and has seen two sequels, ''Dark Souls II'' (2014) a ...
'' and ''
Demon's Souls
is a 2009 action role-playing game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation 3 under the supervision of Japan Studio. It was published in Japan by Sony Computer Entertainment in February, in North America by Atlus USA in October, and in PAL ...
'' as influences on ''Wild Hunt'' combat system,
and level designer Miles Tost and senior environment artist Jonas Mattsson cited ''
The Legend of Zelda
''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'' series and ''
Red Dead Redemption
''Red Dead Redemption'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by Rockstar Games. A spiritual successor to 2004's ''Red Dead Revolver'', it is the second game in the ''Red Dead'' series. ''Red Dead Redempt ...
'' as influencing the game's level designs and environments.
Months before its release date, the game's economy, crafting, and inventory systems were incomplete and apparently unable to meet the deadline. Senior gameplay designer Matthew Steinke thought of a remedy and drew up a
system context diagram
A system context diagram (SCD) in engineering is a diagram that defines the boundary between the system, or part of a system, and its environment, showing the entities that interact with it. This diagram is a high level view of a system. It is sim ...
. To allocate prices, Steinke wrote a formula based on rate of damage, defence, or healing.
Polynomial least squares
In statistics, polynomial regression is a form of regression analysis in which the relationship between the independent variable ''x'' and the dependent variable ''y'' is modelled as an ''n''th degree polynomial in ''x''. Polynomial regression ...
were used to determine its efficacy, and it was found to eliminate bugs from the system and reduce
loading times.
Each character was given a unique personality to contrast the
fetch-quest system typically used in video games. It was decided early that the writing would be witty, with
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
s and implied meanings. The dialogue was limited to 15 lines, with occasional exceptions, to retain content originality. Player options were written as morally ambiguous, reflecting
real life
Real life is a phrase used originally in literature to distinguish between the real world and fictional, virtual or idealized worlds, and in acting to distinguish between actors and the characters they portray. It has become a popular term on the ...
and
Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer, essayist, translator and a trained economist. He is best known for his six-volume series of books ''The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous "witcher," a monster-hunte ...
's original
''Witcher'' series. Alcoholism, abuse and sexuality, depicted as normal parts of the
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
world, were incorporated into the story for authenticity.
Areas of the open world were based on Poland,
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...
, and
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
.
Objects were modelled by hand.
Storylines such as Yennefer imprisoning Geralt on an island and Geralt's covert recruitment to the Wild Hunt were discarded to make the game smaller and avoid splitting it into two parts. The
card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific.
Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card ...
Gwent was preceded by other mini-game proposals, including a
drinking game
Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages and often enduring the subsequent intoxication resulting from them. Evidence of the existence of drinking games dates back to antiquity. Drinking games have been banned ...
,
knife throwing
Knife throwing is an art, sport, combat skill, or variously an entertainment technique, involving an artist skilled in the art of throwing knives, the weapons thrown, and a target. In some stage performances, the knife thrower ties an assistant t ...
, and
ice skating
Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be per ...
.
A re-enactment of the
Battle of Grunwald
The Battle of Grunwald, Battle of Žalgiris or First Battle of Tannenberg was fought on 15 July 1410 during the Polish–Lithuanian–Teutonic War. The alliance of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, led respec ...
was recorded for the sounds of battle, marching,
blacksmith
A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...
ing, and the firing of arrows. Recording the knights' voices for
post-processing, the speakers wore helmets for an authentic sound.
Marcin Przybyłowicz was the game's music director and composer, with additional music contributed by Polish folk band
Percival
Percival (, also spelled Perceval, Parzival), alternatively called Peredur (), was one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. First mentioned by the French author Chrétien de Troyes in the tale ''Perceval, the Story of the G ...
. According to Przybyłowicz, working with Percival was a challenge; he expected an academic approach before learning that most of the group were not formally trained, and much of the music was improvised.
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency.
Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...
Robert Jaworski of the folk band Żywiołak recorded
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
, Renaissance
fiddle
A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...
, bowed
gusle
The gusle ( sr-cyrl, гусле) or lahuta ( sq, lahutë) is a single-stringed musical instrument (and musical style) traditionally used in the Dinarides region of Southeastern Europe (in the Balkans). The instrument is always accompanied by s ...
, and
hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...
sections. The score was performed in
Frankfurt an der Oder
Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (), is a city in the German state of Brandenburg. It has around 57,000 inhabitants, is one of the easternmost cities in Germany, the fourth-largest city in Brandenburg, and the largest German ...
by the Brandenburg State Orchestra, conducted by
Bernd Ruf.
Release
''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' was announced in 2013, then to be released for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One the following year.
The release date was later delayed from the third quarter of 2014 to February 2015.
After missing its planned release date of 24 February,
CD Projekt Red confirmed in April that the game was
released to manufacturing
A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...
.
''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' was released worldwide on 19 May 2015.
Polish Prime Minister
Ewa Kopacz
Ewa Bożena Kopacz (; given name, née Lis; born 3 December 1956) is a Polish politician who has served as a Vice-President of the European Parliament since 2019. She previously was Marshal of the Sejm from 2011 to 2014, the first woman to hold th ...
and President
Bronisław Komorowski
Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015.
Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercised ...
visited CD Projekt Red to celebrate the launch.
As with the second game,
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE; also known as Warner Bros. Games or WB Games) is an American video game publisher based in Burbank, California, and part of the newly-formed Global Streaming and Interactive Entertainment unit of ...
and
Bandai Namco Entertainment
is a Japanese multinational video game video game publisher, publisher headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are respectively headquartered in ...
each handled physical distribution of the game in North America and
Western Europe
Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context.
The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
, Australia and New Zealand respectively.
In addition to the standard edition, players can also purchase the Collector's Edition, which includes the base game and items such as an artbook, a statue of Geralt fighting against a griffin, and a Witcher medallion.
At
E3 2019
The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2019 (E3 2019) was the 25th E3, during which hardware manufacturers, software developers, and publishers from the video game industry presented new and upcoming products to the attendees, primarily retailers a ...
, a
port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
for the
Nintendo Switch
The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...
, ''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition'', was announced.
It was developed in cooperation with
Saber Interactive
Saber Interactive Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded in 2001 with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Saber was acquired by Embracer Group in February 2020, making the studio a direct subsidiary. The company ...
,
and was released on 15 October 2019.
The port features slight graphical downgrades to compensate for the Switch's less powerful hardware, but is otherwise identical to existing versions.
CD Projekt Red co-founder Marcin Iwiński listed three pillars that he considered integral to marketing: game quality, a "gamer-centric
value proposition
In marketing, a company’s value proposition is the full mix of benefits or economic value which it promises to deliver to the current and future customers (i.e., a market segment) who will buy their products and/or services. It is part of a co ...
", and communication with fans. To achieve the second, ''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' was marketed as "''
Skyrim
''The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'' is an action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fifth main installment in ''The Elder Scrolls'' series, following 2006's '' The Elder Scrol ...
'' in a ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
'' sauce".
The third explained in detail the visual downgrade from earlier promotional footage to the finished product, which Iwiński thought effective.
The logo was re-designed to make it less obvious that ''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' was a sequel; the number three suggested a claw mark or mask to an audience unfamiliar with the series, while fans would recognise it as the mark of the Wild Hunt.
Downloadable content
The developer studied ''Witcher'' forums and websites such as
Reddit
Reddit (; stylized in all lowercase as reddit) is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users (commonly referred to as "Redditors") submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images ...
to predict what players generally desired from
downloadable content
Downloadable content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization, enablin ...
(DLC). A collection of 16 free DLC was released, as announced before release by the developers. They included cosmetic and additional gameplay content and the
New Game Plus
A New Game Plus, also New Game+ (NG+), is an unlockable video game mode available in some video games that allows the player to start a new game after they finish it at least once, where certain features in NG+ not normally available in a first ...
mode.
CD Projekt Red announced two
expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, supplement, or simply expansion is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game, video game or collectible card game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, characters, or an ...
s: ''
Hearts of Stone
"Hearts of Stone" is an American R&B song. It became a List of Billboard number-one singles of 1955, #1 hit on two of the Billboard (magazine), Billboard three Billboard_Hot_100#History, lists, ''Best Sellers in Stores'' and ''Most Played in Ju ...
'' and ''
Blood and Wine
''Blood and Wine'' is a 1996 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Bob Rafelson and starring Jack Nicholson, Stephen Dorff, Jennifer Lopez, Judy Davis, and Michael Caine. The screenplay was written by Nick Villiers and Alison Cross. ...
''. ''Hearts of Stone'' was released on 13 October 2015,
and ''Blood and Wine'' on 31 May 2016.
''Hearts of Stone'' follows Geralt as he contacts a mysterious entity known as the Man of Glass and an immortal man, Olgierd von Everec. The expansion was critically acclaimed. The second expansion pack, ''Blood and Wine'', follows Geralt as he travels to Toussaint (a Nilfgaardian
duchy
A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a Middle Ages, medieval country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition.
There once exis ...
untouched by war) to track down a mysterious beast which is terrorizing the region. It was also critically acclaimed, winning the Best RPG category at
The Game Awards 2016
The Game Awards 2016 was an award show that honored the best video games of 2016. It was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on December 1, 2016, and was live streamed across several platforms. At the ev ...
.
A Game of the Year edition, with the base game, both expansions and all DLC, was released on 30 August 2016.
Re-release
The publisher announced a re-release of the game planned for the
PlayStation 5
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, it was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North Ame ...
, Windows, and
Xbox Series X/S
The Xbox Series X/S are home video game consoles developed by Microsoft. They were both released on November 10, 2020, as the fourth generation Xbox, succeeding the Xbox One. Along with Sony's PlayStation 5, also released in November 2020, t ...
. The game will be available as a free upgrade to existing owners on PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One, or to purchase separately. In 2021, video game news site ''
Kotaku
''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.
History
...
'' reported that the game would include content from
mods produced by fans; "HalkHogan", creator of a mod that improves the game's textures, announced that the developer had entered talks to include content from "The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project" in the release. CD Projekt Red confirmed to ''Kotaku'' that they had entered talks with mod creators, prompting discussion about why the company, which earned $300mil in 2020, sought out community assistance. The release was scheduled for the second half of 2021, but was later delayed to the second quarter of 2022. The game is being developed by
Saber Interactive
Saber Interactive Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher founded in 2001 with headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Saber was acquired by Embracer Group in February 2020, making the studio a direct subsidiary. The company ...
. On 13 April 2022, CDPR announced that its in-house development team would be taking over the remaining work on the re-release, and that its release date would be postponed. In November, a release date of 14 December 2022 was announced.
The next-gen update will include new outfits and a quest inspired by
the Netflix-Series, improved visuals and performance and bug fixes as well as all previously released downloadable content. The re-release was published on schedule, and was criticized for introducing performance issues and bugs. Later that day, CD Projekt Red announced that they were investigating the issues and working on fixes.
Reception
Critical reception
''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' received "universal acclaim" for the PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S versions, and "generally favorable reviews" for the Switch version, according to review aggregator
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
.
Critics agreed that it was an ambitious action role-playing game which was grand in scale,
but marred by technical difficulties
and a lack of innovation.
''GameSpot'' and ''
Eurogamer
''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson.
Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
'' gave the game their highest rating.
''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' has been considered one of the
greatest games of all time
This is a list of video games that multiple reputable video game journalists or magazines have considered to be among the best of all time. The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from differ ...
.
The game world received widespread praise from critics. Kimberly Wallace of ''Game Informer'' called it "immersive", and was impressed by its attention to detail.
''
Destructoid
''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017, and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022.
History
' ...
''s Chris Carter praised its size, which he found enormous and would take players hours to explore.
Jonathon Leack, writing for ''
Game Revolution
''GameRevolution'' (formerly ''Game-Revolution'') is a gaming website created in 1996. Based in Berkeley, California, the site includes reviews, previews, a gaming download area, cheats, and a merchandise store, as well as webcomics, screenshots ...
'', praised the game's effective use of its large world. Leack wrote that every region had quests and activities for players to try, although he thought that much was filler which extended its length.
Tom Senior of ''
GamesRadar
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
'' praised the open world's variety, describing it as an "exciting realization of the Ronin fantasy".
''
GameTrailers
''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...
'' Daniel Bloodworth praised the game for encouraging exploration; many quests would only become available to players after they met non-playable characters in different parts of the world.
Vince Ingenito of ''IGN'' and Shaun Prescott of ''
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games ma ...
'' were impressed by the game's scenery and its day-night cycle,
with Ingenito saying that it highlighted the game world's authenticity.
Its narrative received critical acclaim. Carter praised the cast of characters, which he called unique and interesting. He considered the narrative more involving, with players witnessing key events and making consequential choices.
Wallace praised the game's dialogue and its side-quests; each was similar to a short story, and player decisions in the quests would influence the state of the world. She liked the main quest, which added more character to Geralt, and said that the romance options were a significant improvement over its predecessors. However, she was disappointed with the quality of the game's endings.
Kevin Van Ord of ''GameSpot'' echoed Wallace, noting that ''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt''s story had more characterisation for Geralt than the previous games. He welcomed the change, since it gave players emotional connections to the in-game characters.
Senior enjoyed the side-quests, calling them "a compilation of dark fantasy short stories" which overshadowed the main quests.
Ingenito was disappointed with the main story, saying that there was too much padding and too many dull quests.
''PC Gamer''s Shaun Prescott agreed, saying that the narrative would have felt rote if the side content was not engaging.
Van Ord, Wallace and Brett Phipps of ''VideoGamer.com'' praised the voice acting,
with Wallace calling it the series' best.
Arthur Gies from ''
Polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...
'' criticized that some of the female characters are overly sexualized and that there are no
people of color
The term "person of color" ( : people of color or persons of color; abbreviated POC) is primarily used to describe any person who is not considered "white". In its current meaning, the term originated in, and is primarily associated with, the U ...
in the main game.
The game's combat had a generally-positive reception. Bloodworth found Geralt more mobile and agile with the new climbing and swimming mechanic.
Carter said that it was significantly streamlined and its predecessors' strategic elements removed, but appreciated its action.
Wallace wrote that with a simplified alchemy system, a decent
user interface
In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine f ...
and diverse difficulty settings the combat was more accessible, although she disliked the disruptive weapon-degradation system and unrefined crossbow shooting mechanic.
Leack thought the system lacked complexity and criticised its lack of polish, caused by the unreliable lock-on system, camera issues and excessively-long combat animation.
Senior noted that some gameplay mechanics, such as rolling and dodging, were inconsistent and made the system feel unfair.
Ingenito praised the combat, describing its fluidity as a significant improvement over its predecessors.
Other gameplay aspects received mixed reviews. Van Ord praised the game's customisation and upgrade system (which offered players a sense of progression), since it hardened as the story unfolded.
Ingenito called its upgrade system deep and flexible, since players have considerable freedom when customising Geralt's skills.
Leack disliked the upgrade system, calling it "unexciting".
Carter was disappointed with the Witcher Senses, finding it repetitive,
but Senior considered them superior to objective markers—the norm for role-playing games.
Prescott disliked the user interface for its clumsiness and tedium.
Senior found the Gwent card game an addictive minigame.
The game was criticised for its technical issues. Carter called its climbing animations stiff, noting that some gameplay bugs would hinder player progress.
According to Wallace, the game's load times were too long.
Leack noted that the game had a graphic downgrade, and the actual game did not look as good as the 2013 demonstration.
Senior, Phipps and Ingenito noted
frame rate
Frame rate (expressed in or FPS) is the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed. The term applies equally to film and video cameras, computer graphics, and motion capture systems. Frame rate may also be ca ...
issues;
although Ingenito thought it did not impact the gameplay,
Phipps called it a persistent problem which overshadowed many of the game's achievements.
Sales
Before its release, over 1.5 million people pre-ordered the game.
''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' debuted atop the UK software sales chart in its first week, when it earned 600 percent more than predecessor ''The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings''. It was the best-selling video game of the year in the UK, breaking the record held by ''
Battlefield Hardline
''Battlefield Hardline'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts. It was released in March 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Unlike the prev ...
''.
It debuted atop the Japanese video-game sales charts, selling 67,385 copies in its first week.
Four million copies of the game were sold in its first two weeks of release.
By June 2015, over 690,000 players had activated the game through
GOG Galaxy
GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through it ...
.
The game sold over six million copies in the next six weeks,
and the studio made a profit of $63.3 million in the first half of 2015.
In March 2016, CD Projekt Red reported that the game had shipped nearly 10 million copies worldwide.
By the end of 2017, the series as a whole had sold over 33 million.
By June 2019, that number had risen to over 40 million, with ''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' accounting for over half of that figure.
Following the release of the first season of Netflix' television series ''
The Witcher
''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a series of six fantasy novels and 15 short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are bea ...
'' in December 2019, ''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' had a 554% increase in sales that month compared to December 2018.
By December 2019, ''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' had sold over 28 million copies worldwide. And by April 2021 it had sold over 30 million copies, while the series as a whole had sold over 50 million. By April 2022, the game had sold 40 million copies.
Awards
![GDC 2016 awards 16-20 57 48-01-7D2 0983 (25222000024)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/GDC_2016_awards_16-20_57_48-01-7D2_0983_%2825222000024%29.jpg)
''The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt'' received pre-release awards at
E3 in 2013 and 2014. It was voted the best role-playing game at the IGN Best of E3 Awards in 2013 and 2014.
It won IGN's E3 People's Choice Award in 2013 and 2014, GameSpot's E3 People's Choice Award in 2014,
and the Most Wanted Award at the 31st and 32nd
Golden Joystick Award
The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards, is a video game award ceremony; it awards the best video games of the year, as voted for originally by the British general public, but is now a global event that can be voted ...
s.
It was the Most Anticipated Game at
the Game Awards 2014
The Game Awards 2014 ceremony, which honored the best video games of 2014, took place at The AXIS in Las Vegas on December 5, 2014. The show was produced and hosted by Geoff Keighley. The ceremony was the first for The Game Awards, which replace ...
in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
.
It received 260 game of the year awards and was the most awarded game of all time until 2021, when it was overtaken by ''
The Last of Us Part II
''The Last of Us Part II'' is a 2020 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 4. Set five years after ''The Last of Us'' (2013), the game focuses on two playable charac ...
''.
By August 2016, it had received over 800 awards.
On 2020,
Gamesradar
''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', ''Edge'' and '' Computer ...
listed it as the top game of the generation.
Its accolades are from several events, including the Golden Joystick Awards,
The Game Awards
The Game Awards is an annual awards ceremony honoring achievements in the video game industry. Established in 2014, the shows are produced and hosted by game journalist Geoff Keighley, who worked on its predecessor, the Spike Video Game Awards, ...
,
D.I.C.E. Awards
The D.I.C.E. Awards (formerly the Interactive Achievement Awards) is an award show in the video game industry started in 1998 and commonly referred to in the industry as the "video games Academy Awards, Oscar". The awards are arranged by the Ac ...
,
Game Developers Choice Awards,
SXSW
South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...
Gaming Awards
and the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards.
''The Witcher 3'' was recognized as game of the year by IGN,
GameSpot,
Game Informer
and other gaming publications.
The game received a Golden Joystick Award for Best Storytelling, Best Visual Design and Best Gaming Moment,
and the Game Awards for Best Role-Playing Game and Studio of the Year for CD Projekt Red.
It won Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, Outstanding Technical Achievement and Outstanding Achievement in Story at the D.I.C.E. Awards,
and won the
Game of the Year
Game of the Year (GotY) is an award given by various award events and media publications to a video game that they feel represented the pinnacle of gaming that year.
Events and ceremonies
British Academy Games Awards (BAFTA Games Awards)
...
and Best Technology awards at the 16th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards.
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
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Bandai Namco games
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Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year winners
Golden Joystick Award for Game of the Year winners
Nintendo Switch games
Open-world video games
PlayStation 4 games
PlayStation 4 Pro enhanced games
PlayStation 5 games
The Game Award for Game of the Year winners
3 Wild Hunt
Video game sequels
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