The Witcher 3 Next-Gen Gameplay Shown, PC Gets Ultra+ Settings and DLSS, FSR 2 Supported on PS5/XSX

Nathan Birch
The Witcher 3 next-gen combat redux mod

The wait for the “next-gen” update for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is almost over, and today CD Projekt Red finally unveiled a look at the game’s newly-implemented ray tracing and other visual features. They also showcased other new features, including Photo Mode and new camera angles, and provided a peek at some content inspired by the Netflix series. You can check out a quick The Witcher 3 next-gen trailer, below.

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If you’d like a more in-depth deep dive, you can check out CD Projekt Red's livestream.

Getting into the nitty gritty, on PC, The Witcher 3 will boast ray-traced global illumination and shadows, although no reflections (expect updated screen space reflections there). The overall visual splendor of the game has also been bumped up yet another notch with new Ultra+ settings for those of you with beefy rigs to play with. And even if your PC isn’t quite state of the art, CDPR has added DLSS and FSR 2 support so you can coax the best possible performance out of the game.

So, that’s PC, but what about the next-gen consoles? On the PS5 and Xbox Series X, you’ll be getting a 30fps Ray-Tracing mode and 60fps Performance mode (it hasn't been made fully clear what resolution you can expect in either mode). In Ray-Tracing mode, you can look forward to the same ray-traced global illumination and shadows you get on PC, and visual detail will be at around Ultra quality. Performance should be solid as CDPR has implemented FSR 2 on consoles. Less information has been provided about the Xbox Series S, but it will be getting a 60fps mode. Oh, and PS5 players get a small bonus, as the game will now fully support the Dualsense controller’s haptics and adaptive triggers.

The Witcher 3 next-gen update arrives on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PS5 on December 14. What do you think? Ready to jump into the game again?

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