Following the surprise reveal of The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past expansion, CD Projekt Red has now confirmed that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will soon receive updated minimum PC requirements. According to the studio, the changes are necessary to support all the future updates.
Their goal is to make the game supported by modern hardware features, and for better long-term compatibility and performance.
The new requirements will become active starting with the game’s next update.
New Minimum PC Requirements
Here are the new minimum specs confirmed by CD Projekt Red:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600, Intel Core i5-8400
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB
- VRAM: 6 GB
- RAM: 12 GB
- Storage: 70 GB SSD
- OS: 64-bit Windows 11
Compared to the original 2015 release requirements, this is a pretty big jump forward.
Windows 10 and HDDs Are Officially Being Dropped
One of the biggest changes is that Windows 11 will now be mandatory to play both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. This decision basically directly follows Microsoft ending support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025.
The studio explained that without ongoing security updates, official platform support, and continued GPU driver support, they will no longer be able to test their games on Windows 10. Traditional HDD storage is also no longer supported. From now on, SSDs will be required. This is because SSDs offer faster load times, better asset streaming, and improved overall performance.
Honestly, this part is not too surprising anymore, considering how demanding open-world games have become. It probably also means that The Witcher 3 is getting an overall lift with the new update.
The Game Will Now Run Exclusively on DirectX 12
Another big technical change is that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will now run exclusively through DirectX 12. CD Projekt Red says this will help them continue improving the game technically, with better support for modern GPUs, and again, to maintain future compatibility.
Only CPUs and graphics cards still receiving active Windows 11 driver support will remain officially supported going forward as well.
Older Versions Will Still Be Available
For players with older hardware, CD Projekt Red also confirmed that it will still be possible to revert to earlier versions of the game. So if your PC no longer meets the updated requirements, you should still be able to continue playing the current older version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Still, the update clearly shows that the upcoming The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past expansion is not being treated like a small patch. Knowing how good the previous expansions were, we are trusting CD Projekt Red to put all the love and care into this 3rd one as well!
CD Projekt Red seems fully committed to modernizing the game technically as Geralt prepares to return once again in 2027. Let’s also not forget that this expansion will be leading us into The Witcher 4 as well.
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