In case you missed it, CDPR announced The Witcher 3 is getting new content next year. Unfortunately, the devs will also increase the system requirements for the DLC, assumedly to make development easier by only focusing on modern hardware. This is probably the same reason the game won't release on last-get consoles (PS4, Xbox One).
Here's a quick breakdown of the new specs (old specs taken from the Steam page):
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600, Intel Core i5-8400 (up from AMD A10-5800K APU, Intel CPU Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660, AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB (up from Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX 660, AMD GPU Radeon HD 7870)
VRAM: 6 GB (not specified, but the 660 only had 2 GB)
RAM: 12 GB (up from 6 GB)
Storage: 70 GB SSD (up from 50 GB, HDDs no longer supported)
OS: 64-bit Windows 11 (up from 7)
DirectX: 12 (up from 11)
Quite the jump. Thankfully, you can revert to a previous version of the game if you need to, but you won't be getting the new expansion in that case.
Quote From CD Projekt Red With new content coming to the game, we need to update our system requirements to ensure smooth performance and compatibility going forward for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Songs of the Past.
Starting from the next update, the new minimum requirements are as follows:
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 11These minimum requirements reflect how hardware capabilities and software usage have evolved since we last changed the system requirements. In particular:
Windows 11 will be the minimum required OS for both The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 following Microsoft's end of support for Windows 10 on October 14, 2025. Without ongoing security updates, official platform support, and continued GPU driver support, we will no longer test our games on Windows 10.
HDDs will no longer be supported, as SSDs offer faster load times, smoother asset streaming, and improved overall performance.
The game will exclusively run using DirectX 12, which allows us to support ongoing technical improvements and modern hardware more effectively.
Only processors supported on Windows 11 will be supported by us.
Only graphics cards with ongoing active driver support for gaming on Windows 11 will be supported.
What do you think of these changes? Can you run the game, or will you need to upgrade? Let us know in the comments below!
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