Colossal The Witcher 3 Mod Makes Thousands of Visual Improvements

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt just received its biggest graphics boost since the official Next-Gen Update arrived in 2022, in the form of a mod that makes thousands of visual upgrades.

NexusMods user HalkHogan released The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project: Next Gen Edition, which they said "raises the game's visuals to the highest level yet and enhance it to a truly next-gen masterpiece." The mod reworks textures, models, materials, and more, and the number of these changes "can be counted in the thousands."

"Everything is carefully made with attention to every detail," the mod page added. "All this is aimed at making the game more detailed, realistic, consistent, and as faithful as possible in reflecting the dirty world of The Witcher. Now you can experience the most beautiful adventure yet."

Anyone on PC can download the mod on PC, with HalkHogan noting it only has a "little impact" on performance. "The game should run similar to before mod installation," they said. "If you play on Ultra+ textures video card memory demand will be higher."

The Witcher 3 arrived in 2015 and put studio CD Projekt Red on the map for its fantasy open-world, considered story, and expansive quests. The developer released an official mod editor for the PC version called REDkit earlier this year, and players have used it to grow The Witcher 3 even more.

This includes everything from a morality and reputation system that adds even more consequences to Geralt's actions, to a fully customizable character creator that lets players take on the role of a sorceress.

These mods have breathed more life into the game while CD Projekt focuses on its many upcoming Witcher projects. The next mainline game is codenamed Polaris and will star a new protagonist, and an entry with more mass appeal is being developed at The Molasses Flood. Fool's Theory is also developing a remake of the original The Witcher in Unreal Engine 5.

Image Credit: The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project: Next Gen Edition by HalkHogan on NexusMods

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.