The Witcher 3 Info

CD Projekt RED’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the most highly anticipated releases of 2015. For some PlayStation owners, the wait has been painfully long as May 19 will be the first time a game from The Witcher series will appear on a PlayStation platform.

Since the game’s initial announcement, we’ve had tons of information thrown our way, and for those who aren’t acquainted with the franchise, it can be a lot to take in. So while we review The Witcher 3 for your reading pleasure, flip through the gallery below for everything you need to know about the action RPG, and prepare yourself for next week.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be out on May 19 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. Stay tuned for our review and subsequent coverage of the game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
No Re-Releases in the Pipeline

Level Designer Miles Tost told us in an interview last year that while he's bummed it took CD Projekt RED this long to bring The Witcher to PlayStation, the company has no plans for any re-releases to make up for it. You can read our full interview with Tost here, in which he also talks about sexuality in the franchise, developing for PlayStation, and more.
All Welcome

CD Projekt RED has said that The Witcher 3 will be accessible for new players, but that the experience won't be compromised for existing players. Those who don't know anything about The Witcher universe shouldn't worry as the game will introduce them to the world and will bring them up to speed with the story through a prologue.
Recap

PlayStation owners who aren't familiar with The Witcher franchise should check out these videos. Reddit user falconbox has kindly put them together for us to bring us up to speed with the story. Do note, though, that the videos may contain potential spoilers.
Freebies for Everyone

The Witcher 3 players will be entitled to 16 pieces of DLC for free. Yes, free! The DLC bundles will be available to download on a weekly basis after launch. All you need to do is own the game. No need for pre-orders or anything special. Click here for more details on the release schedule.
Expansions

Those who still want more than 16 pieces of free DLCs can buy two "massive" paid expansions: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. The former is scheduled to release in October this year, and the latter is scheduled to release in Q1 2016.
No Platform-Exclusive Content

CD Projekt RED's Co-Founder Marcin Iwinski told Eurogamer last year that it's against the company's values to sacrifice the quality of a game on one platform for another. In other words, there won't be any platform-exclusive content.
Better Late Than Never

The Witcher 3 has been delayed several times so we did ourselves a little happy dance when the game actually went gold. But why was it delayed in the first place? According to a statement by the developer, the team wanted to fine-tune the game as much as possible and given its size and scope, the developers needed more time to bring players an experience that they deserve.
Meet Ciri

In The Witcher 3, Geralt won't be the only playable character as the ashen-haired girl from an ancient prophecy, Ciri, will be joining him. In this video, CD Projekt RED gives us a look at how Ciri performs in combat (action begins at :30). She is only playable in certain parts of the game.
In-Game World Detailed

Can't get enough of the in-game world and don't want to read any more descriptions? Check out this five-minute video, which details the world, its characters, the monsters, sailing, and much more.
Enemies Detailed

In this video, CD Projekt RED shows how we’ll be able to kill all the different enemies in The Witcher 3. When asked about the size of the biggest monsters that players will get to slay, Senior Game Designer Damien Monnier said that the game has monsters that are “bigger than the griffin.”
Horse Combat Explained

The Witcher 3 will allow players to kill enemies in slow-mo while riding a horse. CD Projekt RED explained that the slow motion effect will allow players to better “line up” their attacks since “the horse movement is quite fast.” Slow-mo can be turned off as well.
Explore Giant Regions

At PAX East 2015, CD Projekt RED displayed a 7-minute gameplay video of the The Witcher 3, showing Geralt exploring parts of No Man's Land. CD Projekt RED said that No Man's Land is just one of the giant regions available to explore in the game.

In a later interview, Writer Jakub Szamałek said that there will be around ten islands to explore, and that players will also be able to swim or sail.
Hundreds of Hours of Gameplay

When a speedrun takes 25 hours, you're potentially looking at a massive game. Senior Game Designer Damien Monnier said in response to a question on Twitter that The Witcher 3 could take players over 200 hours to do everything. Just to get you started, here are the first 15 minutes of the game.
Make Your Own Ending

As part of our interview with CD Projekt RED in January this year, we asked Level Designer Miles Tost about The Witcher 3's multiple endings and branching dialogs. He told us that there will be "plenty of endings" which are "deeply unique" to what a player does. It's our story, our ending.

We also quizzed Tost about the DLC, the game's design, and numerous delays. You can read our interview in full here.
PS4 Gameplay

We can never get enough of gameplays, but if you want to see what the game looks like on the PS4, here's a PlayStation access video showing combat against people and monsters, magic, horse riding, and much more. If you've got 45 minutes to spare and aren't worried about spoilers, here's a more detailed video showing PS4 gameplay.
Loading Times

CD Projekt RED has said that players will hardly experience any loading times in The Witcher 3 unless they die, load a game, or choose to fast-travel. Loading time experienced when fast-travelling depends on how much distance a player covers.
Frame Rate & Resolution

CD Projekt RED confirmed earlier this year that The Witcher 3 will run at 1080p and 30 frames-per-second (fps) on the PlayStation 4.

Responding to concerns about a potential downgrade, Art Producer Michal Stec clarified that the company had not downgraded the game.
Day-One Update

Level Designer Miles Tost revealed that there will be a day-one update for The Witcher 3. CD Projekt RED's Marcin Momot also said that the update will address frame rate, bugs and performance issues on the PlayStation 4.
Install Size

The Witcher 3 will require 50GB of install space on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Digital Copies

Those who purchased digital copies of The Witcher 3 will be able to play the game a few hours earlier than those who opted for the physical version. CD Projekt RED has confirmed that the game will unlock at 1AM CET on May 19.
Collector's Editions

The Witcher 3 will have two Collector's Editions, each of which comes with its own exclusive content. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt box includes a soundtrack CD and a beautiful, detailed map of the in-game world. The Collector's Edition box includes a one-of-a-kind steelbook and a 200-page artbook. For a full list of content, click here.
Achievements

A full list of The Witcher 3's achievements was made public in April. Although these are for the Xbox One version of the game, it's safe to assume that PlayStation trophies will be the same. Click here for an idea of what to expect.
One Million Strong

CD Projekt RED's Co-Founder, Marcin Iwiński, recently revealed that The Witcher 3's pre-orders stood at over one million worldwide. That quells any doubt about the popularity of the franchise. Grab your copy, and jump in!