CDPR Says The Witcher 3 Remaster Was Necessary for Songs of the Past Expansion

Developers had to improve certain aspects of the project during development to bring their ideas to life.

This summer, CD Projekt RED not only showcased the gameplay for the story expansion Songs of the Past, but also announced a remaster of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

In an interview, CD Projekt RED joint CEO Michal Nowakowski explained that the studio did not originally intend to make a remaster. However, various improvements were discussed during development, and at a certain point, the team realized they essentially had a finished remaster on their hands.

Speaking with TechRadar, Songs of the Past development lead Jakub Rokosz noted the close connection between the expansion and the remaster. According to the specialist, the DLC could not have been made without the implemented improvements:

If you can put it this way: the stars aligned, because several circumstances had to coincide for this. The Songs of the Past expansion and Letten itself, the region where events unfold, had a specific concept. We had a vision of how everything should look, but we faced concrete technological challenges that were impossible to solve without the changes brought to the game by the remaster.

Letten features a great deal of vegetation, and during the region’s prototype stage, developers encountered a problem where it was “virtually impossible to ride a horse through it.” Because of this, Jakub explains, the creators had to rework horse handling.

There is a large lake in the center of the location that the game engine was not ready for. The developers further optimized the engine so that players will be able to see the body of water and watch fishermen.

The remaster of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is expected to release on September 29, and the expansion will launch next year.

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