I figured this was the case.
Wanted to replay the game too. I'll stick to my switch replay for now.
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Witcher 3 Next Gen Update switches to In House development/checking, delayed indefinitely (read threadmark)
- Thread starter dex3108
- Start date
Wanted to replay the game too. I'll stick to my switch replay for now.
This is absolutely great news. While I'm disappointed that it won't release soon, I would MUCH rather they delay this update, even by a year, if needed, to ensure that this meets their Witcher quality standards. I do not want a rushed ray tracing update. They can't afford to take the hit of this update releasing poorly after Cyberpunk. I also think it's great that they are doing this in house. It should mean that the quality is much higher.
I'm actually excited to see how this turns out. They built such a beautifully realized, hand-crafted world with the Witcher 3 and it deserves a proper update.
Saber Interactive's HQ is in Florida, but has multiple studios worldwide. The Russian studio may have been picked it was the closest to CDPR in Poland with the available manpower needed. Not being several timezones away always helps with business communications.
Not the first thing I'd do if I had a time machine. But can someone go back in time and tell them that CP would be their downfall and to scrap the idea and just give Ciri her own fucking Witcher game?!?!?!?!?!
Surely they didn't lose every scrap of work put into this version? So it's unlikely they have to start fresh. But the simple fact that they outsourced it at all meant that their own plate is busy between Witcher on a whole new engine, while making the cyberpunk expansion so this obviously is on the back burner so why put a date on it at all.
Seems like a responsible decision and I appreciate the transparency as these things usually happen behind closed doors or leak as rumors,
I just started a fresh save using the Ultimate Edition on Series X. It looks pretty great on my LG even without the next-gen features. It's a locked 60 at native or very close to 4k for most of the time as far as I can tell.
The only things I'm missing is better LOD, more modern AA that handles foliage/alpha better, and a more responsive queue system for the controls (playing on Alternate mode). I can live with the semi-real time system as long as it behaves like I expect it to.
I just started a fresh save using the Ultimate Edition on Series X. It looks pretty great on my LG even without the next-gen features. It's a locked 60 at native or very close to 4k for most of the time as far as I can tell.
The only things I'm missing is better LOD, more modern AA that handles foliage/alpha better, and a more responsive queue system for the controls (playing on Alternate mode). I can live with the semi-real time system as long as it behaves like I expect it to.
I had forgotten that they were doing this, and was thinking about starting a new playthrough since I upgraded my graphics card and got a new monitor a few months ago. Do we have an overview/list of the changes? Will there be significant improvements over a modded up PC version, or is this mostly a console update sort of thing?
upgrade pulled from Russian studio
Witcher 3 Next-Gen Upgrade Pulled From Russia Studio, Delayed Indefinitely [Update: Coming December 14]
The PS5 and Xbox Series X version was previously handled by Saber Interactive
kotaku.com
Enough takes without context.
Reports can help on matters like this.
@witchergame said:
They don't know how far out they'll be postponing the game yet, thus the postponement is indefinite until then.
Nowhere did I say it wasn't good news, but it's not good news for them, even in the statement they're clearly gritting their teeth at having to do this themselves
Good on them for not dropping a trash update after the cyberpunk crap, but they offloaded it for a reason and now have to pick up the slack
The thought of Witcher 3 with ray tracing sounds incredible. I can wait a few years if it will take that long.
That's the thing, besides them presumably working with some people from the community to incorporate some of the mods in this version (at least Saber was at the time), we basically have no clue what they are doing with it. We don't really even know if the console version will have a 60fps mode or if it'll just be 30fps again.
This won't take a few years, they won't work on a patch for multiple years with the slate they have, ESPECIALLY for console level ray tracing, being as limited as it is
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I mean... they (Saber) have already been working on it for close to two years now. So if this delay puts the final release sometime in mid to late 2023, then it'll be 3 years between announcement and release for this patch.
Unless you were talking about CDPR themselves going forward, in which case I agree, I think at most they'll work on it for another year.
CPR themselves will not work on this for years, despite the (bad) work Saber clearly had when working on this project yeah
It really reads like theyre dragging their feet having to do this, the job must have been horrible
You can already play it at 60 fps on the PS5/XSX. It had that mode added for the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X where it had a dynamic res but usually kept around 1080P.
On the XSX at least, it runs at close to 4k and 60 fps. I imagine that when they finish this update, it'll just make everything optimized for the new consoles and adding some extra prettiness.
I don't think Saber's work was necessarily bad tbh. It sounded like they were (needlessly imo) trying to make this upgrade more substantial than what it needed to be and CDPR will probably continue their work in a similar scope.
That's not actually true. The PS4 Pro never got a 60fps patch, so the PS5 version is locked to 30fps.
At any rate, my point was that we don't really have any clue what they are doing with this upgrade. It might be a big overhaul (considering how long it has been in the works) that goes for a higher visual fidelity but at 30fps, or they might tone it in a way that they'd be able to offer a 60fps option as well. We don't know either way.
It was their "in house" efforts that released the original game in the first place.
If it is just RT shadows for consoles and the already existing texture MOD, yeah take all the time you need, even eternity, I don't need it.
Do we have any proof that Saber was doing a bad job on the upgrade?
No way this would be the case. It would require as much time as reworking the game from scratch.
Only the obvious, why would a studio who offloaded a job take it into their own hands, even the tone of the press release is fairly clear
Especially a studio who has a massive slate like CD project
They couldn't get it done for one reason or another and now CDPR are picking up the slack
I don't think anyone can make a solid confirmation on that. The reasons Saber were pulled from the project is much more likely a geopolitical reason and much less so problematic issues with their actual work on it. Saber is a known quantity when it comes to porting work, alongside companies Virtuos for example.
And then they released Cyberpunk. I don't have any faith in them anymore. As far as I'm concerned the studio that made The Witcher 3 no longer exists.
The Witcher 3 already is a complete game. The main updates for the next-gen refresh was intended to be mainly Ray Tracing and texture updates with the inclusion of some content from the TV Series. It's not like the core experience won't be intact with upgrade of textures or some armor or weapon piece carried over from the Netflix series. It's still the Witcher 3 with Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, just a next gen version of such. In fact existing owners of the Completion Edition are / were supposed to get the update for free.
I don't know why folks have this reductive reasoning that comes to the point if a studio releases one problematic game it automatically implies with the caveat the rest of their output can never possibly improve or change as if every future endeavor is permanently tainted, let alone being incapable of improving a game they are already very familiar with to begin with.
Everything they do moving forward is permanently tainted now thanks to Cyberpunk, they no longer get the benefit of the doubt from a lot of people, even for something "simpler" like a next gen patch. It is what it is.
The audience at large (outside of forums) simply doesn't care. Ubisoft released Unity and it didn't have any negative impact on AC series. Bioware released Anthem and Andromeda then remastered Mass Effect LE and it didn't matter. Next Mass Effect will not be tainted. Rocksteady mishandled Arkham Knight on PC and it didn't matter. Cyberpunk 2077 keeps selling on PC and its largely the console crowd they have to win back. The industry forgets and we have too many examples of it.
They never clarified what constitutes for "current owners", though, which is what I've been wondering about.
At this point, people likely have:
Base game
Base game + either expansion
Base game + season pass
GotY edition
I'm worried that only those who have the GotY edition counts as "current owners".
It's all owners of the PS4, Xbox, and PC version as per initial announcement.
My point is "everyone who already owns the game" doesn't necessarily tell me what counts as "owning the game". Maybe I'm being too much of a worriwart, but I just don't want the rug pulled under me when they later say "only the GotY edition counts".
I disagree with this.
CyberPunk was REMOVED from PSN and refunds were offered. The only triple A game that had this happen.
The game has had incredibly negative coverage for months on every conceivable news outlet, forum and youtube+twitch.
The situation with CP2077 has had a very big impact on this CDPR's reputation.
They never specified required you needed to own DLC to be entitled to the next-gen update. Not even in the press release in every article that has covered the news for the update from various major gaming publication / news outlets. If it required DLC to claim ownership, as much folks want to be skeptical with every current PR statement from CDPR, I doubt they would have glossed over the fact if such a prerequisite was required.
Issues with Cyberpunk aside. Both Witcher 1 and Witcher 2 also recieved extensive updates of their Enhanced Editions were entirely free to owners of the original game. If anything CDPR has been consistent with is giving free updates to their current games and DLC when they make plans to do so.