The highly anticipated next-gen update for the The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has finally dropped, and while the console versions seem to be well-received by both critics and fans, PC players are reporting a long list of issues. In a Reddit thread many complained about how the patch is poorly optimized, with users saying that despite having relatively top of the line graphics cards, the game is now running at inconsistent or low frame rates, especially with ray tracing or other new graphical settings turned on.
“I used to run ultra settings with all the 4k texture mods and all kinds of foliage LoD increases and other stuff and got like 120+ fps with a 3080 Ti at 4k,” rune2004 wrote. “Now I get like 65-70 at ultra settings (not ultra+ and without raytracing and DLSS of course) and 100-110 fps at low settings. Raytracing with DLSS on balanced is like 35-40fps.” In the same thread, others cited similar problems with the frame rate taking a significant hit after the graphic fidelity improvements introduced in the new version. Some have mentioned frequent crashes tied to the patch, in extreme cases making it so that they can no longer open the game. On Twitter, the company acknowledged these PC issues and promised a fix as soon as possible.
This update for The Witcher 3 was originally announced in 2021, but was pushed back following the calamitous launch of the studio’s Cyberpunk 2077. According to the patch notes, there is a long list of changes included, such as quality of life improvements, 4K textures, a photo mode, graphics options on console, and support for the PS5’s haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. While the PC version also has DLSS support and more ray tracing options, the graphical upscales tank performance such that many believe this trade-off is not worthwhile, leading some to rollback the game to its previous version. As one Reddit user succinctly put it, “Bruh, they Cyberpunked the Witcher 3.”