July 9 marked the inaugural WitcherCon, a collaborative event between Netflix and developer CD Projekt RED celebrating both the Witcher Netflix series and the iconic series of games including The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Fans were awaiting news regarding a possible upgrade to The Witcher 3 alongside news of the Netflix series' second season, which was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The first season of The Witcher premiered in December 2019, but filming of the second season was paused multiple times due to coronavirus-related safety concerns. During WitcherCon, which was hosted simultaneously via Netflix and CD Projekt RED's Twitch channels, it was officially announced that Season 2 will launch on Netflix on December 17, 2021. In addition, The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, an animated film starring Geralt's mentor Vesemir, will release on Netflix on August 23.
During a heated trivia competition between the Netflix series' showrunners and The Witcher 3 developers Philipp Weber and Błazej Augustynek , the CD Projekt RED team formally announced a next-generation upgrade for Wild Hunt that will be released later this year. They also revealed that this upgrade will feature items inspired by the Netflix series, possibly including the armor worn by Henry Cavill's version of series protagonist Geralt of Rivia. No items were specifically confirmed, with only the armor being mentioned during the stream.
The upgraded version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition will optimize the game for better performance on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. Planned upgrades include ray tracing capability and shorter loading times in both the base game and its two expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.
The upgraded Complete Edition, which includes both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, will be available as a standalone purchase for PC and next-generation consoles. It will also be offered as a free upgrade for customers who already own Wild Hunt on either PC or current-generation consoles. Information regarding how to redeem this upgrade will be announced at a later date. Whether or not a new Witcher game is in the works, no announcement was made at WitcherCon regarding the topic.
Other announcements made at WitcherCon included the release of previously announced mobile game tie-in The Witcher: Monster Slayer, in which players will create their own original Witcher character and fight iconic monsters appearing in the series such as leshen, trolls, and striga. The game, which will use alternate reality technology similar to Pokemon GO and other location-based mobile games, is currently planned to release on July 21 for both Android and iOS devices. Pre-registration is currently available via the Google Play Store. Also announced were figurines based on the Witcher Netflix series and others showing Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer in feudal Japanese fashion.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is currently available on PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One, with PS5 and Xbox Series X/S planned to launch in 2021.