More than 11 years after its original debut, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has reached a new height of popularity on PC. On September 29, 2026, the title achieved an all-time high of 120,975 concurrent players on Steam, following the launch of its highly anticipated Remastered edition.
This milestone significantly surpasses the game’s previous record of 103,329 concurrent players, which was set in January 2020. That earlier peak was largely driven by the cultural footprint of the first season of the Netflix series, whereas the current surge is tied directly to a massive technical overhaul and a restructuring of the game’s content.
The Remastered edition was released as a free upgrade for all existing owners of The Witcher 3. This update modernizes the 2015 RPG with advanced visual features, including path tracing, and introduces dedicated support for the PlayStation 5 Pro and Nintendo Switch 2. By providing these enhancements at no additional cost to current owners, CD Projekt Red has incentivized a massive return to the Continent.
Beyond the technical improvements, the developer has also streamlined the game’s content offerings. CD Projekt Red now bundles the two major expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, for free for all base-game owners. This move ensures that the entire player base has access to the full narrative arc of Geralt of Rivia’s journey.
The technical updates also appear to be a strategic bridge for the franchise’s future. The Remastered edition reportedly lays the foundational groundwork for a new expansion titled “Songs of the Past,” which is currently scheduled for a 2027 release. This upcoming content is expected to serve as a narrative link between the third installment and the next major entry in the series.
The launch has not been without minor hurdles, though they were addressed quickly. Some players using AMD graphics cards reported initial technical issues upon the Remastered edition’s release, but these were resolved shortly after with the deployment of a new driver update. With the technical stability improved and a record-breaking player count, the game enters its second decade as a dominant force in the RPG genre.
