It’s still a month until we can explore the wild world of The Witcher. But CD Projekt RED is ready. In fact, they’re done. The game has gone gold and download sizes have been revealed. But does going gold still mean anything?
Going gold traditionally meant that the game was completed. Discs were being pressed and the times before patches, that was it for the game. Now, most studios continue with tweaks and fixes after going gold, making the term a bit useless. However, it’s still great to know that the bulk of the game is complete – now we just wait for the size of the day one patch. In a statement, Adam Badowski, Head of Studio at CD Projekt RED, said:
We worked so damn hard over the past three years to bring you this game. From the corrupt nobles in Novigrad to ancient monsters lurking in deep forests, to the bustling cities, colorful ports and breathtaking vistas; all the people, all the places — we literally spent tens of thousands of hours to turn all that into an adventure that will kick your ass and make you want to come for more. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has gone GOLD and will soon be yours!
Of course, this means that everyone will begin clamouring for the game even more. Over on Xbox One, the download size has been revealed and it’s not nearly as bad as people thought, grabbing “only” 25.15GB of your bandwidth. Once installed, that 25.15GB turns into 30.4GB on your HDD, so be sure to save some space. The PS4 version lists 35GB minimum hard drive space but it’s unclear if that’s just an adjusted placeholder so people stop saying to reserve 50GB. Plus, it’s always best to budget for a bit extra considering save files and other storage that a game can include.
Are you ready, willing and able for The Witcher 3? The Wild Hunt is almost here and it is wildly exciting for fans of the franchise. It looks gorgeous and deep and I really hope it lives up to everyone’s expectations.
Last Updated: April 17, 2015
Admiral Chief asked for this
April 17, 2015 at 08:32
Awesomesauce.
How big was the day1 patch and who will be eating their hat about it?
Or was there some agreement about someone giving away their PS4?
Umar
April 17, 2015 at 08:39
These patches are killing me while I wait for Telkom to sort out their kak…I’m on 3G so even a 3gig patch is colossal to me with mobile data prices. Can’t companies release games that you can just pop in without patching.
Brandon van Reenen
April 17, 2015 at 08:43
This. Literally EVERY game comes out with some sort of Day 1 patch. Luckily for me – and most of us – we have uncapped internet. There are console owners out there who do not have a constant internet connection.
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 08:55
It’s a way of conditioning people to get online. Console games comes with day 1 patches but often times you don’t need it. PC games you always need them.
But with these day 1 patches getting so big. There is a problem somewhere.
Brandon van Reenen
April 17, 2015 at 09:15
Lots of my friends have money, but have no desire to get the internet. And I have no idea why. It’s become such an important part of our home, if it’s down for just a few minutes, we go insane. People should be getting online, whether they own consoles or not.
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 09:22
There are even people who has the money but can’t get the internet. With your friends it comes down to a choice or do I really need it.
I still say that for video games, someone without internet shouldn’t be barred from buying and playing games just because they don’t have internet.
Spend some time, make the games perfect, people will buy it. But we are now being forced online so that they don’t have to take some time and can release games broken, so that they can patch it later. If everybody is online, then patch it later becomes the norm. And that is what we are seeing.
But let me stop. Let me not turn this Witcher article into shit.
Brady miaau
April 17, 2015 at 09:51
Indeed. We have something like 10 internet capable devices in the house, tvs, consoles, laptops, smartphones. All on, annoying if off even for a second.
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 09:53
Remember when the internet turned off in South Africa. People must have lost their minds.
My guess, that’s when the NSA took over.
Brady miaau
April 17, 2015 at 09:50
Yeah, I remember buying Civ V and then having to install this funny thing called Steam to make it work. Downloaded about a gig, two days before game was released, even though I had the DVD. First intro to Steam. And then I read later on that the download was not needed, i.e. it was all ready to go when the DVD’s were made, but they still split the content, so that a DVD alone could not play the game.
Umar
April 17, 2015 at 09:05
Like me! lol When I had ADSL I was fine, but I kinda feel it now being on 3G and realize how horrible this is for other gamers in the same boat. It’s unfair to pay so much for a game and still put up with this BS.
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 09:08
When I was on 3g, I was not wasting money on game updates. Every PC game I owned needed to be updated when installing it again. I was like fuck that.
Thank God that The Witcher 3 doesn’t need internet to install and play.
Peter Pan
April 17, 2015 at 08:40
I thought the game would be far bigger, especially when you consider how big GTAV was with the PC install.
Admiral Chief asked for this
April 17, 2015 at 08:42
Better optimized I’d say?
Alessandro Barbosa
April 17, 2015 at 08:44
Yeah, that and higher resolution textures for different settings. Would be neat if the game asked you what packages you wanted to install – I know some do.
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 08:44
In Badowski’s own words, “we are making the product available on all
platforms, including consoles, that can work offline – so the player
doesn’t have to download a day one patch to run the game.” To add
further assurance that a day one patch probably won’t be necessary, he
concluded that future patches will be for “minor repairs, if any at
all.”
Dutch Matrix
April 17, 2015 at 08:47
heh heh. Dude, I am with you in your hopes that CDPR delivers an awesome game. But a game with the scope that the Witcher 3 has? There is bound to be bugs. So if he says any at all, I would take that with a grain of salt…
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 08:52
There will be bugs. But not major game breaking bugs where the game can’t be played. The German gaming site that got 2 days on hands-on time with the latest build of the game, found like 3 bugs. Two funny bugs and one other bug during fighting I think and a restart fixed it.
CDPR has been trying to get this game near perfect. Hence the last delay. I would say you don’t have to worry about day 1 patches.
Dutch Matrix
April 17, 2015 at 08:54
I hope you are right. If CDPR can pull that off, I will be impressed. I will be honest and say I am a bit sad my rig won’t be able to run this game. And console is just too expensive.
Izzy
April 17, 2015 at 08:55
Bugs, sure. But hopefully it’s been tested to the point where it would only be hiccups and not of the game breaking variety. I have faith in this company, which is a rare thing for me to say these days, given the corporate involvement in development these days. I’ll take the chance of getting burned, but I’m really confident that won’t be the case this time!
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 08:47
It feels like yesterday, in December last year, when The Witcher 3 was delayed yet again. How was I going to wait until May 19th. The Witcher 3 is but a month away. Damn if feels unreal. The Witcher 3 is looking to be the best game of the year. I can’t wait.
http://www.cdn.actiontrip.com/images/comics/at_comic593.jpg
Viking Of Science
April 17, 2015 at 08:50
It is feasable that the PS4 version is bigger, if CDPR used different Resolution Texture packs for the 2 consoles, seeing as they run a different resolutions.
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 08:53
Zoe, best Witcher goes gold, article I read.
http://www.cdn.actiontrip.com/images/comics/at_comic632.jpg
Admiral Chief asked for this
April 17, 2015 at 08:58
NO fast travel for me tx
ReaperOfSquirrels
April 17, 2015 at 09:03
I love the Witcher games, but this has been hyped to the max… and the hype train has left… and I’m still at the station, because I won’t be able to play it anyway.
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 09:04
Why not?
ReaperOfSquirrels
April 17, 2015 at 09:19
Don’t have anything that can handle it.
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 09:30
Don’t let that PC elitist get to you. I’ve seen people play The Witcher 2 on shit computers, less than R2000 graphics cards.
If you have a graphics card you should be able to play it. Wait a few days after release and the internet will tell you if your setup will play it. I’ll even go do a few tests to see if it plays on shit.
My guess, a graphics card around R2000 will play the Witcher 3. The 7870 is like what, around R3000.
With the Witcher 2 low setting with stuff turned off, still looked good.
ReaperOfSquirrels
April 17, 2015 at 09:56
Dude, give me the R3000 and I’ll get a new graphics card.
Unfortunately, I’d need more than just a graphics card upgrade to be able to play the Witcher 3.
Brendon Bosch
April 17, 2015 at 09:34
I have a big life decision to make. I just started with Bloodborne and won’t finish it before Witcher 3 is out. Do I stop playing Bloodborne or do I finish it before starting Witcher 3? It’s going to be a tough choice
Izzy
April 17, 2015 at 09:58
Postpone Bloodborne and spend some quality time with your loved one, because when The Witcher 3 comes.. and a certain prophet with a burning hatred for DRM can tell you this… The Witcher 3 is, indeed, coming, you’ll hardly have time for anything else! Haha, on a serious note though, I think Bloodborne is the kind of game you can put down, take a break from for a while, then pick up again and get into it. There isn’t the urgency a plot or cinematic-heavy game would force on you. When you invest in a Souls Game most of the effort comes from the player’s side, and you end up patting yourself on the back instead of a game telling you you’ve done well.
Bloodborne is also the kind of game that has layers upon layers of well-hidden and finely detailed content. It might be refreshing to get into, after a while again, and you can discover stuff you missed previously.
Witcher 3, however, will consume your soul completely. 😉 Or so I hope! XD
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 10:08
If Bloodborne is anything like Dark Souls 1, not Dark Souls 2 because that game is shit, then it’s not about finishing the game. It’s about running around and trying to kill stuff. I like Dark Souls 1 and I have restarted it so many times to play in different ways with different setups and weapons. That’s the fun part.
The Witcher 3 is a game that you going to want to finish, maybe. Story driven game. Most of the time it will be about listening to people’s stories and shit like that. Geralt and the Witcher universe has got some nice stories to tell. So hopefully the story will be good, it should be, and will make people want to play till the end.
So you can stop playing Bloodborne, finish the Witcher 3, come back and restart Bloodborne or play on.
Just buy The Witcher 3. That’s all that matters. When you play it, doesn’t matter.
Brendon Bosch
April 17, 2015 at 14:59
Headsup. Pre-ordered Witcher 3 last year the first day it was up for pre-order. My alegiance to CDPR is undeniable. One thing i wont do i rush through my games thats for sure. To expensive to not get full value in gameplay
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 09:35
One of the best I’ve seen.
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 09:36
Good marketing trailer.
Izzy
April 17, 2015 at 09:44
Good everything trailer, to be honest. XD
Lord Chaos
April 17, 2015 at 09:40
Looks like he’s about to fight a Knight of Ni!
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 09:51
Geralt is on a sacred quest to find a shrubbery.
Deceased
April 17, 2015 at 10:13
My body is ready… My soul is willing… and my mind is able…
Cannot wait
Don’t support Game of Thrones. The Witcher 3 is coming.
( Disclaimer: I’m a huge GoT fan, so before I start S5, I’ll watch S1-S4 again, and possibly not have time to finish The Witcher 1&2 before The Wild Hunt is out – First World Problems and all that – hence the don’t support GoT 😀 )
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 10:35
And with Charles Dance’s voice in the game. Oh it’s going to be good.
https://youtu.be/vLwSroXWVnc?t=45
oVg
April 17, 2015 at 11:12
day one update to inhance the game over the next year? or a day one patch to fix a game breaking bug? whitcher is it?
oVg
April 17, 2015 at 11:14
also remember, Skyrim is 3.8gigs, thats smaller than a Unity patch.;)
Ryanza
April 17, 2015 at 12:04
In Badowski’s own words, “we are making the product available on all
platforms, including consoles, that can work offline – so the player
doesn’t have to download a day one patch to run the game.” To add
further assurance that a day one patch probably won’t be necessary, he
concluded that future patches will be for “minor repairs, if any at
all.”
Don’t give away that PS4.
R1ker
April 17, 2015 at 11:19
Damn – and I still have Witcher 1 & 2 sitting in my back log of Steam that I need to get to. Ryanza please don’t crucify me 😉
Allah Akbar
April 18, 2015 at 08:35
this patch trend with devs needs to stop. to me this is lazy what the devs are doing
Sebastian Liam Wood
April 20, 2015 at 17:28
wait when I install the game, the initial update will be 25gbs to play online?