The Witcher 3 minimum PC requirements rise significantly ahead of new expansion, forcing you to use Windows 11 and an SSD

Key Points:

• CD Projekt Red has raised the minimum PC system requirements for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, dropping support for hard-disk drives and Windows 10 in favor of solid-state drives and Windows 11, ahead of the upcoming third expansion, Songs of the Past.
• The new minimum specs include a Ryzen 5 2600 or Intel i5-8400 CPU, GTX 1660 or Radeon RX 5500 XT GPU with 6 GB VRAM, 12 GB RAM, 70 GB SSD storage, and 64-bit Windows 11 OS, significantly higher than the previous requirements.
• The move aligns with Microsoft's end of Windows 10 support and necessitates DirectX 12 compatibility, supported processors, and actively updated GPU drivers for Windows 11.
• CD Projekt Red justifies dropping HDD support due to SSDs offering superior performance, faster load times, and better asset streaming, but players can revert to earlier game versions if their hardware is incompatible.
• While the update indicates ambitious technical improvements for the expansion, it risks alienating players with older hardware or those not upgrading to Windows 11 amid high PC component costs.