Why is this noteworthy? As he explained on Twitter, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, achieved attach rates of 22 and 24 percent in their first three months. Phantom Liberty achieving 23 percent in the same time frame is already good, but unlike those expansions, it launched more than 2.5 years after the base game.

Nowakowski expressed that the decision to release an expansion long after the base game’s launch was “a bit counterintuitive.” However, “What happened is proof to us that solid content that people are happy with is the way to go.” Of course, the free updates for Cyberpunk 2077, the latest adding a metro system, certainly helped sustain interest.

Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out our review of the expansion here. You can also read our re-review for the base game.

@PaulTassi I can help with the att rate for The Witcher 3 expansions you mention in your article. Three months after the release of Hearts of Stone & Blood and Wine we were at 22% and 24% att rate. We landed between these values with Phantom Liberty in a similar timeframe. (1/2) https://t.co/x3NEO9eTu0

— Michał Nowakowski (@michalnowakow) January 8, 2024

TBH, the decision to go through with the expansion so long after launch of the single player game was a bit counterintuitive. But what happened is a proof to us that solid content that people are happy with is the way to go. (2/2)

— Michał Nowakowski (@michalnowakow) January 8, 2024

Cyberpunk 2077 was announced a long time ago- back in 2012, before even The Witcher 3 was announced (and we are almost four years removed from the release of The Witcher 3 at this point). So why has it taken so long to come out?

As it turns out, CD Projekt RED was busy working on The Witcher 3 itself for a large period of that time. And then, even when the game did come out, the studio was busy working on its excellent expansions Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. And development on Cyberpunk 2077 didn’t properly begin until Blood and Wine was out in 2016, according to what French outlet Jeuxactu was told by Cyberpunk 2077’s lead cinematic animator Maciej Pietras.

To be fair, it seems like Pietras does get some of his dates wrong (he references a Fall 2015 release date for Blood and Wine, whereas Blood and Wine was a 2016 release—so either he means Hearts of Stone, and just misnamed the expansion, or he misspoke the date). Regardless of the confusion, however, I think we can safely conclude at this point that full fledged development on Cyberpunk has been underway for at least three years (I guess making a fully handcrafted world adds to that development time). Now whether or not that is enough to get the game out this year remains to be seen- recent speculation has suggested that that might end up happening.

Gotham City – Batman: Arkham Knight

Say what you will about the Batmobile and the Arkham Knight’s issues but Gotham City was pretty fun to explore. Areas like the ACE Chemicals facility was incredibly fleshed out, the sheer sense of scale as you glided past skyscrapers was great, and there were enough interesting side quests and villains to keep things fresh. Yes, fighting drones got boring and some villains like Hush had rather anti-climatic endings but this was Gotham City captured in its most grim, gothic form.

The Witcher 3 may not have a modding scene as active as, say, Skyrim, but there are still a fair few mods for it released. A lot of them target the game’s graphical performance (which, I mean, come on- the game is already stunning), including the Turbo Lighting Mod.

The Turbo Lighting Mod 2.3 will see a release within the next week or two, its maker confirmed on Twitter. This mod essentially makes the game look closer to what it did in the trailers before its infamous downgrade, by introducing a new lighting system. You can actually check out a screenshot from the game running with the mod activated above. The new lighting system, however, will not be applicable to the Toussaint region, from the latest expansion for the game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and its expansions Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are now all available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC worldwide.

There is more to do in Blood and Wine than there is in entire full price AAA game releases these days- so it’s absolutely possible for you to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of content on offer. If you do, if you do get lost, you don’t need to worry. That’s what this guide here is for. From locations for places of power, armor set upgrades, and merchants, and more, any and everything you need help finding, is something this guide will help you with. We have also included a video guide that will help you to earn infinite money and crafting materials. Let’s get started.

ARMOR SET UPGRADE LOCATIONS

There are multiple armor sets and upgrades to be found in Blood and Wine– and quite like in The Witcher 3, they’re spread out and hidden all over the map. So, you know- they can be a bit hard to find. And that’s where this guide comes in- below, we will be listing all the Armor Sets in the game that you can find, and we will also be providing you with videos so you know where to find them.

Tesham Mutna Armor Set (Vampiric Aura)

A black vampiric set.

White Armor Dye

This lets you recolor all your armor to white- which is honestly a damn good look for Geralt.

Manticore Witcher Gear Set

An armor set found in six pieces.

Pink Armor Dye

In case you decided that pink would look good on your itinerant Witcher.

Yellow Armor Dye

For those who like a dash of Pikachu on their Geralt.

Black Armor Dye

Gothic Geralt is best Geralt.

Gray Armor Dye

Because the world is full of grays anyway.

Red Armor Dye

This way, no one can tell when you’re bleeding.

Green Armor Dye

Good camouflage for when you are in the fields.

Grandmaster Ursine Bear Armor Set

Look like a complete badass as you go questing and hunting.

Grandmaster Wolf Wolven Gear Set

Dance with the wolves with this set.

Grandmaster Griffin School Gear Set

An armor set found in six pieces.

Gesheft Relic Silver Sword

An extremely effective sword. You need to be Level 45 or above to use it, however.

Vampire Lord Hen Gaidth Armor (Gloves And Sword)

No word on whether or not this set sparkles.

Grandmaster Feline Witcher Gear Set

Because even Geralt is susceptible to the internet’s obsession with cats.

DYEING YOUR ARMOR

A lot of the upgrades for the armor in Blood and Wine are simple color dyes- something you may have noticed if you perused the list above. Dyes are actually a brand new feature of Blood and Wine– and if you were curious about how they work, the video below should explain what to do with these dyes once you have your hands on them.

DYE MERCHANT LOCATIONS

If you want to be able to buy dye for your armor freely, this video below will show you where you can find merchants on the map across the world:

WEAPONS

There’s a whole lot of great weapons to find in Blood and Wine, mostly associated with various Witcher schools (although there are some that are not). This part of the guide here helps you to hunt them down, so you can have the meanest, baddest swords around.

Aerondight

Aerondight may be the best sword in the entire game- and if you are a fan of the series, you know that it has shown up in previous games too. It’s now finally available to procure in Witcher 3 thanks to Blood and Wine.

Go to the noticeboard in front of Cockatrice Inn, and pick up the quest ‘There Can Be Only One.’ At Lac Celavy lake, the hermit will tell you that you can get a special quest by proving your worth in five areas.

Honor: Go to the notice board in Beauclair, and initiate the quest Till Death Do You Part. Go to the cemetery, investigate the interaction between the ghosts, go back to the quest giver, and tell him actually, it was just a marital spat.

Wisdom: Go to a cave south west of the lake. You’ll see a bunch of people give you the quest Father Knows Worst, prompting you to enter a nearby cave and save their brother. Talk to them again, and tell them No One Dies. Not Today.

Comparssion: Go to Cockatrice Inn, and pick up the quest Big Game Hunter. During the quest, don’t kill any of the panthers. Once you return to the camp, ask the guards about the Count’s life (New life? Something wrong before?). Agree to come to his exhibition when he invites you (Sure, why not?), and then actually visit him when the time comes.

Generosity: When you reach Beauclair, a child will deliver a letter from Yennefer to you. Make sure to tip the child.

Valor: Northwest of Beauclair Palace, you will find a guard asking you for help. Accept his quest, and once he starts talking to you, tell him to Take the damned head, go back to Beauclair.

All of this should be enough to get you Aerondight- and once you have Aerondight, you won’t be wanting much else.

For all the other weapons in the game, check out the videos below!

PLACES OF POWER

Yup, Blood and Wine brings with it more Places of Power that you can gain temporary buffs at, scattered across the map- and finding all of them nets you an Achievement, too. Places of Power are simple- you go to one, you draw power from it, and then one of your signs is boosted temporarily. If you want to find all the ones in Blood and Wine, the video below should help.

HORSE GEAR

Roach may still be an absolute idiot, but on the plus side, now he can be an absolute idiot while decked out in gear and outfits you picked out for him. If you needed a guide on finding some of the horse gear in this game, we have got you covered.

Infinite Money & Crafting Materials Exploit

Within the very first fifteen minutes, you leave behind the gloomy, brutal landscapes of The Witcher 3 and enter an entirely new area, one that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen in this series. Gone are the boggy swamps of Velen, gone the urban mess known as Novigrad, and gone are the stark, grim mountains of Skellige. Blood and Wine takes you to Toussaint, an area that is particularly French in its flavours and styles. Toussaint is full of beautiful vineyards, scenic landscapes and grand palaces and estates. The sun shines bright here, the people are chippy and chivalrous and there’s an overall undercurrent that is much happier than what fans of the series might be accustomed to.

"Within the very first fifteen minutes, you leave behind the gloomy, brutal landscapes of The Witcher 3 and enter an entirely new area, one that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen in this series."

The region of Toussaint might be the best thing about all of Blood and Wine. It makes a complete break from The Witcher 3’s base game in the boldest way possible, and it’s for the better. After hours upon hours of the base game’s stark, brutal tone, Blood and Wine feels like a breath of fresh air.

However, don’t take any of this to mean that Blood and Wine forgets what made The Witcher 3 so damn good in its first place, with its tense atmosphere, dark humour and sharp writing. Toussaint is beautiful to look at and a ride through the vineyards is more pleasant than you can imagine, but this is still, at its heart, a Witcher story, and it comes with all the dark imagery and morbid fantasy you would expect.

The tale the expansion pack tells is a captivating one, if not for the narrative itself as much as it is because of its strong cast of characters. Veterans of the franchise- especially those who are familiar with the books- will recognize a few key characters here and there, and each of them is written with the same kind of expert precision that made the likes of the Baron and Yennefer so good in the base game itself.

Carrying on with the improvements the Hearts of Stone DLC made to the game’s combat, swordplay in Blood and Wine is fast-paced, thrilling and intense. Boss fights require you to study the enemies’ movements patterns carefully, and you’ll be as good as dead if you cannot perform quick dodges and rolls to get out of the way of their deadly attacks. Potions, bombs and oils are sure to give you the edge in any kind of a battle, but the thing that really changes the combat for the better in Blood and Wine is the addition of mutations. These mutations give you some interesting bonuses in the middle of battles, and also add new skill slots, and both these things come in very handy in the thick of a battle, even if they ultimately make the game a bit of a cakewalk, especially near the final stages of the story.

"The tale the expansion pack tells is a captivating one, if not for the narrative itself as much as it is because of its strong cast of characters."

Another major addition in Blood and Wine is the ability to manage an entire estate. In the opening hours of the expansion pack, Geralt becomes the owner of a vineyard that has been falling into decay, but is still a beautiful location and has the potential to become a wonderful retirement home for the old witcher in the future. The purpose of this estate, more than anything else, is to give Geralt a loving, peaceful sendoff. But in truth, when you really get down to it, that’s the purpose of all of Blood and Wine.

It’s surprising to see how well Blood and Wine manages to strike a perfect balance between The Witcher’s typical stark, somber atmosphere and it’s newfound in-your-face sense of humour. It shows just how well CDPR can tell a strong story, and that they do not have to rely on dark tones and grim characters to do so.

The Witcher 3’s final expansion pack benefits greatly from leaving behind the original game’s general feeling of melancholy and doom and gloom, and embraces its new ebullient atmosphere in the most wonderful way possible. It’s the perfect sendoff for The Witcher as we know it, and if this is Geralt’s final foray in this celebrated RPG franchise, then we as fans can all be satisfied with his send-off.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 4.

Yesterday marked the launch of Blood and Wine, the final expansion pack for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and the last adventure for veteran Witcher Geralt of Rivia. It’s probably a touching moment for the legions of fans who have spent hundreds of hours with Geralt on his journeys- and that’s not even considering the people who have been playing these games since the very first one released back in 2007.

Anyway, to commemorate the occasion, CD Project RED have released a brand new theme for the PS4, themed after the just released new expansion. It’s a pretty good theme, and the best part is, it is absolutely free too- you can’t complain at that price. You can download it from the PSN Store as long as you live in North America.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and its expansions are available now on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. Check out a video showing off the new theme below, courtesy of DualShockers’ Giuseppe Nelva, and let us know what you think in the comments section.

Looks like someone pulled the trigger early- the final expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Geralt of Rivia’s final chapter that we will get to play through, Blood and Wine, is apparently available already on Xbox One- at least if you bought the Expansion Pass early.

According to NeoGAF, if you own the Expansion Pass, go to My Games -> The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt -> Menu -> Ready to Install, and then install the add-on. After that, start the game again, and you will see the add-on available in the game to play already. You might as well do it now, too, because it might be taken down again until the official release.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. CD Projekt RED are apparently preparing to announce another game related to The Witcher at E3 this year, although it is unclear if the new game will follow Geralt. Stay tuned to GamingBolt for more information and coverage on the game.

Ahead of the launch of Blood and Wine, CD Projekt RED have launched patch 1.20 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. The patch brings with it a whole lot of changes to the table, including improvements brought to the UI of the game- something that CD Projekt RED had promised us would be happening with the launch of Blood and Wine.

You can check out the full list of changes in the gigantic change log below. Just about every aspect of the game has been changed- it’s best to come to terms with all the changes now, ahead of the launch of Blood and Wine next week.

Improvements

• Adds book titled ‘A Miraculous Guide to Gwent’ which displays number of gwent cards missing from player’s base-game collection and information on where to find them, thus facilitating completion of achievement titled Collect ‘Em All. Tome in question can be obtained either from gwent playing scholar in Prologue or from merchant near St. Gregory’s Bridge in Gildorf district of Novigrad.
• Adds option to display herb names above available interactions.
• Adds option in Options/Gameplay to enable enemy level upscaling. If foes are too easy to defeat due to level difference, upscaling will render them a challenge. Change will not affect experience point gain, loot, or quest rewards. Option can be enabled or disabled at any time, even during combat (however, Vitality/Essence of foes is then fully restored).
• Adds option in Options/Gameplay to disable automatic drawing and sheathing of sword.
• Increases incidence of, and thus chances of finding, several monster-based ingredients required for crafting high level alchemy formulae.
• Improves Player Statistics panel, adding maneuverable Geralt model. Improves visuals in panel for better readability.
• Adds new functionality to books and scrolls. When first collected, they can be read immediately using single button without need of navigating to Inventory panel. All found but not yet read books and scrolls are stored in Quest Items and Other categories. Once read, books and scrolls can be sold as their content is saved in Books section of Glossary.
• Improves overall visuals in Character Development panel.
• Improves Inventory whereby items are divided into additional subcategories within their grids: weapons and armor; oils, potions and bombs; quest items and others; food and equestrian gear; crafting and alchemy. Additionally, introduces redesign of tooltips enabling their resizing with single button. Also, item comparison is easier than ever given addition of summary of changes in stats.
• Improves Inventory navigation when using gamepad. Slots are divided into sections and right stick can be used to jump between them.
• Improves Crafting panel in merchant shops. Adds option to purchase missing diagram components directly from Crafting panel when talking to merchant, as well as clearer descriptions and option to resize item descriptions.
• Introduces redesign of Repair panel in merchant shops. Adds single button enabling players to repair all equipped items.
• Improves Remove Upgrade panel in merchant shops.
• Improves Quick Access Menu whereby it can be accessed in one of two modes, with action either paused or slowed depending on button used.
• Adds functionality whereby crossbow bolts can be switched via Quick Access Menu rather than being equipped from Inventory.
• Adds counter for bombs and crossbow bolts to Quick Access Menu.
• Improves region maps by adding pin filtering, more intuitive quest tracking, and a region overview for faster navigation.
• Adds three new custom pins allowing players to mark areas for future reference.
• Improves Adrenaline Bar which better displays number of stored Adrenaline Points and their status.
• Improves display and behavior of Buffs, displayed in more intuitive manner showing time left, strength percentage, stacks, charges, or permanence where applicable. Buff icons now blink for approx. 10 seconds before expiration. For improved visibility, names and exact expiration times for all effects are only visible when Quick Access menu is active.
• Changes icons for decoctions, rendering them recognizable at first glance.
• Changes icons for oils, rendering them recognizable at first glance.
• Changes gwent card icons in shops, rendering factions recognizable at first glance.
• Changes icons for mutagens.
• Adds feature whereby equipment exceeding player character level can be previewed on character.
• Improves sorting in Journal whereby active quest tab is always open and tracked quest is at top of quest list.
• Improves quest item visuals so that Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine quest items are now tagged with blue and red exclamation points, respectively.

-Gwent-

• Quest titled Collect ‘Em All is now marked as failed if player does not succeed in collecting Milva, Vampire Bruxa and Dandelion gwent cards during gwent tournament in quest titled A Matter of Life and Death.

-Visual-

• Fixes PC-specific issue whereby there was no change in appearance between Nvidia Hairworks 3-day beard (stage 2) and full beard (stage 4).
• Fixes issue whereby Geralt’s clothing was not properly restored after sex scenes.
• Fixes visual issue whereby guards holding torches would have inverse kinematics when animated.
• Fixes PS4-specific visual issue whereby texture of water puddles would not fade properly.

-Gameplay-

• Updates description of Superior Blizzard potion. Potion now slows time for a short period whenever an enemy is slain. Additionally, during this period actions do not deplete Stamina if 3 Adrenaline Points are available.
• Fixes issue whereby indicator for Oil charges would appear incorrectly in New Game Plus mode.
• Fixes issue whereby Flood of Anger skill could endlessly increase Sign intensity.
• Fixes issue whereby Ciri could be missing her scabbard in certain situations.
• Fixes issues whereby damage from Northern Wind bombs could be calculated incorrectly.
• Fixes issue whereby pool of experience points would invert to negative value when player reached level 70 cap or used Potion of Clearance.
• Fixes PC platform-specific issue whereby only the ‘E’ key would open Stash chest despite user manually changing relevant key binding

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

While The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is about to get a new DLC called Blood and Wine but before the new content lands there’s going to be a new update that will bring a couple of new features, as well as prepare the title for the DLC. WCCF Tech has grabbed a couple of the details even though the entire patch notes have not yet been released.

Among the bits and pieces of information the site has gotten its hands on is a new feature that will introduce an enemy scaling option. This means the players level will affect the way enemies are able to fight the main character. Furthermore, the new update will also update the menu and add a few other features.

Because CD Projekt RED has not officially announced this new update, we aren’t sure when it’s going live. It would seem this update will land before Blood and Wine but as usual, take this report with a grain of salt until we hear it directly from CDPR.