The Witcher 3 was updated for next-gen platforms in December 2022 but was far from perfect. The PC port in particular is infamous for performance issues and unexplained frame drops on the Directx 12 version of the game. So far, the workaround has been to use Directx 11. However, this is far from ideal as it locks players out of using upscaling technologies like DLSS or FSR 2. With the latest hotfix, CDPR hopes to fix these issues.
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The Witcher 3 next-gen update fixes DirectX 12 performance
Released on Steam on February 15, the hotfix is just a single megabyte, but preliminary testing shows that it’s effective. While the hotfix has been rolled out, the game version will remain unchanged at 4.01. Released in early February, here’s what patch 4.01 hoped to accomplish:
PC-SPECIFIC
- Fixed an issue where the Screen Space Reflections setting wasn’t working on PC despite being turned on. Players who had previously set their SSR setting to high may notice a performance impact.
- Added a new performance mode for ray-traced global illumination, which can be toggled by players with compatible hardware. It improves frame rate by prioritizing performance over range and precision.
CONSOLE-SPECIFIC
- Fixed an issue where consoles could create a higher amount of saves than their set limit, resulting in various issues with saving the game or user settings being reset.
- Improved Screen Space Reflections quality on next-gen consoles.
- Optimized ray-traced global illumination on next-gen consoles to improve the performance of Ray Tracing Mode.
QUESTS & GAMEPLAY – Available on all platforms
- Battle Preparations – Fixed an issue where it could be impossible to interact with Avallac’h during the objective “Let Avallac’h know everything’s ready.”
- Family Matters – Fixed an issue that could cause the game to crash during the transition to Ciri’s Story: Out of the Shadows when speaking to the Bloody Baron.
- King’s Gambit – Fixed an issue where it could be impossible to participate in the fistfight with the second Vildkaarl due to an invisible obstacle.
- Wine Wars: Belgaard – Added a retrofix for the issue we fixed in 4.00, where the quest couldn’t be completed if the player destroyed one of the required monster nests during exploration.
- A Dangerous Game – The armor in Caesar’s room should now change its appearance when the Alternate Nilfgaardian Armor is turned on.
- Axii Puppet – Increased the health and damage dealt by the puppet.
- Adrenaline Rush mutation should now work according to its description.
- Various small fixes to quests and cutscenes.
LOCALIZATION – Available on all platforms
- Fixed various issues with Arabic localization.
- Added the localized versions of Orianna’s song “Lullaby of Woe” in Korean and Simplified Chinese.
- Adjusted Priscilla’s lip-sync animation to match her voice-over in Simplified Chinese during the song “The Wolven Storm”.
While the update was great for console users, PC users were noting a 30% drop in performance in DirectX 12. This seems to have been resolved with both runtimes outputting roughly the same frames.
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