The update CD Projekt Red promised earlier this week has arrived. On October 8, 2026, the studio released Patch 5.01 for The Witcher 3 Remastered on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, Battle.net and Xbox Play Anywhere), PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. On consoles it shows up as update 5.000.400. It delivers most of the fixes the team listed on October 5, which we covered in Witcher 3 Remastered’s Next Update: PS5 Performance and Console Audio Fixes Confirmed, and adds several changes that were not on that list.
Console players get Bloom and Depth of Field options
The headline change for PS5 and Xbox is new graphics options: Bloom, Light Shafts and Depth of Field can now be adjusted in the settings menu. The strong bloom effect has been one of the most common complaints since launch, and community director Marcin Momot had said the team was looking at it on every platform. The patch also makes general visual adjustments to bloom, tone mapping, character lighting, Ray Tracing and Path Tracing on all platforms.
Other console fixes:
- Various performance optimizations.
- PS5 settings no longer reset every time the game starts.
- Wrong frame rate limits in some graphics modes on the base PS5 are fixed.
- The fix for voiceover audio getting much quieter after switching pause menu tabs now also applies on consoles.
- Ukrainian text localization is now available in all regions.
Gameplay and skill changes
Patch 5.01 also cleans up a long list of gameplay bugs. Some of the more noticeable ones:
- Exploding Shield now reflects damage. CD Projekt Red lists this as an added feature for the Quen skill rather than a bug fix, so it is worth a look if you run a Signs build. Plan your Sign build in our Witcher 3 Build Planner.
- Synergy now shows the correct bonus values.
- Automatically Apply Blade Oils works even if you did not turn it on during the current session. Our Monster Weaknesses tool shows which oil to use against what.
- Dodging no longer has a delayed response, and sprinting and dodging at the same time no longer drains all your Stamina.
- Player-controlled boats no longer drift on their own or ignore terrain, which is welcome news for anyone sailing around the Skellige isles.
- Bombs can no longer be thrown when the option is turned off.
- Geralt no longer bumps into dead enemies after an Aard finisher.
- Vesemir stops repeating the same line when you cast Quen several times.
- Ladder animations are improved.
On the interface side, the “You’ve gained an ability point!” message no longer gets stuck on screen, the Potions tutorial now shows up after opening the Consumables tab, input hints no longer flash on the meditation screen, and some misaligned progress bars have been fixed.
PC fixes
PC players get a set of graphics settings fixes. The GTAO Quality option no longer resets after a restart, the game no longer picks the wrong GPU, and presets no longer turn on DLSS or XeSS (or other settings) on graphics cards that do not support them. Dynamic Resolution Scaling is now off by default, shows the correct value after changing Anti-Aliasing, and no longer causes visual artifacts in some setups. Skill tooltips also update right away instead of only after you hover over them again.
Save data, rewards and other fixes
CD Projekt Red says it fixed an issue that could affect save file data, and added measures for saves that may already have been hit by it. My Rewards items and Twitch and Bilibili Drops that did not appear in the chest in Vizima, if it had been opened before, should now show up; the studio notes some items may be duplicated as a bonus. A bug where foliage did not react to collisions is also fixed.
One thing to expect: because of a backend issue, the policy consent screen will appear again after the update, and you will have to confirm your choices one more time.
What about Switch 2?
The Switch 2 version is not part of Patch 5.01. According to CD Projekt Red, a separate Switch 2 update is in development. It aims to bring that version closer to the others, with the same global changes, and to improve Switch 2 specific issues such as image clarity and sharpness, the blurry handheld picture that many players have reported. The studio said more information would follow in the coming days, but gave no release date.
What it means if you are playing now
Console players who found the image too bright or too soft can now tune bloom and depth of field themselves, and PS5 players should see fewer settings and frame rate problems. Players who use Quen should check how the new Exploding Shield works for them. If you are just starting out as Geralt, the Witcher 3 Remastered Beginner’s Guide covers the basics, and the Witcher 3 Hub gathers everything else, from the Alchemy Workshop to our Community Builds. For earlier fixes, see Hotfix 5.00c. We will cover the Switch 2 update when it is released.
