Windows Central Insider
Everyone’s favorite RPG is back again with a brand new expansion, and with it comes a whole suite of updated minimum PC requirements, alongside support being dropped for older platforms like the Xbox One. It’s quite a major shift for an 11-year-old game, especially one that has remained playable on much older hardware for so long.
Before we continue, let’s compare the game's previous minimum specifications on PC with their new minimum specification requirements:
Component | Old minimum requirements | New minimum requirements |
|---|---|---|
CPU | Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz / AMD A10-5800K APU 3.8GHz | AMD Ryzen 5 2600 / Intel Core i5-8400 |
GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 / AMD Radeon HD 7870 | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 / AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB |
VRAM | 6 GB | 6 GB |
RAM | 6 GB | 12 GB |
Storage | 50 GB available space | 70 GB SSD |
OS | 64-bit Windows 7 / 64-bit Windows 8 or 8.1 | 64-bit Windows 11 |
To provide some context, Microsoft has been slowly ending support for Windows 10 and pushing consumers over to Windows 11, and it does appear to be working. Steam’s latest hardware survey, which tracks what users are running on their PCs, shows Windows 11 now accounting for 67.74% of users, while Windows 10 has dropped to 25.63%.
It is honestly impressive to see CD Projekt Red release an expansion for a game that originally launched 11 years ago. If you want to learn more about The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, you can read our full coverage on the expansion here.
In a statement posted on its website, CD Projekt Red explained the reasoning behind the changes, stating:
“With new content coming to the game, we need to update our system requirements to ensure smooth performance and compatibility going forward for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Songs of the Past… These minimum requirements reflect how hardware capabilities and software usage have evolved since we last changed the system requirements."
Admittedly, I’ve never actually played The Witcher 3, but it’s always been one of those games I’ve wanted to sit down and properly experience. Maybe with this new expansion on the horizon, I finally have a good excuse to catch up before its 2027 release on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC.
Over to you, though; what do you think about these updated minimum spec requirements, and do you even care? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll.
Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.
