Here is what changed, which platforms get which fixes, and what Windows and Xbox players should check after updating.
Where Patch 5.01 is available
CD Projekt Red says Patch 5.01 is out now on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, Battle.net, Xbox Play Anywhere), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The official post is dated 8 / Oct / 2026.
According to MP1st, console gamers will see the download as The Witcher 3 Remastered update 5.000.400. That's useful if your Xbox's Manage Game screen shows a build number instead of a patch name.
Kotaku puts the download at roughly 5.5 GB on console and 8.5 GB on PC. CD Projekt Red's patch notes don't list sizes, so treat those numbers as Kotaku's estimate. Your store front may report something different.
Nintendo Switch 2 is not part of this patch. CD Projekt Red says it is working on a separate Switch 2 update that will bring that version closer to the others, including the same global changes, plus improvements to image clarity and sharpness. The company says more information is coming in the following days but gave no release date.
Section summary: Patch 5.01 covers every PC store, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. On consoles it shows up as build 5.000.400. Switch 2 gets its own update later.
Consoles: bloom, light shafts and depth of field
The console section of the official notes starts with this line: CDPR even added Bloom, Light Shafts, and Depth of Field options to the graphics settings for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Most coverage leads with bloom, and that makes sense. Since launch, console players have complained that the remaster looks too bright and hazy, while PC players could simply switch the effect off. Kotaku goes further and claims that essentially every PC player had disabled bloom. That's Kotaku's description, not a measured figure. Still, the demand was clear, and CD Projekt Red had already said a bloom fix was coming in its earlier hotfix cycle.
The patch notes don't recommend any setting, and they don't say whether turning these effects off improves frame rates on console. Try each toggle and judge the result on your own screen. HDR displays and TV picture modes can make bloom look very different from one living room to the next.
Other console-only items in the official list:
- General performance work: CD Projekt Red says it made "various optimizations to improve performance." It names no scenes, targets or measured gains.
- PS5 settings now stick: Settings on PlayStation 5 had been resetting every time the game launched. That's fixed, so your new bloom preference will survive a restart.
- Voiceover volume: a slew of fixes related to the audio issue on console arrive, led by the fix for voiceover becoming much quieter than other game audio after you browse the pause menu tabs. PC already had this fix. Kotaku quotes a PS5 player who no longer has to turn the speakers up for dialogue and back down for combat. That's one person's experience, but it shows how annoying the bug was.
- Base PS5 frame-rate caps: VGTimes notes that the PS5 version also received fixes for settings resetting every time the game was launched and incorrect frame rate limits in certain graphics modes. The official notes limit the frame-rate fix to the base PS5, not the Pro.
Section summary: PS5 and Xbox Series X|S now have three new graphics toggles, unspecified performance optimizations and the voiceover-volume fix. The PS5 also stops forgetting your settings.
PC and Windows: GPU detection and presets
The PC fixes are less eye-catching but matter just as much to Windows players. VGTimes summarises them: the developers have fixed an issue that caused the GTAO Quality setting to reset, as well as problems with Dynamic Resolution Scaling, GPU selection, and DLSS or XeSS being enabled on unsupported graphics cards.
Here is what the official PC list covers:
| PC fix in 5.01 | Who it affects |
|---|---|
| GTAO Quality resetting after a restart | Anyone who tuned ambient occlusion |
| Dynamic Resolution Scaling (DRS) showing the wrong state after an anti-aliasing change | Players switching AA modes |
| Graphics settings that could be enabled on GPUs that don't support them | Older or lower-end cards |
| Presets applying DLSS or XeSS on unsupported GPUs | Mainly AMD and older-GPU users |
| Game sometimes selecting the wrong GPU | Laptops with integrated plus discrete graphics, multi-GPU desktops |
| Skill tooltips not updating until hovered again | Everyone |
The wrong-GPU fix should matter most to gaming laptop owners. If the game ran on the integrated chip instead of the discrete GPU, performance would have been poor no matter which settings you picked.
There's one default change: Changed the default Dynamic Resolution Scaling setting to OFF. If you relied on DRS to hold a frame-rate target, check that it's still on after updating. Since it's now off by default, it may have been switched off for you.
Changes on every platform
The cross-platform fixes are long but worth reading:
- Gameplay: Fixes include "Automatically Apply Blade Oils" only working if enabled during the current session, a bug where player-controlled boats could start moving uncontrollably and ignore terrain collisions, delayed dodges, bombs that could be thrown with the option disabled, and Stamina draining completely when sprinting and dodging at once. Exploding Shield now reflects damage, and the Synergy skill shows the correct bonus values.
- UI: Fixes for a stuck "ability point" pop-up, input hints flashing on the meditation screen, a missing Potions tutorial and misaligned progress bars.
- Visuals: CD Projekt Red lists changes to Bloom, tone mapping, character lighting, Ray Tracing and Path Tracing. It also fixed foliage that didn't react to collisions and DRS causing visual artifacts in some configurations.
- Save files: The studio fixed a problem that could affect save data and added measures for saves that may already be affected. It doesn't say how many saves were hit, and it doesn't promise every save can be recovered.
- Rewards: The patch fixes My Rewards and Twitch/Bilibili Drops not showing up in the Vizima chest. VGTimes notes this may result in duplicated items. CD Projekt Red says to treat the duplicates as a bonus.
- Localization: Ukrainian localization is now available in all regions.
The policy consent screen will also show up again on first launch because of what CD Projekt Red calls backend issues, so you'll need to confirm your choices again. The studio says opting in helps it improve the game. It's still your choice, and the screen reappearing doesn't mean your earlier choice was ignored.
What to check after updating
- Confirm the version. On Xbox and PS5, look for build 5.000.400. On PC, check that your launcher shows 5.01.
- Console players: Open the graphics settings and try Bloom, Light Shafts and Depth of Field one at a time. PS5 owners should restart once to confirm the settings save.
- PC players: Check DRS (now off by default), your upscaler and GTAO Quality. On a laptop, use the in-game display options or a GPU overlay to confirm the game is running on your discrete GPU.
- Players with suspect saves: Load your latest save before starting a long session.
- Proton/Linux players: Be careful. Community scripts circulating since launch modify the original executable. A GitHub gist targets 5.0.0.1041720 (2026-09-29 release, Steam build 25575366), so they may not work on the new build.
The bigger picture
This is the remaster's third update in about ten days. The game launched on September 29, and Patch 5.00b and Hotfix 5.00c followed on October 1. That pace suggests CD Projekt Red learned from the Cyberpunk 2077 launch: ship fixes quickly and publish detailed notes.
The pace also shows how much the remaster needed fixing in its first week. Missing console graphics toggles, settings that wouldn't save and a voiceover-volume bug are all things that should have been caught before launch.
Kotaku expects more significant patches before the Songs of the Past expansion next year. CD Projekt Red hasn't said whether 5.01 is the last big fix, so that's a reasonable guess but not a confirmed plan. For now, console players can finally turn bloom off.