CD Projekt announce free Witcher 3 mod editor for release in 2024
It's PC only
CD Projekt have announced that they're working on a free mod editor for The Witcher 3, allowing you to write entire new quests for grizzly Geralt, or just make him walk around with no trousers on, which he spends every other cutscene doing anyway. There are already many mods for the venerable fantasy RPG, of course - the options range from mods that give you Henry Cavill's face to mods that simulate the effects of long Covid to raise awareness - but the editor should make life easier for the internet's Geralt-whisperers. Better late than never.
"We're thrilled to announce that we're working on a mod editor for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt!" the developers announced in a social media post today. "It will allow you to create your own experiences in the game by making something completely new or editing existing quests and content. We're planning on releasing it for free in 2024." The modding tools will be PC-only, and we'll hear more next year.
CD Projekt talked about adding modding tools to The Witcher 3 way back in 2015, but eventually put the plans on ice. It's something of a sore spot among Witcher fans, I gather. The developers have been keeping an eye on the game's modding community, however: when they released Witcher 3's "next gen" update last year, they published a breakdown of how existing mods would be affected.
As for what this bodes for The Witcher in general: in March last year, CD Projekt announced a multi-year partnership with Epic to make games using the Unreal Engine. The next Witcher and Cyberpunk games will run on Unreal, rather than CD Projekt's own in-house REDengine. While this doesn't necessarily mean that CD Projekt will stop supporting their old REDengine projects, you could read the announcement of a proper mod editor as the start of a process of leaving The Witcher 3 in the hands of the community.
The fan reaction so far seems... positive?
