The Witcher 3's remaster launched today, and it has already set a new all-time Steam concurrent player record for the game. Steam DB showed a peak of around 120,000 players at the time of writing, and the number was still climbing. The previous record was 103,329, set in January 2020 shortly after Netflix's The Witcher premiered. The original's launch peak in 2015 was roughly 92,000.

CD Projekt Red announced the remaster at Gamescom with upgrades to visuals, performance, and gameplay, and said it wants the game to feel like a 2026 release. It is a free update for existing owners on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2. The updated PC requirements now start at a Core i5-8400 or Ryzen 5 2600 with a GTX 1660, and scale all the way up to an RTX 5080 if you want the full path tracing experience.

Apparently that didn't scare anyone off from jumping back onto the Path. Steam is the only platform with public player counts, so the total across consoles, GOG, and Battle.net is probably a lot higher. Since the peak was still rising, the upcoming weekend could push it further.

The Songs of the Past expansion is due in 2027, so interest may stay healthy for a while, though I wouldn't expect this level to last.