CDPR in talks to use The Witcher 3 mods in official next-gen version
Yennefer know.
A next-gen upgrade for The Witcher 3 is due to arrive sometime later this year, complete with ray-tracing, faster load times and more. But rather unexpectedly, it seems some of these improvements are coming from the community, as CDPR has confirmed that it is in talks with those who made mods for the 2015 game.
Kotaku spotted that mod creator Halk Hogan, responsible for The Witcher 3 HD Reworked project, had announced he'd received an "official message from CDPR about cooperation", and that "it's very likely HDRP will be included in the official next generation update". CDPR then confirmed to Kotaku that "in addition to our own development efforts on the upcoming next-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5 and PC, we are also in talks with creators of various mods for the 2015 release of the game."
CDPR noted that it currently does "not have any binding agreements with any such party", so these plans are not yet finalised. I'd like to hope the modders do receive some sort of compensation if their work is used in the end product.
It's unclear why CDPR is considering the use of community mods for the next-gen version. CDPR often seems to quietly communicate with those modding its games - Cyberpunk 2077's modding community being a recent example - so perhaps this is just another way for CDPR to connect with The Witcher 3's extensive modding community.
The next-gen upgrade for The Witcher 3 is being developed by Saber Interactive, who also made the port for Nintendo Switch (something Digital Foundry called a "stunning achievement"). So it seems like the next-gen version is in good hands - but we'll have to see whether those fan-made mods make the final cut.