Bigger than ever: The Witcher 3 Remastered and the nostalgia problem

Have we entered a new era of remastered games? Right now, the biggest story in gaming is a game from 2015.

The Witcher 3 is bigger now than it was at launch

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered came out on September 29, and the numbers are wild. On day one, 120,975 people were playing at the same time on Steam. Over the first weekend that climbed to 137,724. That is the highest player count the game has ever had.

To put that in perspective, the original peaked at 92,268 players when it launched in 2015. When the Netflix show made everyone want to play as Geralt again, it reached 103,329 in January 2020. The remaster passed both on its first day. And these are only Steam numbers, so console players are not even counted.

Why did it work so well? First, it's free if you already own the game, and the two big expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, come with it. Second, it's more than a fresh coat of paint. The visuals are better, the skill tree has been reworked, combat feels updated, and console players finally get mods. It's also on Switch 2. The launch had problems, mostly performance on PS5, but CD Projekt Red has already released two patches and promised more.

The Witcher 3 is not the only old game making a comeback. Oblivion Remastered was the surprise hit of 2025. The Resident Evil 4 remake has sold over 13 million copies. Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced sold more than 3.5 million in two weeks. And now Nintendo is bringing back Ocarina of Time, which many players still call the best game ever made, rebuilt for Switch 2.

I love this, and I'm not going to pretend I don't. These remasters are amazing. They look beautiful, they fix the things that aged badly, and they give younger players a chance to see why we never stopped talking about these games.

But I don't think it's all good news for the long term. Remasters are safe. Studios know we'll buy a name we already love, so it's a lot less risky than making something new. If we keep clinging to nostalgia, we end up replaying the past instead of building the future. Remember, The Witcher 3 and Ocarina of Time were once new games that someone took a chance on.

Have you given any of these remasters a try? You should use our price comparison tool to find the best deals for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered.