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The Witcher 3 Problems: 5 Things You Need to Know

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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the best games of the year though it’s not without its problems. Witcher 3 problems have been emerging in the days since its release and today we want to take a look at some of the things owners of the game, and prospective buyers, need to know about these initial Witcher 3 problems.

Last Tuesday, CD Projekt Red released The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the game it had spent the last three years developing. The game is the successor to The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, a game that was released in 2011 for PS3, Xbox 360, Linux, and the PC.

Since its release, critics and owners of the game have been providing feedback. Critics absolutely love the game and so do those playing it. That said, we’re starting to hear about some of the problems plaguing The Witcher 3 players on PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

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The Witcher 3 is a massive open-world roleplaying game. And with so much to do and see, there were bound to be some initial hiccups after launch. While these bugs aren’t deal-breakers, they’re still worth knowing about, especially if you already own the game.

Witcher 3 Problems Plague Players

The first thing that prospective buyers and those currently playing the game need to know is that Witcher 3 players have discovered a number of bugs and issues plaguing the game.

Witcher 3 owners have taken to a number of different forums to express their frustration with an assortment of problems. Witcher 3 problems include broken quests, random crashes, a glitch where Roach the horse doesn’t appear, problems choosing some of the different signs, and an issue that we ran into where we were unable to secure a key to unlock a merchant inside a cage. These, of course, are just the tip of the iceberg.

There are tons of complaints on Reddit and there are tons and tons of bug reports on CD Projekt Red’s very own forums. Problems are impacting users on the PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4. It’s not limited to just one system. We expect complaints about Witcher 3 problems to continue as more people buy the game and as people venture deeper into the world.

Beware of This Nasty Witcher 3 Saving Problem

There’s one problem in particular that we wish to point out. According to a report from VG 24/7, Witcher 3 users are running into a problem with Xbox One’s instant resume feature. The site cites a number of Witcher 3 users when it says that people are “losing save progress when putting their Xbox One consoles on standby while the game is running.”

It goes on to note that:

The issue can be manifested in a couple of different ways. Some are reporting that upon turning the console back on and resuming the game, they get the message “you cannot save right now.” For others, the game gets stuck on the loading screen and would lose a few hours worth of progress when it eventually works after restarting.

We have not had this problem on either of our Xbox One consoles. There isn’t a permanent fix yet and those who are deep into the game will want to be careful. It’s not clear if a fix for this will be included in an upcoming patch but we’re hopeful that the attention we’re giving to it will help.

The Developer Is Listening

Witcher 3 users should know that the developer is listening to your complaints.

Last night, we ran into some problems with a side quest involving a merchant and a cage. After spending a few minutes hunting for a key, we determined that there was a bug.

So, like a normal person, we hopped online and poked around for a fix. While there isn’t a way to fix the issue in game, a forum post indicates that CD Projekt Red is aware of the problem and that it will be coming in an upcoming patch.

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Sharing these problems on the developer’s forums is important because it helps them correct their mistakes. A recent patch for the PC version of the game is an example.

Earlier this week, the developer updated  Witcher 3 for PC with a significant patch that is meant to stabilize and improve the experience of the game. The studio confirmed the update today and released a change log that outlines all of the changes that come with the PC versions second update:

  • Improves stability in gameplay and the UI
  • Improves performance especially in cutscenes and gameplay
  • Fixes grass and foliage popping that could occur after density parameters were changed
  • Improves Nvidia Hairworks performance
  • Boosted texture anisotropy sampling to 16x on Ultra preset
  • Sharpen Post-process settings extended from Off/On to Off/Low/High
  • Blood particles will now properly appear after killing enemies on the water
  • Corrects a bug where player was able to shoot bolts at friendly NPCs
  • Improves menu handling
  • Corrects an issue with Stamina regeneration while sprinting
  • Fixes a cursor lock issue that sometimes occurred when scrolling the map
  • Generally improves world map focus
  • Improves input responsiveness when using keyboard
  • Corrects some missing translations in the UI
  • Corrects an issue in dialogue selections
  • Rostan Muggs is back
  • Minor SFX improvements

Some of these changes were in response to complaints about the game’s graphics. Point is, the developer is listening and it’s actively working to make the game better. And if your bug isn’t fixed in one update, there’s a good chance that it will get fixed in another one. This is a marathon not a sprint.

Xbox One & PS4 Witcher 3 Updates Coming

While this new patch is available for the PC, it’s not available for the Xbox One or PS4. Yet. The developer says that a patch will be released in the near future for the Xbox One and PS4 though it’s not clear what they will share in common. Owners of the console versions of the game can expect many of the same bug fixes though we could see some unique enhancements as well.

Fix for Witcher 3 Inventory Bug & Other Fixes

We’ve heard about an annoying inventory bug that’s plaguing owners of the PC version of The Witcher 3. Users claim that the game crashes when mousing over different parts of the inventory screen. That’s annoying because the inventory screen is one of the most important screens in the game.

Patch releases can be slow so owners of the game have take matters into their own hands. Users on Reddit have come up with a viable solution for the inventory crashing problem as a number of PC users claim that the fix solved their crashing problems.

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That’s just one example. While you wait for a patch to arrive, note that there are tons of third-party fixes available to you. That Reddit thread we mentioned earlier is a fantastic resource and so are the developer’s forums. We’ve seen countless fixes, some useful and some not, emerge ahead of the the developer’s patches.

29 Comments

29 Comments

  1. Concerned and almost blind

    05/24/2015 at 12:16 pm

    PLEASE make the text bigger! It’s incredibly difficult to read when I’m going through the inventory screen as well as during gameplay! I’m playing on ps4 and my TV is quite large, yet I find myself getting up and standing close to the screen to read the text.

    • chatt4ted

      05/24/2015 at 4:01 pm

      omg me too!!!!

    • Charl of Nigland

      06/09/2015 at 10:41 am

      Go to a optometrist

    • Gratuitousviolets

      07/06/2015 at 8:16 am

      This is the hugest problem with my game. I have NO eyesite probs, just got new glasses but I sit about four feet from the TV (which FYI, is forty inch) and I can’t see the sodding text. The text is so tiny and blends into the surrounding graphics so it hurts my eyes. Not everyone is playing on PC and it isn’t convenient to use the accessibility features to zoom in on EVERY aspect of the game. Just two points higher on the font would be the difference between comfortably being able to see and NOT.

  2. PSgam3r

    05/24/2015 at 6:12 pm

    I was horse racing again Luc Vegelbud and I dont know why, but my horse would stop running and at one point stop moving altogether. I lost that race 4 times when I was leading until that point. It happened every time shortly after passing through the small village along the race track. I noticed that it looked like a shadow would slowly clear from the race track allowing me to move, but sometimes it wouldnt clear and I would not be able to move forward at all, losing the race. I finally was able to make it through, but that frustrated me to no end.

  3. Brian

    05/24/2015 at 7:21 pm

    In the tower talking to the female ghost with the lantern the game crashes and the main menu. Appears then it wont let me start i had to shut x box down unplug from wall and reboot

    • brian

      05/24/2015 at 7:27 pm

      p.s. as a result i lost 4 hours of game play

  4. Aaron

    05/25/2015 at 2:43 am

    It won’t even load up for me on the Xbox :(

    I’m in the process of updating my Xbox, hopefully that will fix it

    • Cody

      05/29/2015 at 4:24 am

      I am having that same problem. Sadly being on the road I haven’t been able to update my Xbox. Let me know if that actually fixes it

  5. Bryan

    05/25/2015 at 8:49 am

    I just right now had it fail on me locked up during loading screen now won’t load passed the title screen. I understand bugs happen but bugs that keep us from even playing our 65 dollar game are unacceptable they better do something for us or no one should ever buy a cd projekt game ever.

  6. jacob

    05/25/2015 at 8:51 am

    I’ve found to quests that are bugged Fake papers and Little red, for Fake papers i used the axii sign to get the discount and the quest ended i then helped his brother and it came back but i can’t talk to the shady merchant now

    • jacob

      05/25/2015 at 8:55 am

      And for Little red i think i waited to long because when i waited till midnight to see the bandits during the fight they all disappeared. I think this game needs a patch to allow us to abandon a mission

    • Austin

      05/27/2015 at 1:10 pm

      I’ve also had the same problem with fake papers and shortly after went to try another mission died fighting two monsters and then I’m stuck on the loading screen gonna try to uninstall nothing else seems to work btw this is on the xbox one

  7. Joecat

    05/25/2015 at 9:10 am

    I had the load screen issue after the cut scenes on PS4. I tried everything. Went and exchanged my game for a new copy and what do you know? It works perfectly.

  8. 123kid

    05/25/2015 at 11:40 am

    Witcher 2 wasn’t on the ps3 dumb shit!

  9. Ryan

    05/25/2015 at 3:47 pm

    Stuck on loading menu. Ugh! 65 bucks down the drain!!! F!

  10. Zer0

    05/26/2015 at 7:58 am

    Theirs an Objective path bug, turning it OFF and ON/resetting the game doesn’t fix it. Am guessing reinstalling it would fix it but using that as a last resort. I play on PC started happening at the end of trying to complete the Swamp Thing Quest during that 1 week phase.
    Not sure if this is a place to report these if anyone knows just reply thanks.

  11. XBone93

    05/28/2015 at 1:18 pm

    Just finished the game and over 150 side quests and I noticed several bugs and glitches along the way. The first I’ll mention are glitches including body deformation of characters during gameplay as well as in alot of the cut scenes. Second was the merchant bug which we all know about now. Another bug happens during kings gambit after the guy lights the cellar on fire and flees on his horse I catch up to him and knock him off, then he confesses and a load screen appears and won’t load.. So as a result I had to back track and then skip that quest.. Kind of dumb because I was trying not to fail any quests

    • blackrabbit63

      05/28/2015 at 7:23 pm

      I also got to the part in kings gambit after catching the guy on the horse, went through the cut scenes and then went to loading screen and stayed there. Also playing on PC. There goes that quest.
      There does not seem to be much support for PC players.

  12. XBone93

    05/28/2015 at 6:25 pm

    Then there’s the contract signs, after I collect all the contracts the explanation mark still remains. And a few people have explanation marks over them signifying there’s a quest to be done but I try talking to them and it nothing happens. For example the druid that’s sitting down in skellige. Only reason I’m being so meticulous is because I have a broken ankle and am literally stuck on the couch with nothing to do but play this $70 game, well $85 for me because I preordered.

  13. Wtfhapping

    05/28/2015 at 8:18 pm

    So when are the coming out with this “patch” because I just got to kings gambit I refuse to skip and am simply just stoping the game tell they fix it iam still on 1.03 I been reading about ppl talking about 1.04 but iam guessing that’s only Out on one platform so if any one has any new info that be great

  14. roba.

    05/29/2015 at 5:41 am

    having same druid problem but also the same thing w a fisherman on a northeastern isle. it may be that they are stuck in the ‘smoking a pipe’ action as both are doing and subsequently NEVER STOP SMOKING. sat by each one for 4 days straight meditating every hour. they never got up.

  15. krico

    05/30/2015 at 3:18 am

    All I see now is a huge image of the back of Gerald’s head and the eyeballs inside his skull when I’m walking around with just a little bit of scenery around the edges. He can’t loot anything either so I won’t play unless they fix this.

  16. Ryan

    05/31/2015 at 5:34 pm

    I have the game on xbox one and love it but i have had several problems with the game not letting me save it and i have to restart the console and lose a couple hours of gameplay which is very frustrating. I also have encountered the endless loading screen several times.

  17. Josh

    07/04/2015 at 2:16 pm

    So apparently I can’t use my signs on combat and out of combat. Anyone?

  18. Cd

    10/21/2015 at 12:12 pm

    My fast tr’avel points disappear have to go skellige for them to reappear

  19. burresor

    04/18/2016 at 2:03 pm

    My PS4 has come across the save glitch. I have lost countless hours of game play. I have even tried to load earlier saves for it to glitch and stop running in the same place. Down side is…I have uninstalled and reinstalled the game.I even downloaded the digital! The issue is not resolved! Disappointed, as I love this game….

  20. Zac Thurston

    05/30/2016 at 3:34 pm

    After the fight with Imlerith I watch the cutscene where Geralt and Ciri bond for a minute then I watch the cutscene when the villagers are pissed we killed the crones and then I sit through a normal loading screen with music, then the background disappears and it still says it’s loading but then after a minute of watching the black loading screen it says I died and the death GUI pops up telling me to load to last checkpoint and I did that then I just watch the same cutscenes over again and it keeps telling me I died. I have been playing this game since before Christmas and I do not want to restart I have so many hours on this game.

  21. Keno bridge

    01/17/2017 at 7:47 pm

    when i medditate i do it 5 to 6 time in shops for the merchent to get there money back normaly
    ive been playing for 353 hours and last night on 17/1/17 i was at the herbelist lady good looking one red dress and i went back 5 hours and the handle of the clock kept going round and round and i could stop it and a lot of numbers came up at the bottom where the times are a managed to stop it and when out side and all the sky was all red and pink ish and you couldnt do any thing whats wrong with my game can someone please help!!!!!

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