The Witcher 3 next-gen update finally makes fall damage less punishing

Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
(Image credit: CD Projekt Red)

One of the best parts of The Witcher 3's forthcoming next-gen update is a subtle yet welcome change tucked away in the patch notes: the game's weirdly punishing fall damage has finally been addressed.

If you've played The Witcher 3 for any length of time, you probably know it absolutely doesn't mess around when it comes to fall damage. Falls that wouldn't crack an egg inexplicably put the great and powerful Geralt of Rivia in an early grave, and for the perpetually clumsy, like myself, it's the sole cause of countless unnecessary deaths. I don't have any videos of my experiences, but here's one I mined from Reddit that gives you an idea of how brutal fall damage is currently. 

The issue is something the Witcher community has been vocal about for many years now, and CD Projekt Red is implementing a solution at long last.

"Adjusted the minimum height for fall damage, allowing the player to survive falls from higher heights," reads one of the many bullet points in The Witcher 3's next-gen update patch notes. And just like that, one of the most irritating parts about CDPR's opus has seemingly been rectified. We'll have to wait and see if there's really a noticeable difference, but by all accounts, there should be.

In addition to this game-changer of a fix, the next-gen update adds a fresh coat of paint with ray tracing and other visual upgrades, performance and quality modes, a bevy of mods, new content inspired by the Netflix Witcher series, bug fixes, and more. It launches on PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC on Wednesday, December 14.

Find out where The Witcher 3 ranks on our list of the best RPGs ever made.

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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