‘The Witcher 3’ Goes Gold; PS4 And Xbox One Install Sizes, World Map And More

After years in development, CD Projekt Red has announced that one of the most complicated and ambitious RPGs ever made, “The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt,” has finally gone gold. When a game goes gold, it means its publisher has determined the piece of software is in shippable form and is ready to be sent off for manufacturing.

The news comes almost exactly a month before the game’s May 19 release date and was announced on the official Witcher website by CD Projekt Red Head of Studio, Adam Badowski. The announcement will be welcomed by fans who may have feared yet another twist in the long tail of development of “The Witcher 3,” which has been delayed multiple times already.

“We worked so damn hard over the past three years to bring you this game. From the corrupt nobles in Novigrad to ancient monsters lurking in deep forests, to the bustling cities, colourful ports and breathtaking vistas; all the people, all the places -- we literally spent tens of thousands of hours to turn all that into an adventure that will kick your ass and make you want to come for more,” he said.

Gamespot reports that fans are currently able to pre-order at a 10 percent discount and can also pre-load the game on PS4, Xbox One and PC. In U.S., owners who pre-order will gain a few hours of early access, as the game unlocks at 4PM PDT in the U.S. As noted by DualShockers, install sizes vary from platform to platform. The Xbox One download weighs in at 25.15GB, unpacking to 30.4GB. The PC and U.S. PS4 versions require a minimum of 35GB hard drive space, while the European version of the game is listed as requiring 50GB, which may be a placeholder, or due to the need to support several different languages.

“The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” promises to be a mammoth game, not just in terms of download size but in terms of content too. Attack of the Fanboy offers a good look at the enormous landmass gamers will get to explore when the game launches, which features cities, villages, islands, mountain ranges, caves and much more.

In a recent interview with Gametrailers, senior game designer Damien Monnier said the team had worked hard to ensure that fetch quests were kept to a minimum, as the team prefers quests that develop and provide insight to characters. Monnier went on to discuss the game’s AI system for wildlife and ecology, noting that herbivores would seek out and eat plant life, while carnivores would in turn hunt the herbivores. He added that very little content has actually been cut from the game, but he noted that the team did have to cut an ice-skating minigame because it introduced a different set of dynamics that had never been communicated to the player before.

“The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt” launches on PS4, Xbox One and PC on May 19. Microsoft recently announced the availability of Xbox One console bundles of the game exclusive to Europe. Both bundles include an Xbox One console and a copy of “The Witcher 3” while one includes a Kinect camera sensor.