The Witcher 3 Remastered Is Officially The Best Game Of 2026

The Witcher 3 Remastered Surpasses The Original To Become 2026's Best Game Artwork provided by CDPR. Published Sep 28, 2026, 1:51 PM EDT Joshua Robertson is an editor for TheGamer, having working in news, guides, features, and reviews since 2022. They have written thousands of news stories, ranging from industry-breaking events, to smaller, more personal community pieces, and have covered several high-profile showcases such as The Game Awards and Nintendo Directs. Joshua is considered an expert in soulslikes, horror, JRPGs and everything Final Fantasy, having written extensive coverage for massively popular online titles like Final Fantasy 14. Sign in to your TheGamer account The Witcher 3 is a pretty amazing game, we've all had over a decade to come to terms with that fact. Surprisingly though, it wasn't actually the best game of its year when it released, as 2015 was an incredibly stacked year for video games. With titles like Bloodborne, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, and Undertale all releasing at the same time, it had some stiff competition. That being said, CD Projekt Red now gets a second stab at that illustrious title with The Witcher 3 Remastered, and unsurprisingly, it's managed to accomplish that feat with relative ease. While there is nowhere near the same amount of reviews that the original received, The Witcher 3 Remastered is currently sitting at a pretty huge score of 94 on Metacritic. That means it comfortably surpasses the previous highest-rated games of the year, those beingTrails in the Sky: 2nd Chapter and Big Walk, and is currently joint top with an indie title called Sektori. However, it's also worth noting that Sektori has a pretty poor user rating of just 6.0, and while The Witcher 3 Remastered isn't out quite yet (it launches tomorrow), I'd be surprised if the user rating for such a legendary RPG drops that low. Then again, I've seen some complaints about the changes to the game's visuals, so you never really know. In any case, your new highest-rated game of the year is now a remaster of a game that's well over a decade old, and whilst I get that it's The Witcher 3, it's closest proper competition is a remake of a niche JRPG, and this year's indie darling. Not the most inspiring year for video games, though there's a good chance Geralt gets dethroned by Jason and Lucia later this year. Released September 29, 2026 ESRB Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol Developer(s) CD Projekt Red Publisher(s) CD Projekt Red Franchise The Witcher Genre(s) Action, Adventure, RPG, Open-World, Exploration