Patch 5.01 targets The Witcher 3 Remastered bloom, lighting, console performance, and PC graphics bugs, but the Switch 2 update for clarity and sharpness is separate.
Image: gamersuniverse.eu
Patch 5.01 fixes the bloom problem, but Switch 2 is on a separate track
CD Projekt Red has released Patch 5.01 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S, with the headline change being the one many console players were waiting for: bloom can now be turned off from the settings menu. The studio’s patch notes, as cited by Eurogamer, IGN, Polygon, and Rock Paper Shotgun, also list broader changes to bloom, tone mapping, character lighting, ray tracing, and path tracing.
The immediate catch is platform coverage. Patch 5.01 is live for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, but not for Nintendo Switch 2. CD Projekt Red said, according to Eurogamer and IGN, that it is working on a separate Switch 2 update intended to bring “closer parity between all versions of the game” and improve Switch 2-specific image “clarity and sharpness.” More information on that update is expected in the “following days,” but the provided source material does not include a release date.
That split matters because the bloom complaint has been one of the clearest post-launch criticisms of the remaster. Multiple outlets reported that players described the image as washed out or too bright, with IGN pointing to Reddit and social media complaints that the heavy bloom reduced contrast and softened the original game’s harsher shadowing. On PC, players could already disable bloom. On consoles, that escape hatch was missing until this patch.
What the Witcher 3 bloom fix actually changes
The Witcher 3 bloom fix is doing two different jobs in Patch 5.01. First, CD Projekt Red has adjusted the way bloom behaves as part of a wider lighting pass. Rock Paper Shotgun reported that the patch includes improvements to bloom alongside tone mapping, character lighting, ray tracing, and path tracing. Polygon similarly reported that Update 5.01 makes adjustments to bloom and those related lighting systems.
Second, console players now get direct visual customization that had previously been associated with the PC version. Eurogamer reported that Patch 5.01 adds more lighting-related options to console versions, including Bloom. IGN reported that console players can toggle off bloom, light shafts, and depth of field. Polygon also reported that those settings are now available to console players after previously being available on PC.
That distinction is important for anyone trying to recover the look they prefer. The patch does not simply declare one final version of The Witcher 3 Remastered’s image. It gives console players a choice: keep CD Projekt Red’s adjusted remastered lighting, or strip out some post-processing effects if the image still feels too bright, soft, or smeared. For a game built around mood shifts between White Orchard’s training grounds, Velen’s sickly marshes, Novigrad’s torchlit alleys, and Skellige’s cold skies, bloom is not a cosmetic footnote. It can change how readable the world feels during exploration and combat.
Console players should expect more control, plus performance and audio fixes
For PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players, the practical gain is clearer than the patch-note wording might suggest. If the remaster looked washed out on your display, Patch 5.01 gives you a setting-level response rather than asking you to rebalance your television or monitor around one game. Turning off bloom should be the first test for players who disliked the bright haze reported by IGN, Polygon, GameSpot, and Rock Paper Shotgun.
The update also reaches beyond the bloom toggle. Eurogamer reported that console changes include promised performance improvements, voiceover volume improvements, and fixes for incorrect frame-rate limits being applied. IGN reported the patch size at roughly 5.5 GB on console, while the PC download is roughly 8.5 GB. Those sizes come from IGN’s report, not from the patch notes quoted in the source material.
The console performance language is still broad. The sources do not provide frame-rate charts, resolution measurements, or platform-by-platform performance targets for PS5, Xbox Series X, or Xbox Series S after Patch 5.01. So the safe expectation is narrower: the patch addresses some console-side performance and frame-rate-limit problems, but it should not be treated as proof that every performance complaint has been solved. Players sensitive to frame pacing, ray tracing costs, or Series S compromises should wait for hands-on performance testing before assuming this is the definitive console build.
Switch 2 players get the promise, not the patch
Nintendo Switch 2 is the platform with the clearest unanswered question. Eurogamer reported that CD Projekt Red is preparing a separate Switch 2 patch to improve image clarity and sharpness and move the version toward closer parity with other platforms. IGN quoted CD Projekt Red saying the Switch 2 update will include the same global changes as other platforms while also addressing Switch 2-specific visual issues.
For now, that means Switch 2 players should not assume Patch 5.01 has solved their version’s biggest presentation problems. The current PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S patch addresses bloom and lighting broadly, but CD Projekt Red has carved Switch 2 out as its own update path. The phrasing around clarity and sharpness also points to a different visual concern from bloom alone. Bloom can make an image feel washed out. Clarity and sharpness complaints usually suggest resolution, reconstruction, filtering, or post-processing tradeoffs, although the sources do not identify the exact technical cause on Switch 2.
The practical advice is simple: if you are playing on Switch 2 and the image looks blurry or soft, wait for the dedicated Witcher 3 Switch 2 update before judging whether CD Projekt Red has hit parity. If you own the game elsewhere and visual quality is your priority, the PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S versions are the only ones confirmed in the provided sources to have Patch 5.01 right now.
PC fixes target graphics setting mistakes and hardware detection problems
PC players were never locked out of the bloom toggle in the same way console players were, but Patch 5.01 still contains several PC-specific repairs. Rock Paper Shotgun reported fixes for cases where the game could allow a graphics setting to be enabled even if the player’s GPU did not support it, cases where the wrong GPU could be selected, and cases where changing graphics presets could apply DLSS or XeSS on GPUs where those features were not supported.
Eurogamer’s patch-note excerpt adds that CD Projekt Red fixed an issue where the GTAO Quality setting would reset after restarting the game, and another where Dynamic Resolution Scaling could display the wrong setting after changing anti-aliasing mode. Rock Paper Shotgun also cited the GTAO reset fix.
For PC players who tune settings like a build sheet, these fixes matter because they target trust in the menu itself. A role-playing system only works when the numbers mean what they say, and graphics menus are their own progression layer on PC. If a preset silently enables unsupported upscaling, if the wrong GPU is selected, or if a quality setting resets between sessions, it becomes harder to diagnose whether poor performance is caused by the game, the hardware, the driver stack, or a menu bug. Patch 5.01 appears aimed at removing several of those false signals.
Gameplay fixes clean up friction around combat, traversal, and builds
Patch 5.01 is being discussed mostly as a visual update, but the gameplay fixes are worth noting for anyone returning to finish contracts, New Game Plus builds, or expansion content. Eurogamer’s excerpt of the patch notes says CD Projekt Red fixed an issue where Automatically Apply Blade Oils only worked if enabled during the current game session. For players using that option to reduce inventory friction, that is a direct quality-of-life repair.
Combat responsiveness also gets attention. Eurogamer and Rock Paper Shotgun both reported that dodging could previously suffer an unintentionally delayed response, and that Geralt’s stamina could fully drain when sprinting and dodging at the same time. The patch also fixes Geralt colliding with dead enemies after the Aard finisher, adds damage reflection to the Exploding Shield skill, and corrects displayed values for the Synergy skill, according to Eurogamer’s patch-note excerpt.
The smaller immersion fixes fit the same pattern. Player-controlled boats should no longer start moving uncontrollably and ignore terrain collisions, ladder interaction animations have been improved, and Vesemir should stop repeating the same line when Quen is cast multiple times. These are not headline systems, but in a long RPG they shape the texture of play. A delayed dodge in a noonwraith fight or a broken boat in Skellige can sour a session faster than a menu bug.
Does Patch 5.01 answer the biggest visual complaints? Partly
Patch 5.01 directly addresses the most visible bloom complaint by adjusting bloom and giving console players a toggle. It also touches the broader lighting stack through tone mapping, character lighting, ray tracing, and path tracing changes. For many players who thought The Witcher 3 Remastered looked too bright or washed out, this is the update to install and test before changing display settings or shelving the remaster.
It does not close every visual argument around the release. GameSpot reported that players had also raised concerns about HDR implementation, path tracing presentation, and overall PC system performance, and that CD Projekt Red had not commented on whether it planned changes in those areas at the time of that report. The Patch 5.01 sources confirm path tracing improvements, but they do not confirm a dedicated HDR fix or a comprehensive PC performance overhaul.
The cleanest read is that CD Projekt Red has acknowledged the loudest lighting issue through action rather than messaging alone. Console players finally get the bloom control PC players were already using, and the remaster’s lighting has received a wider pass. Switch 2 players, however, are still waiting for their own clarity and sharpness update. If bloom was your main problem on PS5 or Xbox Series X|S, Patch 5.01 is likely the patch you were waiting for. If your complaint is blurry Switch 2 image quality, HDR behavior, or high-end PC performance, the confirmed fixes only answer part of the case.