Players control Geralt of Rivia, a monster slayer for hire known as a Witcher, and search for his adopted daughter, who is on the run from the otherworldly Wild Hunt.

Players battle the game's many dangers with weapons and magic, interact with non-player characters, and complete quests to acquire experience points and gold, which are used to increase Geralt's abilities and purchase equipment.

[8] Aard prompts Geralt to unleash a telekinetic blast, Axii confuses enemies, Igni burns them, Yrden slows them down and Quen offers players a temporary, protective shield.

[35][37] The main character is the Witcher, Geralt of Rivia (Doug Cockle),[38] a monster hunter trained since childhood in combat, tracking, alchemy and magic, and made stronger, faster and resistant to toxins by mutagens.

He is aided by his lover, the powerful sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg (Denise Gough),[38] his former love interest Triss Merigold (Jaimi Barbakoff),[38] the bard Dandelion (John Schwab), the dwarf warrior Zoltan Chivay (Alexander Morton),[39][33] and Geralt's Witcher mentor Vesemir (William Roberts).

Ciri is a Child of the Elder Blood, the last heir to an ancient Elven bloodline that grants her the power to manipulate time and space, and is being relentlessly stalked by the enigmatic Wild Hunt.

Geralt learns of three places Ciri was recently seen: the war-ravaged swamp province of Velen, the free city-state of Novigrad, and the Skellige Isles.

Geralt learns that the Baron drove his own family away with his drunken rages; while his daughter fled to Oxenfurt, his wife Anna became a servant of the Crones, three malicious witches that watch over Velen.

He learns that Ciri and his old friend Dandelion ran afoul of Novigrad's powerful crime bosses while seeking to break a curse related to a mysterious phylactery.

Working with Yennefer and his fellow witchers, Geralt breaks the curse and restores Uma's true identity: Avallac'h, Ciri's teacher and the elf seen with her on her travels.

Geralt finds Ciri on the Isle of Mists and learns from her that Eredin, the leader of the Wild Hunt, wants her Elder Blood powers to save his homeworld from a catastrophe known as the White Frost.

If Ciri is killed in her confrontation with the White Frost, Geralt retrieves her medallion from the last remaining Crone and mourns quietly as his hut is swarmed by monsters.

The player's choices also determine whether Geralt ends up in a romantic relationship with Yennefer, Triss, or neither, and how much of the North is ultimately conquered by Nilfgaard.

Although the game was planned to begin production in 2008, CD Projekt Red's preoccupation with Rise of the White Wolf pushed it back to 2011.

[59] Months before its release date, the game's economy, crafting, and inventory systems were incomplete and apparently unable to meet the deadline.

Player options were written as morally ambiguous, reflecting real life and Andrzej Sapkowski's original Witcher series.

[61] However, according to Przybyłowicz, working with Percival was a challenge; he expected an academic approach before learning that most of the group were not formally trained, and much of the music was improvised.

Multi-instrumentalist Robert Jaworski of the folk band Żywiołak recorded lute, Renaissance fiddle, bowed gusle, and hurdy-gurdy sections.

[67] Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz and President Bronisław Komorowski visited CD Projekt Red to celebrate the launch.

[76] CD Projekt Red co-founder Marcin Iwiński listed three pillars that he considered integral to marketing: game quality, a "gamer-centric value proposition", and communication with fans.

[78] The developer studied Witcher forums and websites such as Reddit to predict what players generally desired from downloadable content (DLC).

The second expansion pack, Blood and Wine, follows Geralt as he travels to Toussaint (a Nilfgaardian duchy untouched by war) to track down a mysterious beast that is terrorizing the region.

CD Projekt Red confirmed to Kotaku that they had entered talks with mod creators, prompting discussion about why the company, which earned $300 million in 2020, sought out community assistance.

[89] On 13 April 2022, CDPR announced that its in-house development team would be taking over the remaining work and that its release date would be postponed.

[92] The "Next-Gen" update included new outfits and a quest inspired by the Netflix series, improved visuals, performance, and bug fixes as well as all previously released downloadable content.

[109] GameTrailers' Daniel Bloodworth praised the game for encouraging exploration; many quests would only become available to players after they met non-playable characters in different parts of the world.

[104] Wallace praised the game's dialogue and its side-quests; each was similar to a short story, and player decisions in the quests would influence the state of the world.

[105] Kevin Van Ord of GameSpot echoed Wallace, noting that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's story had more characterisation for Geralt than the previous games.

Van Ord praised the game's customisation and upgrade system (which offered players a sense of progression), since it hardened as the story unfolded.

[106] Carter was disappointed with the Witcher Senses, finding it repetitive,[104] but Senior considered them superior to objective markers — the norm for role-playing games.