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There's a fantastic, fan-made Sonic fighting game in the wild, and you can play it right now
Game Reviews

There’s a fantastic, fan-made Sonic fighting game in the wild, and you can play it right now

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Did you know there’s a 3v3 Sonic the Hedgehog fighting game? Well there is! It’s called Ultimate Sonic Smackdown, and you can play it right now.

Indie studio Arcforged has released the game to the public for free. In an announcement trailer released today, you can see a variety of Sonic characters duke it out in 2D. All you’ve got to do is join the game’s official Discord server and get playing!

You may have guessed it from the title, but Ultimate Sonic Smackdown is actually a drastic overhaul of an older fan game: Sonic Smackdown. That game was a traditional 1v1 fighter, and has been playable online via Itch.io or at US tournaments for a while now.

Check out the trailer here!Watch on YouTube

This iteration, four years in the making, is a wilder evolution of the game. A tagging system means more hectic fights, more options for offence, and the opportunity to team up your favourite Sonic characters in your chosen squad. It’s the latest in a sparse scattering of Sonic the Hedgehog fighting games, first established by the official, Sega-developed Sonic the Fighters released in arcades in 1996. Its Sega Saturn port was cancelled.

As a tag fighter, Ultimate Sonic Smackdown joins a bizarrely packed collection of similar games coming out soon. You’ve got HunterxHunter NenxImpact coming in July, 2XKO which is bound to come out sooner or later, c’mon guys. Then you’ve got Invincible Vs coming next year, as well as Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls! So suddenly, a style of fighting game that had basically no modern representation is stacked with incoming options.

Sonic has a rich history of fan games. Famously, Sega hired Christian Whitehead to be lead developer on Sonic Mania, following his work on unofficial ports of older Sonic games. There’s also a fan-made PC port of Sonic Unleashed which is rad, and a 16-bit makeover of Sonic Triple Trouble from a few years back.



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Breath Of The Wild: Essential Tips For Newcommers
Game Reviews

Breath Of The Wild: Essential Tips For Newcommers

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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is easily one of gaming’s most beloved entries in an equally beloved franchise, so it makes sense that Nintendo would want to revamp it for the release of the Nintendo Switch 2. With better visuals, performance, and more, this upgraded version can make this adventure feel fresh even to returning players. But if this is your very first time journeying into this 2017 title or if it’s been a number of years since you last visited Hyrule in this game, there a few essential tips worth remembering during the first few hours of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

Tears Of The Kingdom’s Newspaper Questline And The State Of Hyrulean Journalism

Save your best weapons and don’t be afraid to run

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s weapon durability system is divisive among fans, as it adds an extra layer of strategy and danger to both exploration and combat. Luckily, there are enough weapons to be found that you’ll generally have something to use in a fight against foes you encounter. But that doesn’t mean you always should.

While basic weapons are fairly plentiful, stronger weapons are a bit tougher to come by. You won’t have a lot of inventory space in the early part of the game, either, so prioritize using weaker weapons when possible while saving the few powerful options for challenging encounters.

Until you’ve expanded your inventory and have easier access to strong weapons, it’s also not a bad idea to run away from any unnecessary enemy encounters. Not every fight is worth the hassle in a game built around survival and resourcefulness, so there’s no harm in accepting that you’d rather save your hard-earned weapons for more important situations.

Pick up anything and everything

While you have limited slots available for weapons in Breath of the Wild, your main inventory is bottomless. Because of this, you should pick up everything you see in the world while exploring.

You’ll be doing a lot of cooking and upgrading throughout this Hyrulian adventure, so you’ll be happy to find that you’ve got a nice collection of stuff to use as you get further into the game. And anything that isn’t usable can be sold for some extra rupees,;it’s a win-win, yeah?

Food? Grab it. Materials? That, too. A piece of poop? Well, maybe leave that.

Oh, come on. Go wash your hands. I can’t take you anywhere.

Level stamina first

Whether you want to earn more hearts or have a larger stamina meter first is entirely a personal choice based on your goals and playstyle, but it’s worth noting that stamina tends to be the more useful resource in the first half of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Enemies can deal so much damage in this game that an extra heart or two isn’t going to do much for you; meanwhile, stamina can assist you greatly with exploration and climbing—and running away.

Once you’ve advanced further in the game and have discovered how to respec your hearts and stamina, you can always even things out more. And you’ll definitely want to do so, as you’ll need a minimum of 13 hearts if you aspire to eventually get the coveted Master Sword.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is available now on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.



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The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
Product Reviews

I’ve spent 150 hours with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and the Switch 2 Edition is an incredible upgrade

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Platform reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2
Available on: Nintendo Switch 2
Release date: June 05, 2025

Nintendo is bringing enhanced versions of Nintendo Switch games to the Nintendo Switch 2 and has decided to introduce the new system with the original console’s most iconic launch game: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

I was unsure how it would feel going back to this game after playing the vastly expanded sequel Tears of the Kingdom (which also got a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition release), but even without the mechanical depth of its sequel, Breath of the Wild is still one of the finest games ever made.

Free bird

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Despite being the series’ first time tackling a true 3D open world format, Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is nonetheless exceptionally impressive. Outside of a very brief introduction, the player is given complete freedom to explore Hyrule at their own pace and leisure. You’re able to go have a scrap with Ganon right away after making it out of the starting area, or you can explore every inch of the world, befriending the various people of Hyrule.


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  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (Switch) at Walmart for $69

This freedom extends to the game mechanics, too. Right away you’re given a set of tools, and from there you can do as you please. It’s the type of game where you have a really daft idea – like cutting down a tree to have it roll down and take out the enemy camp, throwing your metal sword at an enemy during a thunderstorm to have lightning strike them down, or picking up a laser turret to use as a makeshift weapon of your own – and it’ll (usually) work.

One of the game’s most derided mechanics is weapon durability, which means every single item you use can – and eventually will – break on you. But in many ways it’s a perfect encapsulation of what makes Breath of the Wild so brilliant, as that spark of experimentation is forced out of you as you have to think on your feet once your best weapon breaks. Even eight years on, there aren’t many open-world games that can stand up to this.

Switch it up

(Image credit: Nintendo)

Of course, this is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. Unlike other Nintendo Switch 2 editions of games, like the upcoming Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, there’s not actually any new content being added to the game this time around. You don’t even get the pre-existing DLC for Breath of the Wild by buying the full version of the game. Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are purely technical upgrades on Switch 2, which is somewhat remedied by the fact they are included with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription tier.

Best bit

(Image credit: Nintendo)

For anyone who played the game on Switch or Wii U, you’ll know just how choppy the framerate in Korok Forest was. Going there and seeing it stick at a solid 60fps was the moment I knew there was no turning back.

However, even if there’s nothing new, Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is well worth the upgrade. The game now runs at 1080p in handheld mode and supports 4K in docked mode, paired with HDR that makes the already wonderfully colorful game pop even more. Both modes run at a solid 60fps throughout too. Booting up Breath of the Wild and seeing it run at double the framerate almost felt wrong because of how used to it I am, but it’s an incredibly welcome upgrade.

And of course, the first thing I did as soon as I went into my old save (there are two whole save slots now, which is both a godsend and underwhelming) was go to the infamous Korok Forest – which would absolutely tank the framerate in the original release. Lo and behold, it ran perfectly. Sure, that’s the type of thing you might expect on more powerful hardware, but when you’ve suffered through that original Korok Forest on Wii U or Switch, it really puts things into perspective.

Note it down

(Image credit: Nintendo)

I said that Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition doesn’t have anything new in-game, but that’s not the case for the Nintendo Switch Online app, which has added the Zelda Notes feature. This is a companion app that allows you to do a bunch of stuff in-game, such as finding the locations of remaining shrines with a GPS navigation voice telling you where to go and a daily bonus wheel that will give you a roulette wheel that includes prizes like free meals, full health, or even the ability to repair your weapons.

However, the most impactful part of Zelda Notes are the ‘Voice Memories’. These are scattered all across the map, and when you walk in the vicinity of one (of which there are over 100), you’ll hear a voice memo from Princess Zelda set 100 years before the events of the game while preparing for the first calamity. These are wonderful little lore dumps that made the experience of exploring Hyrule again a total joy. It goes without saying that actually having these added to the game as opposed to needing to keep my phone on would be a far more preferable option.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is a great – if barebones – update to what was already one of the greatest games of all time. However, the framerate and resolution updates alone make this one worth checking out, especially if you’ve never played it before. Though, if the technical side of things isn’t a priority for you, you’ll probably be let down by the lack of new content – unless you fancy having your phone out the whole time for that Zelda Notes functionality.

Should you buy The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Accessibility

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition doesn’t have much going on with it accessibility wise. While you still have access to gyro aiming and the ability to rebind your controls from the Switch 2 menu (which won’t translate to the correct button prompts in-game), there’s nothing much to write home about.

How I reviewed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

I played 10 hours of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Nintendo Switch 2 Edition on top of the 140 hours I played of the game on the original Nintendo Switch. During this time I first played the opening hours of the game again on a fresh save, got myself off the great plateau and explored the world. I then jumped into my old save to test out the Zelda Notes app by finding Shrines I missed the first time around and Voice Memories.

I played this in a mixture of handheld mode on the Nintendo Switch 2 itself and on a Samsung Q60D TV and a Samsung HW-T450 soundbar using the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller.

First reviewed June 2025

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition: Price Comparison



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Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now MetaCritic’s #1 game in 2025, and that just feels weird
Game Updates

Zelda: Breath of the Wild is now MetaCritic’s #1 game in 2025, and that just feels weird

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The launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 has caused a bit of a disturbance in the rankings of games released this year, as far as the overall critical score is concerned. The reason is fairly standard, and it has to do with older games being re-released for the new console.

In this case, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a game initially released in 2017 – over eight years ago – is now considered one of 2025’s highest-rated games.

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Breath of the Wild, of course, isn’t just a Switch game that’s playable on the console’s successor, the Switch 2; it’s also among select few games Nintendo elected to upgrade to take advantage of the power of the new console.

Those upgrades apply to Breath of the Wild, as well as its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom – both of which are paid. These are so called Switch 2 Editions (or Upgrade Pack if you already own it) – which, in Breath of the Wild’s case, does not even include all the DLC! Of course, releasing a new edition means you get another shot at charting among the year’s highest critically-acclaimed games, which is exactly what just happened.

The big MetaCritic list of 2025’s highest-rated games has “new” entrants. Breath of the Wild now sits at number one, tied with the excellent Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – a new game that was actually released in 2025. Breath of the Wild’s move also puts it ahead of Blue Prince, another critically-acclaimed 2025 release.

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As it stands, Expedition 33 remains at the top with a combined 93MC score, now tied with Breath of the Wild with 93, Blue Prince with 92, Split Fiction with 91, and Despelote rounding out the top five with an 89MC score.

Obviously, new arrivals also inevitably knock existing games out of their respective slots. Breath of the Wild has knocked The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy out of the top 20, for example.

Considering that development, we’re very likely to see the same list get updated again soon with the arrival of the Switch 2 Edition of Tears of the Kingdom, which currently sits at an even better 94MC. This means that, soon, the 2023 game will be… 2025’s highest-rated release on MetaCritic.

If you picked a Switch 2 and found yourself buying those Zelda upgrades, you may want to bookmark our Breath of the Wilds guide, as well as Tears of the Kingdom guide. We’re guessing you’ve probably forgot plenty – or, even better, you may be playing them for the first time. Either way, our guides are a great resource.



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Apple’s Liquid Glass was a wild change to my iPhone
Product Reviews

Apple’s Liquid Glass was a wild change to my iPhone

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After staring at, scrolling through, and puzzling over Apple’s new Liquid Glass design language on my iPhone for the better part of an afternoon, I don’t hate it. But I also think it needs a little more time in the kiln.

Apple announced Liquid Glass on Monday for all of its devices at WWDC 2025. Perhaps the most noticeable thing about it is that app icons, tab bars, and even the text magnifier you’ll see when you hover over words feel, well, liquid-y and glassy.

The idea seems to be that because they’re “floating” a layer over things like your lockscreen wallpaper or text, the “glass” can be translucent to give you a sense of what’s under them. It makes sense. The initial implementation in the iOS 26 developer beta has many of Apple’s signature flourishes and attention to detail.

But boy are the changes jarring when you first see them.

Let me show you just how dramatically it changes things. Below, on the left is a picture of my iOS 18 lockscreen I shared with David Pierce for the Installer newsletter just last month, and on the right is my lockscreen today, on my iPhone 16 Pro with the iOS 26 developer beta (out now) installed.

iOS 18 on the left, iOS 26 on the right.

Even in my intentionally grayscale homescreen, I hope you can see that the differences are immediately apparent. Everything is transparent and shiny.

Here’s my homescreen with the color added back in, if you want a different way to look at it. Many icons are familiar, but they’re all… bubblier.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

Here’s the Control Center, which is frankly a mess right now. The transparency of Liquid Glass makes it look cluttered, and that’s even with my gray homescreen. I hope Apple makes everything under the Control Center a little more opaque so that it’s easier to read at a glance.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

The Clock app shows a good example of the finer details that have changed. The bottom tab bar is rounded, and when you tap different tabs, the selector shifts over in an animation that I can best describe as a water droplet moving across the tab. (Pressing and holding the droplet allows you to drag it across the tab bar, which is an admittedly cool effect.) You might also notice that the button to turn the alarm on and off is more oval than circular.

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

And here are a few other tidbits that I thought would be worth sharing. The iOS keyboard has an all-new look:

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

The Settings app has way too much space between each setting category (which is a problem I’ve also noticed in the messages list in Messages):

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

Things under the URL bar in Safari will “bend” due to the Liquid Glass design:

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

And system prompts look different:

Screenshot by Jay Peters / The Verge

At first, I hated the big changes. That surprised me. I’m usually fine with UI tweaks. Back in the day, I was on board with even the earliest and worst versions of iOS 7. But after a couple of hours with the iOS 26 developer beta, Liquid Glass is growing on me.

My iPhone still functions like it used to. I have a lot of small complaints, especially with the spacing of settings functions and Control Center. But I expect Apple will tweak and fix a lot of the bigger issues ahead of the official launch of iOS 26 this fall.





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NFT Gaming

TON Finds ‘Strong Support’ at $3.00 Level Amid Wild Crypto Price Swings

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Toncoin

among cryptocurrencies that saw significant price volatility amid the tussle between President Trump and Elon Musk on the state of the U.S. economy.

The TON token saw a sharp 7.7% correction on June 5th, according to CoinDesk Research’s technical analysis model. After dropping from $3.25 to $3.00, the asset found “strong support” at the psychologically important $3.00 level, where high trading volume indicated substantial buyer interest, the model showed.

Recent price action shows TON forming a potential support zone between $3.164-$3.168, with buyers consistently stepping in during minor pullbacks. The hourly volume profile indicates sustained buying interest despite previous volatility.

The move comes as the CoinDesk 20 (an index of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap except for stablecoins, exchange coins and memecoins) is down 0.8% in the last 24 hours.

Technical analysis highlights

• TON experienced a 7.7% correction from $3.25 to $3.00 with peak volume exceeding 10 million units during the sell-off.

• Strong support established at the $3.00 psychological level, creating a high-volume demand zone.

• Recovery of 5.6% over 18 hours brought the token’s price back to $3.17.

• Temporary resistance levels at $3.11 and $3.15 briefly slowed momentum.

• Recent 2.5% surge from $3.14 to $3.17 in the last hour.

• Significant volume spike broke through key resistance at $3.15.

• Support zone formed at $3.16-$3.18 with consistent buyer interest during pullbacks.

• Profit-taking was observed at $3.17, followed by a higher low at $3.16, indicating continued bullish structure.

Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk’s full AI Policy.



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Seagate NVMe HDD
Gaming Gear

Seagate’s wild new NVMe HDDs could change data centers forever – but your PC might never get one

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  • Seagate NVMe HDDs may unify storage protocols, but don’t expect speed records
  • Enterprise systems might love NVMe HDDs, but gamers and creators won’t benefit anytime soon
  • NVMe brings storage consistency, but SAS still holds its ground in raw performance terms

Seagate Technology demonstrated a prototype hard drive at Computex 2025 that utilizes NVMe, a storage protocol typically found in SSDs.

According to PCwatch, the demonstration featured a combination of NVMe SSDs and HDDs using NVMe-oF (NVMe over Fabrics) to communicate over Ethernet.

While the hybrid interface showcased potential for data centers, it remains unclear whether this shift will be feasible for personal computers.


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NVMe integration marks a shift in storage interfaces, not performance

Colin Pressley, Seagate’s Head of Customer Success, noted, “We have already natively integrated PCIe into our HDD controllers,” signaling a major architectural shift.

The prototype drive supports both NVMe and SAS connections, offering flexibility during what could be a lengthy transition.

However, Pressley was quick to manage expectations: “There are almost no benefits in terms of performance. The latest SAS provides sufficient performance, and just because it becomes NVMe doesn’t mean that there is a major improvement.”

For consumers searching for the best HDD, or even the fastest external HDD, NVMe support offers little immediate benefit.

The real promise lies not in speed, but in unification. With SSDs already running on NVMe, bringing HDDs under the same protocol simplifies driver requirements and software architecture.

Importantly, the NVMe-compatible HDD is not based on a proprietary standard. Instead, it follows a formalized version of the NVMe specification, which now includes commands tailored to mechanical drives, such as spin-up protocols.

This adherence to open standards increases the likelihood of broader industry adoption, especially in enterprise environments where consistency is crucial.

However, NVMe HDDs are unlikely to become available to the general public anytime soon. According to Pressley and Seagate, it may take five to ten years for hard drives to fully transition from SATA/SAS to NVMe.

That timeline mirrors previous transitions, like the shift from IDE to SATA, where new standards gradually replaced legacy interfaces.

While this progression seems inevitable for data centers, consumer desktops and laptops are a different story.

Most consumer systems today still rely on SATA for bulk storage, often pairing the largest HDD available with a faster SSD for boot and application performance.

Until motherboard chipsets eliminate SATA support altogether, a shift not expected for at least another decade, NVMe HDDs are unlikely to become mainstream in home PCs.

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Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom faster on Nintendo Switch 2
Game Updates

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom faster on Nintendo Switch 2

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On top of being the upgraded version of the Nintendo Switch, the Switch 2 might be the best way to experience some of the previous generation’s most critically acclaimed titles.

Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom already stole our hearts with their scale, presentation, and gameplay when they were released in 2017 and 2023, respectively. Whether it’s your first time playing or your 50th, the Switch 2 editions of these titles are an absolute dream experience. Nintendo’s modern masterpieces didn’t suffer despite relatively low resolution and frame rates and slow loading times — one of the most common gripes with the games when they were released. But the Switch 2 Edition of each game feels like the upgrade the titles deserve, especially when it comes to reduced loading times. And I mean significantly reduced.

During our testing, we ran five different test cases five times, then calculated an average for each of the five trials. For the original versions of the games, we used a Switch OLED. For the Switch 2 editions of the games, we used a Switch 2.

We tested the time it takes to boot up the game from the Switch 2 home screen, a load a save file from the title screen, reload a save file, fast travel across the map, and enter a shrine. I picked these test cases because they are actions you repeat many times in a given play session, and those load times add up.

To no one’s surprise, the Switch 2 dominates the performance of the Nintendo Switch. The Switch 2 takes the load times of both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom and cuts them roughly in half. In some cases, the load time has been reduced by more than half, specifically in Tears of the Kingdom. Overall, Tears of the Kingdom saw bigger performance increases on average compared to Breath of the Wild, probably because the game is just better optimized.

The Nintendo Switch 2, paired with the Switch 2 Edition of each title, offers a significant improvement to the modern Zelda experience. You can also play the original versions on Switch 2, in theory, though we have yet to test those load times.

Nonetheless, the Switch 2 editions feel more fluid and responsive. If you have yet to lose yourself in the most recent iteration of Hyrule Kingdom, there’s no better time than now — that is, if you’re willing to pay the extra $10 per game, or for a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion membership, to upgrade to the Switch 2 Edition, which is only available on Switch 2.



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Wednesday Season 2 Jenna Ortega Netflix
Product Reviews

‘Wednesday’ Season 2’s Opening Scenes Introduce Us to Her Wild Summer

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During Netflix’s Tudum presentation, Tim Burton’s Wednesday star Jenna Ortega (Death of a Unicorn) presented the first six minutes of the second season of the Addams Family universe spin-off.

Watch the preview below of the strange and spooky series’ return as we catch up on the creepy, mysterious, and altogether ooky Addams Family. Of course, a new year at Nevermore Academy means more frightful dangers are in store, this time with brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) joining Wednesday and her roomie Enid (Emma Myers) on a new macabre mystery. But before she returns to Nevermore, let Wednesday fill you in on what she got up to over her summer break… featuring a chance encounter with a very special guest star in the form of Haley Joel Osment.

Season two of the hit series, from the mind of director Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice), will expand on the Addams Family history as we meet the extended members of the gothic glam clan. Joanna Lumley as Grandmama Hester Frump joins the ensemble cast that includes Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, Luis Guzmán as Gomez, and Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester.

Lady Gaga will also be appearing on the show after her Born This Way track “Bloody Mary” set to Wednesday’s dance from the show became a viral hit, but her role has not been revealed.

Ortega returns this time as not just the show’s lead but also as an executive producer. The actress told Tudum, “I’ve learned so much this season. It’s been so cool being a part of conversations—talking about the color of blood or the color of prosthetics. To be able to learn from someone like Tim [Burton] firsthand has been a very special experience.”

Wednesday season two part one premieres on Netflix August 6 and part two on September 3.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.



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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt nearly had a very different name
Game Reviews

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt nearly had a very different name

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There was a time when The Witcher 3 wasn’t called Wild Hunt and CD Projekt Red was trying out various names for its new game – and we’ve just unearthed a couple we’d never heard before.

“I liked Northern Lights,” Michal Platkow-Gilewski, vice president of communication and PR, told Eurogamer. “For a moment there was The Witcher 3: Northern Lights. It never made it into even a logo design but on the whiteboard, for a while, it was there.”

There was also, he revealed, A Time of Axe and Sword, and he said that for a while, this name was going to be ‘the one’. However, it’s a bit of a mouthful to say.

“Yes!” Platkow-Gilewski said, speaking as part of an interview for a larger article looking back on 10 years of The Witcher 3, which we’ll publish tomorrow. “That’s why it died pretty fast. But I remember I created a doc with the final name and that was the final name, and with some colleagues we were betting how long it would last.

“It didn’t last long,” he added. “So we were toying with the name but the moment we found Wild Hunt…”

It’s the lore. Of The Witcher.Watch on YouTube

The moment the studio tried “Wild Hunt”, the name fit. It not only directly referenced the titular threat of the Wild Hunt in the game – the phantasmal group of riders which relentlessly pursues Ciri – but it, regardless of whether you knew the lore or not, left a strong impression of what the game might be about.

That was a big concern for CD Projekt Red at the time: bringing new players in. Remember back in 2013, far fewer people knew about The Witcher games, the studio making them, or the The Witcher lore – those books written by Andrzej Sapkowski. The two released Witcher games only had a cumulative 5 million sales at that point, which is an order of magnitude less than the 60 million copies The Witcher 3 has now sold. There was no Netflix Witcher TV show, either.

That number 3 in the game’s title was a potentially off-putting thing for a prospective audience, then. Would people who hadn’t played the other two games feel like they needed to in order to enjoy this? It’s for precisely this reason the game’s logo changed mid-campaign, switching from displaying an actual number 3 to displaying three claw-like slash marks instead. “We decided, in the middle of the campaign, with all the questions of like, ‘Should I play? Do I have to play?’ that we should turn the three into these marks from Eredin’s helmet in the centre of the logo,” Platkow-Gilewski said.

Today, 10 years later, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the name in our heads. The question is, would a different name have had any effect on the legacy it left?

We also now look forward to a new Witcher game, The Witcher 4, which is in full development although not likely to be released until after 2026. The new game will star Ciri as its protagonist, moving her into a central role after being the co-protagonist, of sorts, in The Witcher 3. It’s a decision that’s met some resistance but one the game’s makers, and people such as Geralt’s English language voice actor Doug Cockle, have openly and vocally stood behind.



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