The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a 2015 action role-playing video game developed by CD Projekt RED and published by CD Projekt. Based on The Witcher series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, it is the sequel to the 2011 video game The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings and the third installment in The Witcher video game series. Played in an open world with a third-person perspective, players control protagonist Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter known as a Witcher, who seeks to find his missing adopted daughter on the run from the Wild Hunt, an otherworldly force determined to capture and use her powers. Throughout the game, players battle against the world's many dangers using weapons and magic, interact with various non-player characters, and complete main story quests and side quests to acquire experience points and gold used to increase Geralt's various abilities and gear. The game's central story features multiple endings that are determined by Geralt's choices made by the player during certain points of the story.
Development started in 2011 and lasted a total of three and a half years – of which, over two and a half years were devoted to voice recording. The writing was infused with aspects of real life, in a deliberate attempt to avoid simplification, give authenticity, and reflect Sapkowski's novels. Europe served as the basis for designing the open world, with Poland, Amsterdam, and Scandinavia as primary inspirations. REDengine 3 enabled the developer to create a complex story and not compromise the game world, the size of which was aided by the technology of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The music was primarily composed by Marcin Przybyłowicz and performed in Germany by the Brandenburg State Orchestra, employing the use of older instruments.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 19 May 2015. The game was met with critical acclaim upon release, with praise directed primarily toward its gameplay, narrative, world design, combat, and visuals, although criticism was aimed at certain technical issues, later patched. It became the most awarded game of 2015, receiving numerous Game of the Year awards from gaming publications, critics, and award events, and is regarded by many to be one of the greatest games of all time. The game was also a commercial success, selling over six million copies within six weeks of its release. Two expansion packs, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, were also released. A Game of the Year edition, which includes the base game, its two expansion packs, and all additional downloadable content, was released in August 2016.