I have bad news.
My timeline is flooded with gamers asking whether it’s possible to downgrade from the “Remastered” version of The Witcher 3 to the “Next-Gen” version on PlayStation 5.
Unfortunately, the Remastered version isn’t listed as a separate game on the PlayStation Store. It automatically replaced the Next-Gen version on September 29, 2026.
Once the Remastered version is installed, the only way to play the Next-Gen version again is to use a physical disc containing version 4.00 and disable or cancel the Remastered update.
Unfortunately, those discs are now in high demand. Even worse, there’s no way to update this version to 4.04, which includes performance and stability improvements, bug fixes, additional visual polish, HDR calibration, further ray-tracing fixes, Gwent and quest fixes, and several useful quality-of-life improvements.
In other words, players who want to return to the Next-Gen version are essentially forced to choose between tracking down a 4.00 disc and missing out on the improvements introduced in later patches.
Important note: If you’re on PC, you can choose to keep playing The Witcher 3 version 4.04 instead of the new Remastered version 5.00. CD Projekt Red has kept the older builds available alongside Remastered.
On GOG, you can select the appropriate older version through Manage Installation → Configure → Beta Channels. They even have the "Classic Version 1.32."