The Witcher 3 lands free new 'The Hunt' PC expansion inspired by Red Dead Redemption 2

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has had quite the year, which is unexpected for a game that recently celebrated its 10th anniversary.

This year, CD Projekt RED released The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, added mod support on consoles, and is in the midst of preparing to launch the DLC expansion Songs of the Past in 2027.

If, despite all of this, you’re still yearning for more, you may want to try ‘The Living Continent - The Hunt’, a brand new PC mod add-on inspired by Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2.

Created by NexusMods user Deezyyyy, ‘The Living Continent - The Hunt’ essentially adds Red Dead-inspired hunting into The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s open-world.

There is one major caveat to keep in mind, though, before we proceed with the mod’s contents: AI assistance was used to code the mod, which is, unfortunately, par for the course these days.

‘The Living Continent - The Hunt’ has Geralt make use of a “bow drawn over the shoulder”, with in-game hunts now also featuring “real wounds”, “blood trails”, and “pelts as good as the kill was clean”.

The mod introduces 10 new animals for players to hunt as well as 10 legendary beasts, and The Huntsman’s Compendium to track your pursuit of all of these creatures, which can be accessed from The Witcher 3’s menu.

Introduce dynamic seasons with this complimentary mod for the best experience

It’s recommended that you also download the modder’s ‘The Living Continent - Seasons’, which introduces a dynamic seasons system that complements the contents of ‘The Hunt’.

“The hunt's animals follow the seasons - in their coats for the time of year, white tigers in the winter snow - and leave their prints in the snow and the mud,” modder Deezyyyy advises.

If you don’t download that second mod, animals will behave based on what the land looks like.

For example, Skellige and Kaer Morhen will be considered late autumn, Toussaint is summer, while Velen, Novigrad, and White Orchard are early autumn.

The Hunter’s Bow, which is introduced for Geralt, occupies the crossbow slot.

“The arrows drop with range and stick in what they hit - small game arrows that stun hares and birds, hunting arrows that go deep, broadheads that bleed big game, poison and fire arrows,” Deezyyyy explains.

If you don’t quite finish your prey off, you’ll be able to follow their blood trail, which will light up when Geralt is making use of his Witcher senses.

Tigers, leopards, elk, otters, mallards, partridges, foxes, badgers, crocodiles, lynx, chamois, and arctic foxes are among some of the animals you can expect to encounter.

There are plenty of options included within the mod, so you can toggle between the game’s default settings and the mod’s upgraded hunt offering.

The mod hasn’t been available for very long but tons of praise is already pouring in from satisfied players.

“Wonderful mod”, “Good mod, thank you,” and “So nice, thank you so much for your excellent work” are among the various pieces of feedback.

One player said, “Wow, your mod is really nice, good job!”

There’s no word on whether ‘The Living Continent - The Hunt’ is available on console, but there are tons of other options now uploaded there ready for you to browse.

And as for Songs of the Past, that’s due next year, although an exact release date or window is yet to be determined.