The Witcher 3 Remastered finally lets you turn off bloom on consoles with patch 5.01

CD Projekt has made its move with the remaster of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. As reported by Vandal, patch 5.01 is now available, an update that includes several tweaks and addresses one of the most common complaints since this enhanced version launched: the bloom effect, the post-processing glow that simulates bursts of intense light and that, for a large part of the community, had gone too far.

The key change is that bloom can now be disabled on consoles, something that until now was only available to PC players. It might seem like a minor detail, but it isn't: when a visual effect ends up overshadowing every other graphical improvement in a remaster, the problem stops being aesthetic and becomes one of gameplay experience. A studio that listens and puts control in the player's hands is exactly what you want from a remaster.

What you need to know

• Patch 5.01 for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered is now available.
• The bloom effect can finally be disabled on consoles; this was already possible on PC.
• New depth of field options have been added.
• Days earlier, CD Projekt had acknowledged it was working on PC performance issues, visual glitches and frame rate drops on PlayStation 5.
• The main criticism of the bloom was that it was so prominent it overshadowed the rest of the visuals.

What changes and who it affects

Bloom is one of those effects that, used in moderation, adds atmosphere: it makes a torch in a cave or sunlight filtering through the trees of Velen feel more alive. Poorly tuned, it turns every light source into a blinding spotlight and flattens the image. According to Vandal, that was exactly what players were complaining about: the effect was so exaggerated that it took the spotlight away from the visual upgrades that justified the remaster in the first place.

Console players are the big winners with this patch. PC players have always been able to tweak graphics settings, but on consoles users usually depend on whatever the studio decides to expose in the menu. With 5.01, that room for customisation grows: not only can you remove the bloom, you also get more control over depth of field, another divisive effect because it blurs the background and not everyone likes it.

One patch within a bigger plan

This move doesn't come in isolation. CD Projekt had already announced it was working on several fronts for the remaster: PC performance issues, visual bugs and specific optimisations for PlayStation 5, where frame rate drops were being reported. The source doesn't specify to what extent 5.01 addresses all of these issues, so it's best seen as one more step rather than the definitive fix for everything still pending.

Our take

Here at the Underworld Lordz newsroom, we're clear on this: graphics options aren't a luxury, they're accessibility. Not being able to disable an effect like bloom on consoles was hard to justify, especially when PC players already had that option. Some players suffer eye strain from intense flashes, others simply prefer a cleaner image, and all of them deserve the choice. We welcome the change, but we can't help wondering why it wasn't like this from day one.

For content creators, this patch is straightforward good news. Capturing gameplay with out-of-control bloom means blown-out clips, details lost in bright areas and thumbnails that are hard to read. Being able to adjust bloom and depth of field lets you record sharper scenes with a style that's more your own. Whether you make guides, comparisons or simply stream your adventures across the Continent, you now have more tools to make your content look the way you want.

And a more critical reading: patches like this show that the community carries weight, but also that games are still launching with rough edges that should have been polished beforehand. Credit to CD Projekt for responding, but we'll keep an eye on whether the promised performance improvements for PC and PS5 arrive with the same urgency. A remaster should be, above all, the best way to play a classic.

What do you think?

Are you someone who enjoys that cinematic glow, or do you switch off every post-processing effect as soon as you boot up the game? Do you think studios should always offer the same graphics options on console as on PC? Tell us where you stand in the team chat or drop by our Discord: are you turning off bloom in your next session with Geralt?