Witcher 3 Remastered Keeps Its Hilariously Cursed Low-Poly Pigeons

Fans feared the Witcher 3 Remastered's visual overhaul would replace its iconic low-poly pigeons, but it turns out the cursed birds are here to stay.

Did you hear the panic about The Witcher 3 Remastered ruining its most beloved (and cursed) feathered friends? If you missed it, here's the scoop: when CD Projekt Red revealed the remaster's massively reworked visuals, fans noticed something suspicious in screenshots – the pigeons looked... different. Not low-poly. Not hilarious. Just... normal. Cue the internet losing its collective mind.

If you don't remember, the original 2015 release had pigeons that were exactly what they sound like: laughably low-poly assets that were cursed in the best way possible. Think Final Fantasy 14's legendary low-poly grapes, but with wings. So when the remaster dropped with its fancy new graphics, folks on Reddit and Twitter feared the worst. One player posted a side-by-side comparison titled "Pigeons Remastered," and the comments were full of distraught fans. One person on Twitter simply shouted, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO," while another spread the alarm.

But here's the good news: it was all a false alarm. As Kotaku editor Ethan Gach confirmed in his own post, the "new" pigeon design is actually just what the street pigeons look like. Our beloved flying pigeons are intact. Phew. Crisis averted.

Players were understandably relieved. One person responded to Gach's confirmation with pure joy: "The pigeons are still there! I repeat. The pigeons are still there! Now with glorious path tracing. Share so that people are made aware." And the top reply? "Glory to low poly." Glory to low poly indeed.

Now that the pigeon panic is behind us, we can all enjoy The Witcher 3 Remastered, which is out now. It's currently the top-scoring game of 2026 on Metacritic, beating out the original RPG by two points. Not too shabby, right?

And CD Projekt Red isn't done yet. A new expansion, Songs of the Past, is arriving sometime next year – plus all the other exciting upcoming CD Projekt Red games. The remaster also overhauls skill trees, adds new quest markers, brings a mode to "reduce cognitive load," and more, according to the patch notes.

So, what do you think? Are you glad the low-poly pigeons survived, or were you hoping for a remastered flock? Will you be picking this up?