The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Director's Cut is free forever via GOG Galaxy.

To get CD Projekt's fantasy role-playing game, you have to download the GOG Galaxy app, go to "recent" view and click to claim The Witcher. Then the game should show up in your games library inside the app and in your GOG.com collection.

CD Projekt's 2007 The Witcher has been made free to download a number of times over the years, but it's worth flagging this promo as it comes just a handful of days before the launch of Cyberpunk 2077. So if you fancy getting stuck into a big old RPG in the week before CD Projekt's next big old RPG comes out, here you go.

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"[Geralt] caught sight of Regis looking at him intently. 'Is that a fresh injury?'

"'Not really. But it's tormenting me. Do you have any herbs capable of soothing the pain?'"

- Baptism of Fire by A. Sapkowski, pp.128

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Next-gen before their time? There's an elite selection of technologically advanced titles that appear towards the tail-end of any given generation, where developers are upping their game, experimenting with the kinds of techniques we'll see in the era to come - and it's typically on PC where we tend to get these nascent next-gen experiences. CD Projekt RED's The Witcher 2 - released in May 2011 - is one such release, a game that required a radical process of re-architecting before arriving on Xbox 360 almost a year later. But what made The Witcher 2 so special, how did it push PC hardware and can even today's mainstream graphics tech handle the game's legendary ubersampling?

Of course, the profile of The Witcher 2 is especially heightened at the moment with the recent series release on Netflix generating unprecedented interest in Geralt of Rivia's escapades - but it's not just the story and the world presented in these games that has driven their popularity. Starting with The Witcher 2, we've seen CD Projekt RED deliver some hugely ambitious, game-changing technology. The fact that the studio targeted PC - a format 'apparently' in decline back in 2011 - was remarkable in itself but without explicitly targeting mature (ie old) console hardware, CDPR pushed its game to the next level. Alongside titles like Far Cry 3, Battlefield 3 and Crysis 3, the PC showcased visuals much closer to those we would see in the now current generation of console hardware and it did so two-and-a-half years before they would arrive.

The Witcher 2's next-gen credentials are first established when it comes to characters and environments. In 2011, CDPR's new showcase pushed geometry count beyond the capabilities of the consoles meaning that edges on models were much smoother than the average AAA game, and the amount of detail on models (represented by real geometry instead of just textures) was much higher than typical high budget releases. Take the opening scenes of the game in the Timerian Dungeon - if you look across many of the surfaces and individual assets, you see almost unprecedented levels of detail. Outdoor scenes thick with undergrowth and dappled lighting look even more beautiful.

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Turbulent winds howl as rain batters the weathered precipices. Wolves can be heard in the distance, likely feasting on a carcass less fortunate than they, while miles away regular farmhands sit around a table, guzzling Viziman Champion as they wager their own boots to break even in Gwent.

Away from it all, stood atop a sequestered crag, Geralt of Rivia patiently awaits the sunrise after completing his contract. The world is quiet here: "I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead," Sylvia Plath writes in Mad Girl's Love Song. "I lift my lids and all is born again." Such is the case in The Witcher 3.

If you've recently finished the Witcher Netflix series, which revels in its confidently kitschy adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski's illustrious saga, then you're probably wondering where to go next. The Witcher was commissioned for a second season before its inaugural one even aired, but there will likely be at least a year between the two. But you're already hungry for more: where's all the good food?

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We know Ciri, Geralt's adopted ward, will play a large role in Netflix's The Witcher series when it premieres later this month. Now, a new casting report suggests an unexpected book plotline connected to her may be coming to the screen.

Warning, there may be spoilers ahead!

A new report has revealed an actor cast in the role of False Ciri.

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What fine rump Henry Cavill has - a super bottom, you could say - so why not slap it on the poster for Netflix's new Witcher TV show?

Exactly. Which is why Cavill, turned away from camera, decked out in full Witcher garb, is the lead image for the show. And it's a clever shot, because bum aside, it's how you see Geralt (the character Cavill is playing) for hours and hours when you play The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game. It's familiar. It's saying, "This is the character you know."

Oh, and his carrying only one sword in place of the two you're used to seeing him with in the games? As people have pointed out in the comments below: Geralt carries one sword in the books, leaving the other with his horse Roach for when he needs it. And the show, remember, is based on the books, not the games.

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UPDATE 4PM GMT: Netflix has also confirmed a number of the other actors joining The Witcher cast, including the actress who'll play iconic sorceress Triss Merigold. Taking the role is Anna Shaffer, according to the Hollywood Reporter, who you may remember as Romilda Vane from Harry Potter - the girl who gave Harry a love potion. Shaffer also played Ruby Button in British soap opera Hollyoaks.

Other actors joining the cast include: Eamon Farren (The ABC Murders, Twin Peaks) as Cahir, Joey Batey (Knightfall, Strike) as Jaskier, Lars Mikkelsen (House of Cards, Sherlock) as Stregobor, Royce Pierreson (Wanderlust, Judy) as Istredd, Maciej Musiał (1983) as Sir Lazlo, Wilson Radjou-Pujalte (Jamillah & Aladdin, Dickensian).

ORIGINAL STORY 3PM GMT: Netflix has given the world its first look at Superman actor Henry Cavill made up for his new role as mutant monster hunter Geralt, in the upcoming The Witcher television series.

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UPDATE 15TH NOVEMBER: There was a minor update to this story during a call discussing CD Projekt's Q3 2018 earnings. Joint-CEO Adam Kiciński referred to the issue as "an open one", intimating no decision either way had been made.

"Until we have reached a significant milestone we intend to withhold comments," Kiciński told investors. "The issue is an open one, and when we feel we have information which can be shared with the world - in terms of specific outcomes - you will hear from us. For now, we will refrain from comments."

ORIGINAL STORY 2ND OCTOBER: Remember when Andrzej Sapkowski, creator of The Witcher fiction, told me he'd been "stupid" rejecting a percentage of the profits while selling the video game rights to CD Projekt Red all those years ago?

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Almost 10 years ago to the day, CD Projekt launched the online digital game store Good Old Games. The operation and scope was small - a handful of people salvaging iconic old PC games for modern operating systems - but the prices, customer service and DRM-free message were right, and slowly the service grew. And grew, and grew. And today things are different.

Today GOG employs more than 160 people and no longer restricts itself to good old games, so much so that the full meaning has been forgotten and replaced by the snappier acronym GOG. Today you find the newest and biggest independent games there, such as Pathfinder: Kingdom and A Bard's Tale 4, and they are kept up to date by the Steam-like client GOG Galaxy. And today CD Projekt is a household gaming name.

The Witcher games, developed under the same roof, have propelled GOG to new heights. They have been the first big new games on GOG and it has been the best place to find discounts for them. But never has CD Projekt flexed the family advantage as much as it will when selling Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales exclusively on GOG next month. Thronebreaker, based on the card game Gwent, may not be The Witcher 4, but it's a 30-hour, $30 standalone game made by people responsible for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt nonetheless. It's a big deal, and for GOG it could be massive.

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Two small script excerpts linked to the in-development Witcher Netflix show have leaked, and have been verified as authentic.

The scenes were posted on Reddit. One is between Yennefer and Geralt, as they prepare for a sorceress ball Geralt really doesn't want to go to, and the other is between Yennefer and a nameless King whose reign she's propping up but who repulses her.

The scenes were verified authentic by the series showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich, who told fans not to worry, she'd seen the leaks coming, which is why the excerpts were written for casting purposes only and will not be in the final show. "It happened. As we knew it would. Don't worry. All is okay in the Witcher world," Hissrich wrote on Twitter.

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