Someone has made a mod for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt which replaces beloved horse companion Roach with a vicious fiend for Geralt to ride around The Continent.
Nexus Mods user apokryphos created the Rideable Fiend Mount mod, which does exactly what it says on the tin, letting monster and monster hunter team up to take on the world. What's more, the fiend even mimics Roach's behaviour by backing Geralt up when not being ridden, and its savage swipes are a touch more effective than a horse kick.
Only a handful of Fiends exist in The Witcher 3 naturally, and the massive monsters are always a threat. "Fiends are walking mountains of muscle capped with horned, tooth-filled heads," reads the in-game bestiary entry. "When possible they avoid humans, but when not possible, they kill them, and without much difficulty."
The Witcher 3 has enjoyed an influx of creative mods like this thanks to developer CD Projekt Red releasing official modding software for the role-playing game. REDkit is available for free on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and GOG to anyone who owns The Witcher 3 but will remain a PC exclusive despite fellow role-playing game makers Bethesda bringing mod support to the likes of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim and Larian Studios bringing it to Baldur's Gate 3.
CD Projekt Red announced REDkit in November 2023, saying "it will allow you to create your own experiences in the game by making something completely new or editing existing quests and content." Fans are still getting to grips with the new tools, and while full expansion-like mods are likely on the way, smaller projects have so far seen the likes of this and a miniature remake of the original Witcher game release.
Mods will be the only new content coming to The Witcher 3 going forward, of course, as while the game received a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X update in December 2022, it otherwise won't get any more official content as CD Projekt focuses on its wealth of other incoming projects.
The highly anticipated next mainline Witcher game, codenamed Polaris, is currently in development but won't arrive until 2025 at the absolute earliest, and probably later. There are two other Witcher games on the horizon too, including a remake of the original Witcher and a multiplayer spin-off.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
