In The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, players are used to battling beasts, solving complex quests, and making tough moral decisions. But in case you haven’t heard, there’s an enemy that doesn’t require swords or spells. A peculiar glitch has plagued PlayStation 5 players and it makes Geralt look a bit crazy.
This bug, which causes a small blacksmith’s hammer to follow Geralt everywhere, has been a humorous and persistent annoyance for players. And from what the community is saying, it seems like CD Projekt Red is very aware of this but hasn’t fixed it yet.
This Bug In The Witcher 3 Has Survived a Long Time
The sledgehammer bug was recently brought back into the spotlight by a Reddit user named Idratherhikeout, who recently had their own experience with it. With the bug, the hammer is present in all activities, from walking and swimming to cutscenes.
Help why is there a hammer under Geralt, it’s been there for a while and i can’t get it to go away.
byu/Zelter7 inwitcher
While many fans find humor in the hammer glitch, the ones affected are desperate for a solution. There have been many ideas over the years. The community has tried a variety of troubleshooting techniques to resolve the issue.
Some recommend reloading an older save file or deleting corrupted saves to fix it. Others report that reinstalling the game or clearing the game cache might work. Unfortunately, none of these methods have proven to be foolproof, leaving some players stuck with the hammer indefinitely.
The phantom hammer has become something of a legend within The Witcher 3 community. It first appeared shortly after the game’s initial release in 2015 and has lived through many versions and updates, including the recent PlayStation 5 release.
I got infected by the sledgehammer bug, is it still not fixable? (PS5)
byu/Idratherhikeout inwitcher
The bug is not unique to the PS5 though. Players on other platforms, including Xbox and PC, have encountered it over the years, underscoring the bug’s mysterious tenacity. With no official patch in sight, players have come to view the hammer as a symbol of the game’s enduring quirkiness.
CDPR Knows It Exists, But a Fix is Unlikely
Funnily enough though, the bug being a thing for this long isn’t due to CDPR’s negligence of the game or anything. The studio has poured a lot of effort into updating the game over the years, including a Next-Gen Update in 2022, which improved visuals and performance for modern consoles.
The Witcher 4 got added to GOG with a Placeholder release to 31st Dec 2025 pic.twitter.com/jcodlRqZTo
— Pirat_Nation 🔴 (@Pirat_Nation) November 8, 2024
Nevertheless, the studio has indicated that it has no plans to patch out the phantom hammer, likely due to its focus on new projects. CDPR is currently developing the next Witcher game, code-named “Polaris,” which will use Unreal Engine 5.
In response to the lack of a permanent fix, the Witcher fanbase has developed a humorous attitude toward the bug. Fans always joke about Geralt’s unexpected “companion.” Some players have even nicknamed the hammer and shared stories of it photobombing story cutscenes.
In addition to the hammer’s comedic value, the community’s response shows how players are willing to overlook or even embrace bugs in beloved games. The Witcher 3’s critical and commercial success speaks to its exceptional storytelling, complex characters, and immersive open world.
As CDPR moves forward with its ambitious plans for the Witcher franchise, the phantom hammer is unlikely to receive a dedicated fix. In a way, this decision preserves the bug’s place in Witcher history, as players continue to share new and old experiences with it.
