The Witness Motion Sickness: Why It Happens & What Helps
The Witness is the rare game whose developer shipped an update named for the problem: an experimental anti motion sickness patch that opened the field of view from 60 through 120, disabled view bobbing and raised walking and running acceleration, with an optional reticle added as a fixed focal point in a follow-up days later. Press covered it at the time as a direct response to widespread complaints. The story of that update is effectively the settings guide. Checked September 2026.
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PC, PlayStation, Xbox, iOS · first-person · Has comfort settings · Player-reported motion-sickness risk: one of the most commonly reported triggers in gaming.
- Low
- Moderate
- High
- Very high
Risk levels summarise what passengers and riders commonly report, not measured testing.
Key facts
- The Witness runs on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, iOS.
- The camera is first-person.
- Player reports place it in the high band for motion sickness.
- The game ships a full set of comfort settings.
- 3 specific settings are listed on this page, starting with Field of view.
Why The Witness can trigger motion sickness
Before the update, The Witness moved like a boat: slow acceleration, a bobbing view, a narrow frame, all in service of contemplative pacing. Those same choices are a motion sickness recipe, and a puzzle game's audience includes many people who never built shooter tolerance. The patch addressed each mechanism by name, wider view against tunnel vision, bobbing removed, snappier acceleration so the camera stops drifting through starts and stops, and a reticle for your eyes to anchor on. It stands as one of gaming's clearest before-and-after comfort stories.
- The pre-patch combination of slow drift, bobbing and a narrow view
- Long unbroken walks between puzzle panels
- Boat rides adding water motion to the camera glide
- Sustained close focus on panels alternating with wide movement
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Comfort settings in The Witness
The Witness ships a full set of comfort settings.
| Setting | Where | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Field of view | Options, 60 to 120, added by the anti motion sickness update | Raise it well above the old default; the tripled range exists because of these complaints |
| View bobbing | Removed by the update | Nothing to set: the update disabled bobbing outright rather than making it optional |
| Reticle | Options | On if you feel drift; a fixed center point gives your eyes an anchor while the world moves |
How do I change the field of view in The Witness?
In The Witness, the Field of view setting is in Options. Raise it well above the old default.
One guide explains these settings for every game: how field of view, motion blur, head bob and camera shake trigger motion sickness.
Know someone who gets motion sick?
Send them the app that helps stop it, drug-free, in about 90 seconds, works with any headphones. Free to download.
What helps beyond the settings
- Raise FOV and enable the reticle before long exploration stretches
- Break between puzzle areas rather than island-crossing marathons
- Look at the horizon during boat rides, the one place the update does not reach
- A drug-free sound-therapy app like Dizzout is designed to help once symptoms have started, through any headphones
The fixes people reach for once they step away from the screen are covered separately, with the trials attached: the remedy verdicts.
Frequently asked questions
Did The Witness fix its motion sickness problem?
The developer shipped an update aimed squarely at it: field of view opened to 60 through 120, view bobbing disabled, walk and run acceleration increased, and an optional reticle added in a follow-up. Press covered it as an anti motion sickness patch, and many affected players report it made the game playable. Sensitive players should still pace island crossings, but the toolkit is real.
What does the reticle in The Witness do?
It gives your eyes a fixed point at screen center while the world moves, the same principle as the anti-sickness dots elsewhere in gaming. It shipped as an option in a follow-up to the anti motion sickness update. For players whose symptoms come from visual drift during walking, anchoring on the reticle reduces how much motion the eyes track.
Why did a slow puzzle game need an anti motion sickness patch?
Because slow is not the same as comfortable. The original movement drifted through gentle accelerations with a bobbing camera and a narrow view, closer to a boat than a shooter, and the game drew players without first-person tolerance. The update's own change list, wider FOV, no bobbing, snappier acceleration, reads as a diagnosis of exactly those mechanics.
Other game motion-sickness guides
Sources & further reading
- https://www.pcgamer.com/the-witness-patch-will-hopefully-fix-motion-sickness-problems/
- https://www.bluesnews.com/s/168760/the-witness-motions-sickness-patch
- https://www.fourisland.com/blog/the-witness-a-changelog
- https://steamcommunity.com/app/210970/discussions/0/458607518208741797/
- https://www.neogaf.com/threads/the-witness-motion-sickness.1346172/
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Based on publicly reported player experiences and each game's documented settings, as of September 2026. Settings menus change with updates, so check your version. Game names are trademarks of their respective owners; Dizzout is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Motion-sickness sensitivity varies by person, so this is informational, not a game review or a substitute for a doctor's advice.