The Witcher 3 'Songs of the Past' Expansion Announced for 2027 — PC Players Angry Over Windows 10 Drop

The Witcher 3 Is Getting a Third Expansion — In 2027

CD Projekt Red announced on May 27, 2026 that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will receive a third story expansion titled "Songs of the Past", launching in 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The expansion is being co-developed with Fool's Theory, a Polish studio staffed by former CDPR developers who also worked on The Witcher 3 originally — and are currently building The Witcher 1 Remake.

The Witcher 3 launched in May 2015. It has sold more than 60 million copies, won over 250 Game of the Year awards, and has been consistently regarded as one of the greatest RPGs ever made. It already received two major expansions: Hearts of Stone (2015) and Blood and Wine (2016). A third expansion arriving more than a decade later is the kind of news that stops gaming communities cold.

What We Know About Songs of the Past

The key art shows only Geralt — Ciri is not present. The title "Songs of the Past" suggests the expansion may revisit something from Geralt's history, but nothing has been confirmed. The deliberate choice to skip previous-generation platforms and Nintendo Switch signals CDPR is targeting a high-fidelity, technically ambitious release.

The Controversy: Windows 10 Support Is Being Dropped

The announcement came packaged with an update to The Witcher 3's PC minimum requirements. This is where things got heated.

New Minimum PC Requirements

CDPR's Reasoning — and Why It Makes Sense (Even if It Stings)

CDPR published a detailed explanation on the official support forums. Their argument comes down to three points:

1. 1Microsoft ended Windows 10 security updates on October 14, 2025. NVIDIA is expected to phase out Windows 10 GPU driver support later in 2026. Without ongoing driver and OS security support, CDPR says it can no longer guarantee stability or compatibility.

1. 1SSD is now required because the studio needs faster asset streaming and load times to meet the technical targets for Songs of the Past. HDDs cannot reliably deliver this.

1. 1DirectX 12 exclusively allows CDPR to implement ongoing technical improvements more effectively without maintaining a legacy rendering path.

The studio's statement concluded: "In short, this change does not mean that the game will not run on Windows 10. It means we cannot ensure that it will. Our goal is not to take something away from you. Our goal is to give you what is best the best way we can."

Community Reaction

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"Mandatory Windows 11? Really? Either CDPR got a fat check from MicroSlop, or they don't give a sh*t about players at all."

— r/thewitcher, top-voted thread

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"A game released in 2015 is dropping Windows 10 support. Part of this game's reputation was its broad PC compatibility. Disappointing."

— Steam Discussion board

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"Honestly Microsoft dropped Windows 10 support first. Can't really blame CDPR for not wanting to support an OS that even its own maker abandoned."

— PC gaming forum counterpoint

The Windows 10 backlash is real, but context matters. A large portion of PC players are still on Windows 10, either by preference or because their hardware fails Windows 11's TPM requirements. For them, the message that CDPR won't guarantee compatibility — even if the game still technically runs — feels like a forced platform upgrade tied to a game expansion they're excited about.

The SSD requirement is likely to cause less friction. Most players upgrading to a PC that can run The Witcher 3 well already have an SSD, and the prices have dropped substantially since 2015.

What This Means Going Forward

Songs of the Past is not the only announcement attached to this news. CDPR also confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 will adopt the same Windows 11 minimum requirement on its next major update. The studio is making a unified platform decision across its live titles, not an isolated choice for one expansion.

CDPR also confirmed players can revert to an older version of The Witcher 3 through Steam if future updates make the game unplayable on their hardware.

The Bigger Picture

The Witcher 3 receiving a third expansion in 2027 — more than 12 years after its original release — is genuinely remarkable. The game has maintained an active player base throughout, received a major next-gen update in 2022, and continues to attract new players. Songs of the Past appears to be CDPR's bet that the appetite for more Geralt is still very much alive.

Fool's Theory's involvement is a positive signal. Their team has direct Witcher 3 experience and have been given enough trust by CDPR to handle The Witcher 1 Remake simultaneously. That is not a studio CDPR would bring in for something they weren't committed to getting right.

More details arrive in late summer 2026. Until then, the medallion's humming — and so is the community.