The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past Revealed at Gamescom — New Region Letten, Chain Weapon, Witcher 4 Confirms 2028

Eleven Years Between Expansions

Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25, 2026 delivered the reveal The Witcher community has been waiting over a decade to see. CD Projekt Red unveiled the first trailer and full details for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past, the third expansion for a game that last received story content in May 2016 with Blood and Wine.

The same broadcast brought a second major announcement: The Witcher 4 officially targets a 2028 release window, confirmed by CD Projekt's Joint CEO in a video message aired at the show. Two pieces of news, one show — and both land within 48 hours of today.

What We Now Know About Songs of the Past

The Reveal Trailer: Letten

The first Songs of the Past trailer opened with Geralt approaching a lantern-decorated tree before a scene of him dancing in a camp with a partner who may not be fully real. From there, the trailer moves through the moonlit skies and sun-drenched fields of Letten, the expansion's new region.

CD Projekt Red's official description defines what Letten is — and what's hiding underneath it:

“

"This idyllic land is rich in rural tradition and folklore, and its people enjoy a fulfilling life of bountiful harvests and lavish festivals. But a dark secret lurks just beneath the surface, and Geralt must overcome never-before-seen foes as he fights to overcome its long-dormant evil." — CD Projekt Red

Level design lead Miles Tost took the Gamescom ONL stage to expand on the setting:

“

"Letten is a whole new, unique region that has a unique identity in the game. It is filled with — just like the things that Witcher fans love. But it's an almost uncannily idyllic place that, however, has a dark secret lurking just underneath the surface and, as it is a Witcher game, this kind of secret requires a true professional Witcher to solve." — Miles Tost, CD Projekt Red

The Chain Weapon: A 19-Year Callback

The detail that broke the internet was brief: a few seconds of footage showing Geralt using a chain to grapple then decapitate an enemy. What looks like Scorpion's spear from Mortal Kombat turns out to be something with deep Witcher lore roots.

Miles Tost provided the context directly on stage:

“

"This chain is a weapon that is new in the game, but many people — perhaps hardcore Witcher fans — will realize that this is a weapon we first showed in The Witcher 1 intro." — Miles Tost, CD Projekt Red

The original Witcher game launched in 2007. A chain weapon visible in that game's opening cinematic is now becoming a playable weapon nineteen years later. For players who have followed the series from the beginning, this is exactly the kind of detail CD Projekt Red has built its reputation on.

Confirmed Returning Elements

The third sword deserves attention. Visible in the Songs of the Past reveal art — and spotted weeks earlier in a Belleteyn Night artwork CD Projekt Red released in April — it appears alongside Geralt in the key art. The studio's senior community manager described it as "a very important sword for the story." Some fans have pointed out design similarities to Ciri's Zireael sword as depicted in early Witcher 4 material; CD Projekt Red has not confirmed any direct link between the two.

Witcher 4: 2028 Is Now Official

Separate from the Songs of the Past reveal, CD Projekt Joint CEO Michał Nowakowski delivered a video message that closed out the wait on Witcher 4's timeline.

“

"Now I know you're eager to learn when it's coming. That's the question we're hearing from you all the time. So while we're not showing The Witcher 4 at the event, and we're not ready to share an exact date, I can tell you this: The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release window. I know it's a bit of a wait and you'd love to play it sooner, but let the team cook. It will be worth the wait." — Michał Nowakowski, Joint CEO, CD Projekt Red

Key confirmed facts about Witcher 4:

• ▶Protagonist is Ciri (referred to as "Siri" in some internal materials)
• ▶Over 500 developers currently working on the project
• ▶CD Projekt describes it as "our biggest, boldest, and most ambitious game to date"
• ▶The game does not appear at Gamescom 2026
• ▶Part of a planned new trilogy (Witcher 4, 5, and 6)

Witcher 3 Remastered: Free on September 29

Songs of the Past was not the only Witcher news at Gamescom ONL. The Witcher 3 Remastered was announced alongside it: a comprehensive visual and technical overhaul of the base game, launching September 29, 2026, and free for all current owners of The Witcher 3.

The remaster is positioned as the definitive version of the game ahead of Songs of the Past's 2027 launch — effectively giving the community a freshened-up version of the base experience before the new expansion arrives.

Developer Background

CD Projekt Red is co-developing Songs of the Past with Fool's Theory, a Polish indie studio whose most recent release was 2024's The Thaumaturge. The team comprises industry veterans who previously worked on The Witcher 3 itself, which makes the collaboration a reunion of sorts for parts of the original development team.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has sold over 65 million copies since its 2015 release and won more than 250 Game of the Year awards across more than 1,000 total industry awards. Blood and Wine, the previous expansion, earned critical acclaim comparable to full standalone releases.

How Songs of the Past Fits the Series

Nowakowski addressed the expansion's narrative purpose directly in an earlier investor call, transcribed by multiple outlets:

“

"First and foremost, we really wanted to deliver a great experience to the fans, a really cool expansion that's going to make people happy that they can come back to The Witcher 3 setting. Of course, indirectly, yes, it is a reminder of the franchise for fans. It is, in a way, a prologue, although it's not a prologue in a verbatim way of being a prologue for the actual The Witcher 4. The core thing for us is really delivering a high-quality, fun experience to the existing fans of The Witcher." — Michał Nowakowski, CD Projekt Red

Songs of the Past will tell a standalone story set after the events of The Witcher 3, with Geralt and Dandelion returning. It also acts as a contextual bridge into the Witcher 4 era featuring Ciri.

Prior Expansion Reference Points

Since Songs of the Past is not yet released, critic scores are unavailable. The two previous expansions provide context for what CD Projekt Red has delivered at this scale:

Blood and Wine won numerous 2016 GOTY awards in the expansion category and was widely cited as one of the best pieces of downloadable content ever released. Songs of the Past is the first time CD Projekt Red has returned to this well in a decade.

Community and Industry Reaction

The trailer's reception was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. Within hours of the ONL broadcast, Witcher-related terms trended globally on social media. The most-discussed element was the chain weapon callback to Witcher 1 — a design decision that required awareness of a 2007 game's opening cinematic, and one that landed exactly as intended with the hardcore fanbase.

Games press coverage treated the Songs of the Past reveal as one of the standout moments of Gamescom 2026 ONL alongside other major announcements. The simultaneous confirmation of Witcher 4's 2028 window gave the broadcast a double-punch structure that reviewers noted felt deliberate — anchor the present with a beloved returning character, then hand off the future to the new protagonist.

The Witcher 3 Remastered's "free for all owners" positioning was also widely praised. It avoids the split reception of paid remasters of games players already own, and it gives the community a clear reason to revisit the base game before Songs of the Past arrives.

Buying Guide

Recommended for: Anyone who completed The Witcher 3 and its previous expansions; players who want to catch up before Witcher 4; returning fans who haven't touched Geralt's world since 2016.

Worth knowing: Songs of the Past requires the base game; it is not a standalone product. Windows 11 will be required for the PC version, per updated system requirements CD Projekt published alongside the expansion announcement in May.

Sources:

• ▶IGN — Witcher 4 Confirmed 2028 at Gamescom (Aug 24, 2026)
• ▶IGN — Everything Revealed at Gamescom ONL 2026 (Aug 25, 2026)
• ▶CD Projekt Red Official Press Center
• ▶Insider Gaming — Songs of the Past Revealed in Full (Aug 25, 2026)