Geralt rides again — and there's a lot more on the table than just a new expansion
CD Projekt Red closed out Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25 with a triple-shot announcement that caught many players off guard: a full gameplay reveal for The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, a free remaster launching September 29, and the immediate, no-strings gifting of Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine to every existing owner of the base game.
A 13-minute gameplay segment from the studio's REDstream, posted August 27, gave the clearest look yet at what the third expansion actually is — and based on what was shown, it's closer in scope to Blood and Wine than to Hearts of Stone.
At a glance
| Title | The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past |
|---|---|
| Type | Third paid expansion |
| Developer | CD PROJEKT RED + Fool's Theory |
| Release | 2027 (exact date TBD) |
| Platforms | PC · PS5 · Xbox Series X|S · Nintendo Switch 2 · Battle.net |
| Free remaster | September 29, 2026 (PC, PS5, XSX|S + Nintendo Switch 2 native) |
| New region | Letten — Dandelion's homeland |
| New weapon | The Chain |
| Series sales | 65 million copies worldwide |
Letten: a pastoral countryside hiding something sinister
The expansion is set in Letten (officially, Lettenhove) — the bard Dandelion's homeland, positioned in the northern Continent between Kovir and Kaedwen. Scale-wise, it sits in the same bracket as Toussaint from Blood and Wine: a full open world with its own quests, characters, locations, and monsters.
“"Letten is a fully realized open world which you can explore freely, and it's packed with new adventures for Geralt and new quests and characters that live up to our signature mature story." — Miles Tost, Level Design Lead, GamesRadar
The visual reference points are deliberately split: Polish countryside light and vegetation for the fields and villages, English manor architecture for the Lettenhove estate. The design team described the contrast between sun-drenched farmland and the fog-shrouded Garden of Thorns forest as its core tension — similar to how Toussaint's wine-country surface masked the darkness running through Blood and Wine.
Story setup: Dandelion's family, a black mourning flag
The gameplay segment opens the morning after the Belleteyn festival — Geralt nursing something like exhaustion, picking up a quest called A Bed of Thorns that sends him toward Lettenhove. When he arrives, the Lettenhove estate is flying a black mourning flag. Dandelion's cousin Lila becomes an early companion, and together they begin investigating an ancient legend tied to the Lettenhove family — before getting separated inside the Garden of Thorns.
The setup is intentionally quieter than a world-ending threat. Songs of the Past is positioned as a more personal story: a favor for an old friend that unravels into something the locals have been quietly afraid of for generations.
New weapon: the Chain
The Chain is Songs of the Past's new combat tool. Unlike Geralt's swords and signs, it functions as a utility weapon with four distinct uses:
| Use | Effect |
|---|---|
| Wide sweep | Arc attack that hits multiple enemies |
| Defense strip | Removes armor or defensive gimmicks from specific enemies |
| Pull | Drags a distant enemy into melee range |
| Execution | Finishing move on weakened targets |
The gameplay video shows the Chain being used to strip the Swarmion's wasp-armor defense and execute it — demonstrating that the new weapon is designed to counter the expansion's new enemy types rather than simply adding another damage source.
New enemies: Swarmions and Thornblooms
Swarmions are the expansion's signature new threat: creatures that wrap living wasp swarms around their bodies as armor. They attack in numbers, and the Chain is the intended counter to strip their defenses before closing in. According to the dev team, "the name tells you everything — they swarm you."
Thornblooms are archer-type variants that appear inside the Garden of Thorns. They're noted as distinct from standard archers in both attack patterns and visual effects, tied to whatever is growing in the estate's dark forest.
NPC systems: the small details that add up
One of the less-flashy but meaningful changes is how NPC behavior works in Letten. Songs of the Past builds on The Witcher 3's existing community systems to create more reactive townspeople and adds complexity to their daily routines.
“"NPCs can now properly use vehicles such as carts, horses, or even fireboats — which is a small thing, but I think adds a lot." — Miles Tost
The implication is that Letten's residents feel like they live there rather than stand in place waiting for Geralt to arrive — a longstanding criticism of even the best open-world RPGs.
The Witcher 3: Remastered — what the free upgrade actually includes
Before Songs of the Past launches, the existing game gets a substantial free upgrade on September 29, 2026:
| Remastered improvements |
|---|
| Overhauled visuals across the board |
| Combat system rework |
| Improved traversal and movement |
| New witcher signs visual effects |
| Revamped mount handling |
| Enhanced monster behaviors |
| Skill tree redesign |
| Transmogrification (cosmetic gear swapping) |
| Expanded photo mode |
| New finisher animations |
The Remastered update applies free of charge to existing owners on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. A native Nintendo Switch 2 version also launches the same day — the first time The Witcher 3 has appeared on a Nintendo platform with full current-gen specs.
Battle.net and the Blizzard partnership
The platform expansion doesn't stop at Switch 2. CD Projekt Red confirmed a partnership with Blizzard Entertainment to bring both the Remastered version and Songs of the Past to Battle.net. Players who purchase the expansion through Battle.net will receive a Geralt-themed skin in Diablo 4; additional details are coming when CDPR attends BlizzCon in September.
This is notable as a distribution play: it gives the game a new storefront with a large built-in user base of Blizzard players who may not regularly browse Steam.
Existing DLC now free for all owners
The Gamescom reveal came with an immediate in-show announcement by host Geoff Keighley: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are now free for everyone who owns the base game. If you've had the base game sitting in your library without the DLC, they should already be waiting for you.
Developer background
Fool's Theory, the co-developer, is made up of industry veterans who previously worked on The Witcher 3 — which gives CDPR a credible extension of its own team without requiring the full CDPR studio to pause work on The Witcher 4. The expansion was first announced in May 2026, with the Gamescom stream providing the first substantive look at its content.
Platform availability at a glance
| Platform | Remastered (Sept 29) | Songs of the Past (2027) |
|---|---|---|
| PC (Steam and others) | ✅ Free upgrade | ✅ Planned |
| PC (Battle.net) | ✅ New launch | ✅ Planned |
| PlayStation 5 | ✅ Free upgrade | ✅ Planned |
| Xbox Series X|S | ✅ Free upgrade | ✅ Planned |
| Nintendo Switch 2 | ✅ New native version | ✅ Planned |
| Last-gen consoles | ❌ Not supported | ❌ Not supported |
What to do right now
If you already own The Witcher 3:
- ▶Check your library — Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine should already be there
- ▶Mark September 29 for the free Remastered upgrade
- ▶Wishlist Songs of the Past on your preferred platform
If you don't own it yet:
- ▶Buying the base game before September 29 gets you the Remastered update and both classic expansions at no extra cost
- ▶Battle.net buyers will also receive a Geralt skin in Diablo 4 once Songs of the Past releases
Sources:
- ▶CD PROJEKT RED official press release — Remastered announcement and Songs of the Past reveal
- ▶GamesRadar — Miles Tost interview on Letten
- ▶GamingBolt — gameplay breakdown
- ▶Push Square — REDstream analysis