- TL;DR
- Songs of the Past is the third expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — launching in 2027.
- It is co-developed by CD PROJEKT RED and Fool’s Theory, a studio founded by former Witcher 3 quest designers.
- The expansion is set in Letten, a brand new open-world region in northern Redania, inspired by rural Poland and England.
- Geralt gets a new weapon — a silver chain that wraps around his arm and changes how combat feels against crowds.
- The story centers on Dandelion and his noble family, including his cousin Lilla — a new romance option for Geralt.
- The story is originally written by CD PROJEKT RED writers, shelved for years, and then revived for this expansion.
- Songs of the Past is a paid expansion. It was originally planned for 2026 but was delayed to hit a higher quality bar.
- DirectX 11 support is dropped with Songs of the Past — the game moves to DX12 only going forward.
- All Remastered improvements carry over directly into Songs of the Past.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was supposed to be Geralt of Rivia’s final chapter. Blood and Wine in 2016 ended with him retired at his vineyard in Toussaint — a proper send-off after more than 200 hours of story across three games. Most people assumed that was that.
They were wrong. On May 27, 2026, ten years to the week after Blood and Wine launched, CD PROJEKT RED announced a third expansion. It is called Songs of the Past. It launches in 2027. Geralt is back.
This guide covers everything confirmed about Songs of the Past — the release date, platforms, story, new region, new weapon, new characters, and what it means for The Witcher 4.
Songs of the Past Release Date and Platforms
Songs of the Past launches in 2027. No specific date or release window within the year has been announced. CD PROJEKT RED originally planned a 2026 release but pushed it back to achieve a higher quality result, according to co-CEO Michał Nowakowski.
The expansion releases on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, and Battle.net), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. It does not come to PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Like the Remastered version of the base game, Songs of the Past is a current-generation-only release.
Songs of the Past is a paid expansion. It is not a free update like the smaller DLC packs CD PROJEKT RED released for The Witcher 3 in 2015. Pricing has not been announced yet.
Players who buy Songs of the Past on Battle.net will also receive a special Geralt-inspired cosmetic skin for Diablo IV, as part of the ongoing partnership between CD PROJEKT RED and Blizzard Entertainment.
How Songs of the Past Was Announced
The announcement did not go exactly as planned. CD PROJEKT RED had set up a Blood and Wine anniversary stream for May 28, 2026 — the tenth anniversary of that expansion’s release. Their intention was to reveal Songs of the Past during the stream.
Instead, the expansion was accidentally leaked early through CD PROJEKT RED’s own REDlauncher software on May 27. The official announcement followed hours later rather than waiting for the planned stream. It is the kind of leak that only really happens when a team is genuinely excited about what they are about to reveal.
The full reveal — with gameplay footage, region details, and character information — came at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25, 2026, followed by extended developer REDstreams the same day.
Who Is Developing Songs of the Past?
Songs of the Past is co-developed by CD PROJEKT RED and Fool’s Theory, a Polish studio founded in July 2015 by Jakub Rokosz — a former senior quest designer who worked on The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt itself. The combined development team is around 190 people.
Fool’s Theory had previously been tasked with developing a full remake of the original Witcher game from 2007 in Unreal Engine 5. That project stalled while waiting on technical dependencies tied to The Witcher 4’s development. By the end of 2024, a portion of the studio had moved onto Songs of the Past instead.
This co-development arrangement matters for one important reason. The expansion is not pulling resources away from The Witcher 4, which remains in active development at CD PROJEKT RED and is currently targeting a 2028 release.
Fool’s Theory CEO Jakub Rokosz stated that the decision not to significantly overhaul gameplay for the expansion came from a belief that The Witcher 3 had “aged really well” and its mechanics were “still very relevant.” The goal was to build on the existing foundation rather than change it.
The Story — Where Did It Come From?
The narrative for Songs of the Past has an unusual origin. It was written years before the expansion was announced, by original CD PROJEKT RED writers Ola Motyka and Philip Weber. The story was set aside at some point and sat unused for years before Fool’s Theory grew large enough to take it on.
Weber described the process as Fool’s Theory taking “the bones of this story” that had been shelved and expanding it into a full expansion. The narrative is described as a completely original story — it does not adapt anything directly from Andrzej Sapkowski’s Witcher novels, though the books served as a starting point for understanding Dandelion and his relationship with Geralt.
Senior quest designer Despoina Anetaki explained that the base game never had space to fully explore the friendship between Geralt and Dandelion because the story was primarily focused on Geralt’s relationship with Ciri. Songs of the Past is positioned as a more in-depth character study of that friendship.
The Story — What Happens?
Songs of the Past picks up after Blood and Wine. Geralt has been living his retirement in Toussaint. CD PROJEKT RED story director Marcin Blacha acknowledged that they thought carefully about how to justify pulling Geralt out of retirement — and landed on the one person Geralt would not say no to: Dandelion.
Dandelion — full name Julian Alfred Pankratz, Viscount de Lettenhove — is called back to his ancestral home in the region of Letten. Geralt goes with him. What begins as a visit to a noble family estate quickly becomes something darker.
The story centers on the curse of Count Humbert de Lettenhove — a mad ancestor of Dandelion whose legend haunts the region. Geralt and Dandelion’s cousin Lilla venture into Letten’s forests on the trail of this family curse, uncovering layers of mystery and family secrets as they go.
It is the first time players meet Dandelion’s actual family in The Witcher 3. Characters like Lilla, Dandelion’s cousin, are entirely new faces introduced for this expansion.
Letten — The New Region
Songs of the Past is set in Letten, a brand new open-world region in northern Redania. Fool’s Theory describes it as a “completely new region” and a fully realized open world in its own right — not a small map extension but a region comparable in ambition to Toussaint from Blood and Wine.
CD PROJEKT RED describes Letten as “an idyllic land rich in rural tradition and folklore” where people “enjoy a fulfilling life of bountiful harvests and lavish festivals.” They drew inspiration from rural regions in Poland, but also from the English countryside, for the look and feel of the region.
Letten is located in northern Redania, close to the regions of Kovir and Poviss — which is notable because those are the same regions where The Witcher 4 is set. The geography of Songs of the Past intentionally places Geralt in a part of the Continent that players will be revisiting in Ciri’s story.
What Letten Looks Like
The regional feel of Letten is deliberately different from previous Witcher 3 areas. Rolling hills, lakes, and villages built around rural life. A midsummer aesthetic that runs through the landscape, the way flowers grow, and the layout of settlements. The tone is idyllic on the surface, which makes the supernatural mystery underneath it feel more unsettling by contrast.
Fool’s Theory also upgraded the NPC behavior systems for Letten. Settlements are designed to feel lived in — NPCs have improved routines, react more naturally to Geralt’s presence, and make the villages feel like places people actually inhabit rather than backdrop decorations.
New Monsters in Letten
Letten introduces new enemy types designed around the region’s folklore. The most notable confirmed creature is the Swarmion — a humanoid fighter wrapped in a live shield of hornets. The hornets protect the creature from conventional attacks. Geralt’s new chain weapon is designed in part to break this shield, making the two mechanics directly connected to each other.
New warped, tree-like creatures have also been shown in footage, fitting the dark forest setting of the expansion’s mystery. New mutagens tied to these monster types are also confirmed as part of the expansion’s content.
Geralt’s New Weapon — The Silver Chain
Songs of the Past gives Geralt a new weapon: a silver chain that wraps around his arm. It is not a separate weapon category or a replacement for his swords. It deploys in combat in a similar way to a sign or a bomb — it is a supplementary tool that changes the rhythm of a fight rather than replacing your core combat options.
The chain has multiple confirmed uses in combat:
- Pull enemies in close for a follow-up melee attack or instant execution.
- Whipping attacks that hit multiple enemies in an arc — useful for crowd control.
- Target enemy weak points — demonstrated most clearly against the Swarmion, where the chain breaks its hornet shield before you can damage the creature itself.
- Boss finishers — the chain was seen in preview footage performing a dramatic finishing move at the end of a boss encounter.
The weapon has lore roots. In the original Witcher novel The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski, Geralt uses a chain against a striga — one of the defining moments of the character’s early fiction. The same chain appears in the opening cinematic of the first Witcher game from 2007. Songs of the Past brings it into The Witcher 3 for the first time as an actual usable tool in combat.
New Characters — Lilla and Dandelion’s Family
Songs of the Past introduces Dandelion’s family as new characters for the first time. The most prominent is Lilla, Dandelion’s cousin, who accompanies Geralt through much of the expansion’s story.
Lilla is confirmed as a new romance option for Geralt. She was shown in preview footage as a companion through the forested areas of Letten and is involved in the investigation of the de Lettenhove family curse alongside Geralt. Whether or not a romance with Lilla has consequences for existing relationships with Yennefer or Triss has not been confirmed.
Other members of Dandelion’s noble family also appear. The full roster of new characters has not been detailed beyond what has been shown in trailers and the Gamescom REDstreams.
Scale — How Big Is Songs of the Past?
CD PROJEKT RED has compared the scale of Songs of the Past directly to Blood and Wine. That is a significant comparison. Blood and Wine added roughly 30 hours of content, a complete new region, and a main quest that felt like a full standalone story rather than a short add-on.
Songs of the Past is confirmed to include new main quests, side content, and points of interest across Letten. Beyond the main storyline and the chain weapon, the expansion adds new mutagens, new enemy types, and new characters. No specific hour count or quest count has been released.
Technical Changes — DirectX 11 Is Dropped
Songs of the Past marks the end of DirectX 11 support for The Witcher 3. The game moves to DirectX 12 exclusively from this point forward.
The December 2022 next-gen update had added DX12 support for ray tracing while keeping the original DX11 build running alongside it. From Songs of the Past onward, only the DX12 path is maintained. CD PROJEKT RED stated this was done “to ensure smooth performance and compatibility going forward.” PC minimum requirements were also increased alongside this change.
All of the improvements from The Witcher 3 Remastered carry over directly into Songs of the Past. The new skill tree, updated combat, Gear Reforging, Photo Mode overhaul, and visual improvements are all present in the expansion’s version of the game. You are not reverting to an older build when you launch Songs of the Past.
For everything that changed in The Witcher 3 Remastered ahead of Songs of the Past, see our Patch 5.0 full changes guide. If you want to prepare your character for the new expansion, our best builds guide covers all playstyles including the Gear Reforging system you will want set up before Songs of the Past launches — see our Gear Reforging guide for that. And if you are playing on PC and want the best visual experience ready, our Path Tracing settings guide has everything you need. All of those improvements will be in Songs of the Past when it launches.
For Roach fans, the Roach fixes and horse riding changes confirmed for Remastered also carry into Songs of the Past, including the press-to-gallop input change and on-horseback looting.
How Does Songs of the Past Connect to The Witcher 4?
CD PROJEKT RED has positioned Songs of the Past as a bridge between The Witcher 3 and The Witcher 4. The geographical connection is intentional — Letten in northern Redania sits close to Kovir and Poviss, where The Witcher 4 takes place with Ciri as the protagonist.
The expansion is not a direct prologue to The Witcher 4. But it is clearly designed to ease the transition — giving players one more story with Geralt in a part of the world that will matter in the next game, before the series shifts its focus to a new protagonist and a new era.
The Witcher IV is currently in development at CD PROJEKT RED and is targeted for 2028.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Songs of the Past release?
Songs of the Past is confirmed for a 2027 release. CD PROJEKT RED has not announced a specific date or release window within the year. The expansion was originally planned for 2026 but was delayed to reach a higher quality target.
What platforms is Songs of the Past on?
Songs of the Past releases on PC (Steam, GOG, Epic Games Store, Battle.net), PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. It does not come to PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. It is current-generation only.
Is Songs of the Past free?
No. Songs of the Past is a paid expansion. It is not a free update. Pricing has not been announced yet. It is different from the smaller free DLC packs CD PROJEKT RED released for The Witcher 3 in 2015.
Who is developing Songs of the Past?
Songs of the Past is co-developed by CD PROJEKT RED and Fool’s Theory — a studio founded by former Witcher 3 senior quest designer Jakub Rokosz. The combined team is around 190 people. The arrangement keeps the expansion’s development separate from The Witcher 4, which remains in production at CD PROJEKT RED.
Where is Songs of the Past set?
Songs of the Past is set in Letten, a brand new open-world region in northern Redania. It is Dandelion’s ancestral homeland. The region is inspired by rural Poland and England, with an idyllic countryside feel that conceals a dark supernatural mystery involving a cursed family ancestor.
What is Geralt’s new chain weapon?
Geralt receives a silver chain that wraps around his arm. It deploys in combat like a sign or bomb — not as a replacement for his swords. It can pull enemies in close, perform whipping crowd-control attacks, target enemy weak points, and execute finishing moves. The chain appeared in Sapkowski’s original Witcher novel and in the opening cinematic of the first Witcher game from 2007. Songs of the Past is the first time it is playable in The Witcher 3.
Who is Lilla in Songs of the Past?
Lilla is Dandelion’s cousin and a new character introduced in Songs of the Past. She accompanies Geralt through the story in Letten and is confirmed as a new romance option. She is central to the investigation of the de Lettenhove family curse that drives the expansion’s main quest.
Do I need to finish Blood and Wine before playing Songs of the Past?
No requirement has been confirmed. Songs of the Past takes place after Blood and Wine’s events and references Geralt’s retirement in Toussaint, so playing Blood and Wine first gives you the most context. However, CD PROJEKT RED has not officially stated that completing Blood and Wine is a prerequisite for accessing the expansion.
Does Songs of the Past affect The Witcher 4?
Songs of the Past is positioned as a narrative bridge between The Witcher 3 and The Witcher 4. The region of Letten sits close to Kovir and Poviss, where The Witcher 4 takes place. The expansion is designed to ease the transition between Geralt’s era and Ciri’s story in the next mainline game, though it is not a direct prologue to The Witcher 4.
