The Witcher 3's Songs of the Past expansion 'completes' the story, CDPR says

CD Projekt Red says Songs of the Past, the new expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, will "complete" the game's story with Dandelion at its center, framing the add-on as a missing chapter of the original release rather than a nostalgia play. "This is part of The Wild Hunt, and it felt like a chapter was missing," the studio said, per a report on the r/pcgaming subreddit. The expansion arrives 11 years after the base game launched and follows months of rumors about a Geralt adventure set in the ancestral homeland of his bard companion.

The expansion grew out of what CD Projekt Red describes as a couple of "happy accidents," joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski told The Game Business. Development on Songs of the Past proceeded with Fool's Theory, the studio behind the remake work, and during that process the team began discussing modernizing the aging RPG. "I remember we were going deeper and deeper into the development of Songs of the Past with Fool's Theory and we started chatting, like, 'Why don't we make the game more modern? Everything feels like it was developed 10 years ago,'" Nowakowski said. That conversation produced the Remastered edition, a free upgrade for everyone who owns the game that overhauls visuals, combat, enemy behavior, horse riding, and skill trees.

Charging for the remaster was never on the table. "I don't think it was ever a thought we even had," Nowakowski said. "It was never a question we asked ourselves." Instead, CD Projekt Red treated it as an improvement and a way to introduce Songs of the Past, with Nowakowski recalling the sentiment "Let's try and give Geralt one more ride."

The expansion's Gamescom demo, shown behind closed doors to press, opens in Letten, a region described as Shire-like with rolling green hills, abundant food and drink, and playful music. Geralt wakes from an alcohol-induced, nightmare-ridden sleep to find Dandelion missing, his lute in the hands of mischief-makers. After recovering the instrument, Geralt heads to Manor de Lettenhove to question Dandelion's family, meeting his fearsome grandmother and his cousin Lilla, a young woman determined to escape her noble obligations. Visions from Geralt's dreams point to an eerie well outside Letten haunted by an ancient witch, where Lilla believes Dandelion has gone.

Creative Vision Director Karolina Kuzia-Rokosz said the team's priority in building Letten was making the new region feel like it belongs in the existing world while still feeling fresh. "When we're building a new place on the map, the most important thing is to stick to the principles we already know," she told PCGamesN. "The new place has to feel like it belongs, but is still fresh and different. We want to give you this experience of visiting a new place you haven't visited before; the idea is for you to feel at home, but also feel like this place is new." The region is not all sunshine, however; the witch's well is oppressive and claustrophobic, with thorny vines draining lifeblood from wandering animals and travelers.

Early impressions from the demo have been strongly positive. Eurogamer's hands-on preview called the behind-closed-doors showing "a great reminder" that CD Projekt Red's writing remains among the best in gaming, while PCGamesN's Lauren Bergin wrote that the demo proved Songs of the Past "isn't just a cheap return" to the RPG but "a new story that I need more of." The expansion's focus on Dandelion, known as Jaskier in Polish, marks a shift from the grim monster-hunting tone of the base game toward a lighter, character-driven tale.

Songs of the Past and the Remastered edition were revealed at Gamescom, with the remaster positioned as a free upgrade for existing owners. CD Projekt Red has not announced a release date for either the expansion or the remastered edition, and the studio has not detailed how the two will be delivered together. What remains unclear is how long the expansion will be and whether it will match the scale of the base game's earlier paid expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.