Discover All About The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past—Release Date, Story, and More

If you had told me last year that I would be covering a new expansion for The Witcher 3, I would have dismissed it as a rumor. Developers rarely revisit their own titles unless they’re remastering or restoring lost content, and even then it’s a rare occurrence.

CD Projekt Red, however, has always been a company that defies convention. Even after proclaiming “this is the final version,” they keep finding new ways to enhance and expand their games.

Enter The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, a full‑blown expansion that promises to breathe fresh life into the 2015 classic. Scheduled for a 2027 release, it will arrive a staggering twelve years after the original launch.

This ambitious project is being co‑developed with Fool’s Theory, the studio behind the highly praised Witcher 1 remake, ensuring that the new content will carry the same depth and polish fans expect.

Contrary to early speculation that it would be a small downloadable add‑on, CD Projekt Red has clarified that Song of the Past is a full‑blown expansion, not a DLC. The studio noted that DLCs are typically lighter in scope and often released at no extra cost, citing the roughly sixteen free add‑ons that accompanied The Witcher 3 in its first year, which ranged from cosmetic tweaks to an entirely new contract.

The company emphasized that the new pack will match the scale of its predecessor, Blood and Wine, which launched in the summer of 2016. That expansion delivered 30 to 40 hours of gameplay, introduced a brand‑new region, and served as a definitive conclusion to the main narrative, with Geralt settling in Corvo Bianco and hinting at retirement.

Given this context, it’s reasonable to anticipate that Song of the Past will open a new, expansive area and offer at least twenty hours of fresh gameplay. Players can expect unique locales, fresh contracts, and potentially new mechanics or core system tweaks—echoing the mutation feature that defined Blood and Wine.

Rumors suggest that the expansion may be set in Cintra and focus on Belleteyn, a festival inspired by Slavic Mayday celebrations that Andrzej Sapkowski drew upon for the series. CD Projekt Red has hinted at this narrative direction in various promotional teasers, fueling fan speculation and excitement.

Belleteyn marks a pivotal moment in the overarching narrative, as Yennefer of Vengerberg is born during the festival and Ciri’s story is deeply intertwined with it. Cintra, the storied kingdom ruled by Ciri’s grandmother Calanthe, is where Geralt’s destiny first links him to the ash‑haired girl and where he first encounters Emperor Emhyr.

There’s a wealth of lore to explore, far too much to cover in a single brief. Suffice it to say that Cintra is a narrative goldmine, a setting that deserves to be experienced directly within the games.

Rumors also hint at the inclusion of Cidaris, though such claims remain speculative at this stage. The promotional soundtrack for the expansion carries a dark, Slavic tone, suggesting the game will focus on regions near Temeria, with Cintra and Cidaris falling squarely into that thematic bucket.

We’ll learn more once Gamescom 2026 rolls around, an event Destructoid plans to cover extensively, positioning us as your primary source of updates. In the meantime, expect the expansion to retail for $19.99, or possibly be bundled with CD Projekt Red’s Game of the Year edition, which is frequently available at a bargain price every few weeks.