Geralt Rides Again: Witcher 3 Gets a Surprise New Expansion 12 Years Later

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CD Projekt Red has revealed ‘Songs of the Past,’ a new expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It will be available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S in 2027. The announcement was made on the studio’s Bluesky page, marking 12 years since the original game launched in 2015 and 11 years since its second expansion, ‘Blood and Wine,’ came out in 2016.

This new expansion lets players step back into the boots of Geralt of Rivia, the famous monster hunter. Importantly, it’s designed only for the newest PlayStation, Xbox, and PC consoles – a change from the original game and previous expansions, which can still be played on older PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch systems.

CD Projekt Red is working with Polish indie studio Fool’s Theory to create a new game. Fool’s Theory was founded in 2015 by Jakub Rokosz, a former designer at CD Projekt Red, and its team includes experienced developers who contributed to The Witcher 3. In 2022, 11 bit studios, known for Frostpunk, invested up to $1.49 million for a 40% share in Fool’s Theory. The studio has assisted with projects like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Outriders, released their own game, The Thaumaturge, in 2024, and is currently rebuilding the original Witcher game using Unreal Engine 5.

As a huge Witcher fan, it’s no surprise to see how well the game is still doing! CD Projekt Red recently shared their numbers, and The Witcher 3 made a massive $642.3 million just in the last quarter, even though it came out ten years ago! They’ve now sold over 65 million copies worldwide – that’s five million more than they reported before. And it’s crazy to think about all the recognition it’s gotten – over 250 ‘Game of the Year’ awards and more than 1,000 industry awards in total! It really proves what a special game it is.

The news was revealed a day ahead of schedule when CD Projekt Red mistakenly published it on their own website. Although the announcement was originally planned for their first-quarter 2026 financial report, chief financial officer Piotr Nielubowicz continued with the pre-recorded reveal of ‘Songs of the Past’ as planned, even after the leak.

During the recent earnings call, co-CEO Michal Nowakowski corrected someone who called the upcoming ‘Hearts of Stone’ and ‘Blood and Wine’ downloadable content, or DLC. He clarified the difference between small, free additions to the game and larger, paid expansions. He explained that the new ‘Songs of the Past’ will be similar in size and scope to ‘Blood and Wine,’ but the length of the experience will depend on how each player chooses to play it.

Just wanted to let everyone know, we’re definitely working on a huge expansion! That’s the main thing I want people to understand.

The Blood and Wine expansion offered a main story lasting around 15 hours, taking Geralt to a brand-new region centered on vampire-related crimes and political schemes within a royal court. For players who aim to complete everything, it could take close to 30 hours – making it a substantial experience, comparable in length to some full games.

During a livestream celebrating the 10th anniversary of the ‘Blood and Wine’ expansion, Laura Beitzel from the community and social media team announced that the ‘Songs of the Past’ update will add new cards to Gwent, the popular card game within The Witcher 3. They also confirmed that they are still working on adding cross-platform mod support to the game, which will be released at a later date.

The newly released artwork depicts Geralt with three swords, one of which has a unique, decorative curved guard. According to community manager Amelia Korzycka, this sword is important to the story, and its full role will be explained in upcoming streams before the game is released.

Beitzel directed fans to a social media post from a month earlier, connected to Belleteyn Night – a spring festival celebrating fertility inspired by the world of The Witcher. The post showed early concept art of Geralt relaxing by a fire, with the musician Dandelion playing his lute and villagers dancing. Notably, the same detailed sword from a recent image was also visible in the background.

A poem shared alongside announcements for the next Witcher game included these lines: “On Belleteyn night, when tall fires rise, Whispered wishes go through the quiet skies. A lion cub’s fate is penned in the stars, And lilac and gooseberries are never too far.” Fans believe this poem hints that the new game will center around Ciri, as she’s known as the Lion Cub of Cintra and is associated with the scents of lilac and gooseberries in the Witcher universe. Some have also noticed similarities between a sword Geralt holds in earlier artwork and the weapon Ciri wields in the latest trailer, leading to speculation about a possible connection.

So, the big news is that Songs of the Past, the new Witcher game, is now aiming for a 2027 release instead of 2026. The team felt they needed a bit more time to really nail it. But hey, there’s still good stuff coming this year! Nielubowicz mentioned they’re still working on some extra content for The Witcher 3 – it’s not as massive as a full-on expansion, but it’s further along in development and should be out before 2026 is over. That’s awesome news for us Witcher fans!

Nowakowski clarified during the call that this release isn’t just a small add-on – it’s a major expansion. He explained that while they usually offer smaller downloadable content (DLC) for free, expansions are much larger and more substantial.

Wind’s howling… And it’s taking us to gamescom in Cologne!

Come join us in the entertainment area, where we will be showing Songs of the Past!

See you on the Path

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— The Witcher (@thewitcher.com) May 28, 2026 at 11:59 PM

CD Projekt Red plans to share more about the upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, in late summer 2026, with a reveal planned for Gamescom (August 26-30). Since releasing the Blood and Wine expansion, the studio launched Cyberpunk 2077 in 2020. Despite a rocky start that briefly led to its removal from the PlayStation Store, Cyberpunk 2077 has sold 18 million copies as of the end of 2021. Its 2023 expansion, Phantom Liberty, quickly sold three million copies. Currently, CD Projekt Red is in the early stages of developing a Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, while work on the next Witcher game is further along.

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2026-05-29 12:46