Something to look forward to: CD Projekt Red had already promised plenty of Witcher news at Gamescom, and it delivered more than expected. The studio has announced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, a substantial overhaul launching September 29 as a free upgrade for existing owners. It also provided the first proper look at Songs of the Past, a new paid expansion arriving in 2027.
The Witcher 3 Remastered appears to go considerably further than simply sharpening up the visuals of the 2015 RPG. CD Projekt Red says the new edition will update graphics, performance, combat, movement, progression, and several other parts of the game.
Visual improvements include upgraded textures for environments, characters, and monsters, along with denser foliage and revised lighting, rendering, and ray tracing. Combat is also being reworked with new animations, finishing moves, and a more adaptive camera.
Other changes include improved traversal, revised horse controls, enhanced monster behavior, new Witcher Sign effects, a redesigned skill tree, transmogrification, an expanded photo mode, and cross-platform mod support.
The upgrade launches September 29 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series. The Witcher 3 will also receive a native Nintendo Switch 2 version, while CD Projekt Red is bringing the game to Battle.net through a new partnership with Blizzard.
Existing owners on eligible platforms will receive Remastered at no additional cost.
CD Projekt Red had another surprise for anyone who only owns the base game. Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, the two acclaimed expansions released in 2015 and 2016, are now being made available to existing Witcher 3 owners for free. That means players can revisit essentially the complete current Witcher 3 experience before another major adventure arrives next year.
CD Projekt Red also showed the first footage from Songs of the Past, The Witcher 3's first new expansion since Blood and Wine a decade ago. The expansion sends Geralt to Letten, a previously unseen region portrayed as a peaceful rural land built around farming, festivals, and local folklore. Naturally, things aren't quite as idyllic as they initially appear, with an old threat lurking beneath the surface.
Geralt will encounter new enemies, reconnect with familiar characters, and gain additional abilities. One of the more noticeable additions shown so far is a new chain weapon, which should give Geralt another option for controlling and attacking enemies.
Songs of the Past is being developed by CD Projekt Red alongside Fool's Theory, the Polish studio behind The Thaumaturge. Fool's Theory is also leading development of the remake of the original Witcher. Songs of the Past will be a paid expansion. It will launch sometime in 2027 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and Nintendo Switch 2.
CD Projekt Red previously indicated that the expansion would be comparable in scope to Blood and Wine, which introduced the large Toussaint region and added dozens of hours of new content.
The company plans to reveal considerably more during Gamescom. Five days of Witcher-focused REDstreams are scheduled from August 26 through August 30, including gameplay presentations, interviews, and behind-the-scenes material covering both Remastered and Songs of the Past.
All of this will help fill what remains a fairly long wait for the franchise's next numbered installment.
The Witcher 4, which shifts the spotlight from Geralt to Ciri, is currently targeting a 2028 release. CD Projekt Red co-CEO Michał Nowakowski emphasized that 2028 remains a target rather than a firm launch date, leaving room for the project to move if additional development time is required.
Whenever The Witcher 4 does arrive, it is expected to begin an unusually busy period for the studio. CD Projekt Red has said it wants to release three Witcher games within six years, with its collaboration with Epic Games on Unreal Engine 5 intended to help shorten development cycles between installments.
