CD Projekt RED announced The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered, launching September 29, 2026 as a free upgrade for existing owners, alongside a first look at a brand-new paid expansion, Songs of the Past, set in the all-new region of Letten and arriving in 2027. The reveal swept three Gamescom 2026 awards.
An earlier draft of this piece invented the premise of Songs of the Past — describing it as a Dandelion-ballad-framed anthology set on the Redania/Temeria border. That isn't the real setting. CD Projekt RED's own announcement places the expansion in a brand-new region called Letten. The earlier draft also omitted two confirmed launch platforms (Nintendo Switch 2 and Battle.net), the fact that Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are now free for all existing owners, the confirmed September 29, 2026 release date, and the co-development studios (Fool's Theory and Yigsoft). It also stated specific technical claims — named ray-tracing APIs, upscaling versions, and an exact storage footprint — that CD Projekt RED has not confirmed. We've corrected all of this below using CDPR's official press release.
CD Projekt RED has officially reopened Geralt of Rivia's story. After 2016's Blood and Wine stood for years as the series' apparent conclusion, the studio surprised fans at Gamescom 2026 in Cologne with a ground-up technical remaster and the first look at a brand-new paid expansion.
For CD Projekt RED, this release also acts as a bridge between the studio's legacy REDengine foundation and its upcoming Unreal Engine 5 projects, including the next mainline Witcher game, codenamed Polaris, and a from-scratch Witcher Remake being built with Fool's Theory. For players, it means the entire base game and both original expansions get a free overhaul, plus a genuinely new expansion on the way in 2027.
Gamescom 2026 Victory: The Witcher 3 Sweeps Major Show Awards
CD Projekt RED had one of the standout showings at Gamescom 2026, taking home three trophies at the official gamescom awards, presented August 28 at the gamescom studio powered by IGN. The studio won Best Trailer / Announcement (a consumer-voted award) for the Remastered and Songs of the Past reveal trailer, Best Merch (also consumer-voted) for the Songs of the Past pin and medallion available at its show booth, and the jury-voted Best Booth award for its overall show presence.
The reaction confirms that appetite for The Witcher 3 remains extraordinary more than a decade after its 2015 launch — the game has sold over 65 million copies and won more than 250 Game of the Year awards to date.
What Is the Songs of the Past Expansion About?
Unlike Hearts of Stone (a self-contained Faustian pact in Velen) and Blood and Wine (the sun-drenched duchy of Toussaint), Songs of the Past takes Geralt to an entirely new, previously unseen region: Letten.
Confirmed Premise: CD Projekt RED describes Letten as "an idyllic land of rural tradition" whose people "enjoy a fulfilling life of bountiful harvests and lavish festivals" — but one that hides a dark, long-dormant evil beneath its peaceful surface. Geralt is equipped with a new weapon, the chain, to face never-before-seen foes, reunite with old friends, and navigate difficult decisions with meaningful consequences.
Songs of the Past launches in 2027 as a paid expansion on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2, and is available to wishlist now on select storefronts. CD Projekt RED has not detailed how it integrates with existing save files, pricing, or exact scope — treat any specific runtime-hour or content-volume claims you see elsewhere with caution until CDPR confirms them.
What's Actually Changing: Remastered's Confirmed Upgrades
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered brings upgrades across visuals, performance, and gameplay. Per CD Projekt RED's official announcement, confirmed changes include:
- Upgraded visuals across the board
- Enhanced combat and improved traversal and movement
- New Witcher Sign effects
- Revamped mount handling
- Enhanced monster behaviors
- A skill tree revamp and transmogrification support
- An expanded Photo Mode and new finishers
CD Projekt RED has not published a detailed technical breakdown naming specific rendering APIs, upscaling technology versions, or exact storage requirements — we've left those out here rather than presenting invented specifics as confirmed fact. A full technical rundown will likely follow closer to launch.
Platform Availability, Including Two New Ones
Remastered launches September 29, 2026, and — notably — on more platforms than any previous version of the game:
- PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S — the existing supported platforms.
- Nintendo Switch 2 — a native version, the first time The Witcher 3 has launched on Nintendo hardware in this form.
- Battle.net — new, via a partnership between CD Projekt RED and Blizzard Entertainment. Buying Songs of the Past on Battle.net unlocks a Geralt-inspired cosmetic skin in Diablo IV, with more details expected at BlizzCon in September.
Pre-orders for Remastered are available now on select platforms.
Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine Are Now Free
Separately from the Remastered upgrade, CD Projekt RED made an immediate announcement during gamescom Opening Night Live, delivered on stage by host Geoff Keighley: all existing owners of The Witcher 3 now have free access to both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, effective immediately — not gated behind the September 29 Remastered launch.
Who's Actually Building This: Fool's Theory and Yigsoft
Songs of the Past is being co-developed with Fool's Theory, a Polish studio founded in 2015 with leadership made up of Witcher 3 veterans. Fool's Theory is also co-developing the separate, from-scratch Witcher Remake with CD Projekt RED, and previously worked on The Thaumaturge and Seven: The Days Long Gone, as well as contributing to Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2.
Remastered is being co-developed with Yigsoft, a Hungarian AAA co-development studio founded in 2021 that has already worked with CD Projekt RED on Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Complete Edition.
Industry Analysis: Why CDPR Returned to The Witcher 3
From an operational standpoint, revisiting The Witcher 3 serves CD Projekt RED well strategically. With the next mainline Witcher saga (codenamed Polaris) in full production on Unreal Engine 5, a well-supported remaster and new expansion keep the franchise commercially and culturally active during the multi-year gap between AAA mainline releases — while also giving Fool's Theory, the studio building the parallel Witcher Remake, hands-on experience with the IP's lore and tone before that larger project ships. This is our editorial read on CDPR's strategy, not a claim CD Projekt RED has made directly.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
September 29, 2026, on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and Battle.net.
Yes — it's a free upgrade for existing owners of The Witcher 3 on qualifying platforms. Songs of the Past, the new expansion, is a separate paid release.
It's a new paid expansion taking Geralt to a brand-new region called Letten — an outwardly idyllic land hiding a long-dormant evil. It launches in 2027 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2, and is available to wishlist now. CD Projekt RED has not announced a specific 2027 date or price yet.
No. CD Projekt RED announced that all existing owners of The Witcher 3 now have free access to both expansions, effective immediately — separate from and ahead of the Remastered launch.
CD Projekt RED is co-developing Remastered with Yigsoft, and Songs of the Past with Fool's Theory — both established co-development studios with prior Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 experience.
Yes. Through CD Projekt RED's new partnership with Blizzard Entertainment, purchasing Songs of the Past on Battle.net unlocks a Geralt-inspired cosmetic skin in Diablo IV, with further details expected at BlizzCon in September 2026.
Sources
- CD PROJEKT RED Press Center — official announcement, August 25, 2026
- RPGFan — Gamescom 2026 coverage
- Inven Global — Gamescom Award 2026 winners
- WCCFTech, GoNintendo, Capsule Computers, Gamelevate — supplementary Gamescom Awards 2026 coverage
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