Third expansion for The Witcher 3 in 2027

[weirdfeline]

Rumored for a few months now and just confirmed. Expansion won't be on Xbox One, PS4 or Switch.

Songs of the Past will return players to the role of legendary monster slayer Geralt of Rivia for a brand new adventure when it launches in 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

CD PROJEKT RED is co-developing the expansion with Fool’s Theory, a team comprising industry veterans who worked on The Witcher 3. More details on Songs of the Past will be released in late summer 2026.

The Witcher 3 has sold more than 60 million copies since its release in 2015 and is the winner of more than 250 Game of the Year awards and 1,000 industry awards. It lets players explore a dark fantasy open world as witcher Geralt of Rivia as he takes on the most important contract of his life: saving his daughter Ciri.

https://www.cdprojekt.com/en/media/news/the-witcher-3-wild-hunt-songs-of-the-past-announced/

[ssj4yamgeta]

My biggest question is... why? Why now after all this time? In 2027, TW3 will be 12 years old. The complete edition with all DLC was released a decade ago. Can any game be considered complete now that they go on forever? Seems like they don't have much faith in The Witcher 4 if they're resorting to this.

[telekill]

I'm on board with it. I completely associate the Witcher with Geralt, which it why I'm not really looking forward to Witcher 4. I'd much rather hold off and get the Witcher 1 remake.

[kamikazekeeg]

My biggest question is... why? Why now after all this time? In 2027, TW3 will be 12 years old. The complete edition with all DLC was released a decade ago. Can any game be considered complete now that they go on forever? Seems like they don't have much faith in The Witcher 4 if they're resorting to this.

Nothing about this shows they have no faith in TW4, that game is guaranteed to sell a crap ton of copies.  I think this is meant to be a way to bridge the two games, so people get one last run with Geralt.  I could see it being a story told by Ciri about Geralt or with it being "Songs", maybe it's an older Dandelion telling the tale.

It does make me want to give Witcher 3 another shot, I played it once when it first came out, but I found it abit rough and never really loved the gameplay, so after beating the game, I never went back, didn't play the DLC.  I know they did updates and improvements, so I'm curious to see what I think of it now.

[dhaabi]

My biggest question is... why? Why now after all this time? In 2027, TW3 will be 12 years old. The complete edition with all DLC was released a decade ago. Can any game be considered complete now that they go on forever?

2016's Grim Dawn is to receive its latest Fangs of Asterkarn DLC sometime in 2026 (ten years).
2006's Titan Quest received its Eternal Embers DLC in 2021 (fifteen years).
2008's Castle Crashers received its Painter Boss Paradise DLC in 2025 (seventeen years).
1998's Age of Empires II received its Rise of the Rajas DLC in 2016 (eighteen years).

Whatever one's take is on DLC is, it's not as if the latest announcement regarding The Witcher 3 is unprecedented.

Seems like they don't have much faith in The Witcher 4 if they're resorting to this.

Nothing about this shows they have no faith in TW4, that game is guaranteed to sell a crap ton of copies.  I think this is meant to be a way to bridge the two games, so people get one last run with Geralt.  I could see it being a story told by Ciri about Geralt or with it being "Songs", maybe it's an older Dandelion telling the tale.

Of course, the DLC is also another way to excite fans by giving them a comparatively smaller offering of what's to come later with The Witcher 4. Plenty of other games have done this in the past by offering updates or re-packaged bundles.

[sly345]

2016's Grim Dawn is to receive its latest Fangs of Asterkarn DLC sometime in 2026 (ten years).
2006's Titan Quest received its Eternal Embers DLC in 2021 (fifteen years).
2008's Castle Crashers received its Painter Boss Paradise DLC in 2025 (seventeen years).
1998's Age of Empires II received its Rise of the Rajas DLC in 2016 (eighteen years).

The big difference is that the named games are all Multiplayer games with big (or relatively big) communities. Multiplayer games always stay alive for a long time or get revived to generate money (Payday 2 was resurrected and now receives free and paid updates again)
Witcher 3 on the other hand is single player, which usually have relatively fast dying fanbases unless the modding community is extremely strong, like Skyrim or Stardew Valley.

This is definitely done to not just generate some easy money after they had to delay Witcher 4 some more and to keep the franchise afloat and create some buzz. Not really all that surprising.