CD Projekt Red will show The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Songs of the Past at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026, but the studio has only confirmed a glimpse and new information so far.
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Store links: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Steam
CD Projekt Red is bringing Geralt back to Opening Night Live
CD Projekt Red has confirmed that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Songs of the Past will be featured during Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 on August 25, putting the long-awaited The Witcher 3 expansion inside Geoff Keighley’s main showcase rather than leaving it only for the Cologne show floor.
The studio’s press-center announcement says “new information” on Songs of the Past will be revealed during Opening Night Live. CD Projekt Red’s public social post, quoted by Vice, tells fans to “catch a glimpse” of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Songs of the Past during the show, which is scheduled for 11am PT, 2pm ET, and 8pm CEST. My Nintendo News lists the UK start time as 7pm.
That wording is the key detail. This is a confirmed Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 appearance for new Witcher 3 DLC, but CD Projekt Red has not yet promised a full gameplay demo, a release date, a price, a pre-order window, or a systems breakdown. Vice notes the same caution, pointing out that CD Projekt Red did not technically say “footage,” even though some coverage has described the appearance that way.
For players, the safest expectation is a first public reveal beat: a trailer, teaser, or presentation segment that establishes the expansion’s tone and premise. The deeper look may come after Opening Night Live, because CD Projekt Red also says it will run guided presentations of Songs of the Past at its Gamescom booth.
The show floor plan suggests a bigger reveal cycle than a trailer drop
CD Projekt Red is not treating Songs of the Past as a one-night tease. According to the studio’s official Gamescom announcement, guided presentations will be available to players and press in Cologne after Opening Night Live. The business-area presentations are scheduled for August 26 through August 28 at booth B065 in Hall 4.2, while the entertainment-area presentations are scheduled for August 26 through August 30 at booths B030 and A031 in Hall 8.1.
That matters for how to read the ONL slot. Opening Night Live is likely to establish the public-facing message, but the presence of guided presentations implies CD Projekt Red has enough material to show in a controlled setting across multiple days. The studio still has not said whether those presentations are hands-on, hands-off, developer-led, or built around the same footage shown during the broadcast.
This is also where the reporting language gets slightly uneven across outlets. Push Square says the expansion will make its debut at Opening Night Live and that fans will finally get new information in a matter of weeks. IGN calls it a reveal date. Vice frames it as a first look while stressing the studio’s careful “catch a glimpse” wording. The official CD Projekt Red source is narrower: new information during Opening Night Live, guided presentations afterward.
Until CD Projekt Red states otherwise, that leaves important player-facing questions unanswered. We do not yet know the expansion’s exact quest structure, level range, save compatibility, combat changes, new region scope, or whether it will alter progression in the base game. For a Witcher 3 expansion, those details matter as much as a cinematic hook, because builds, alchemy economy, gear scaling, and quest-state handling can decide whether returning players should start fresh or reload a completed Geralt.
A third Witcher 3 expansion in 2027 is rare by the calendar alone
Songs of the Past is unusual because of its timing. CD Projekt Red’s press release identifies The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt as a 2015 game that has sold more than 65 million copies and won more than 250 Game of the Year awards and more than 1,000 industry awards. IGN reports that Songs of the Past is the game’s third expansion and is due in 2027, 12 years after the original release and 11 years after Blood and Wine.
That gap changes the expectations around a new Witcher 3 expansion. This is not a standard season pass tail-end release from the original launch cycle. It is a return to one of the most commercially durable RPGs of the last decade after the game has already had a complete edition, a next-generation update, and years of settled player memory around Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.
The late-life timing also raises practical questions that CD Projekt Red has not answered yet. The studio has confirmed the 2027 window and the supported platforms, but it has not detailed how Songs of the Past fits into existing save files, whether it assumes a post-ending world state, how it handles players who finished Blood and Wine years ago, or whether it will include onboarding for people who only know The Witcher 3 through the current-gen version.
As an RPG return, that is where the expansion’s design will either feel respectful or awkward. The Witcher 3’s best questlines tend to braid monster contracts, political consequence, and character memory into choices that pay off later. A 2027 expansion has to account for players arriving with very different Geralts: underleveled newcomers, optimized New Game Plus builds, dormant save files from the PS4 and Xbox One era, and PC players with long histories of mods and altered installs. None of those compatibility details are confirmed yet.
The confirmed platforms point to a current-gen expansion, not a legacy DLC rollout
CD Projekt Red’s official July 21 announcement says Songs of the Past will launch in 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Push Square additionally describes it as a PS5 expansion with no PS4 version. My Nintendo News’ related coverage says the DLC is not coming to Switch, while the current CD Projekt Red press-center listing names no Nintendo platform.
The platform list is one of the clearest boundaries around the reveal. Players should not assume support for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or Switch unless CD Projekt Red changes or expands its published platform plans. At the moment, the announced release is tied to current console hardware and PC.
That current-gen focus makes sense as a practical signal, but it does not answer performance questions. CD Projekt Red has not announced target frame rates, graphics modes, PC requirements, installation size, or whether the expansion will require the current-gen version of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on console. It also has not announced a price or whether any edition of the base game will bundle Songs of the Past.
For anyone considering a replay before 2027, the platform guidance is simple: wait for CD Projekt Red to explain save and version requirements before committing to a completionist run solely for the expansion. If Songs of the Past is tuned around late-game progression, a prepared save may help. If it includes its own starting state, as some large RPG expansions do, a full replay may be optional. The studio has not confirmed either approach.
CD Projekt Red has framed it as Geralt’s return, but not a Witcher 4 blowout
The most important story detail currently confirmed by CD Projekt Red is straightforward: Songs of the Past will return players to the role of Geralt of Rivia in a brand-new adventure. IGN reports that CD Projekt Red has said the expansion is being co-developed with Fool’s Theory, a studio that includes industry veterans who worked on The Witcher 3.
IGN also reports that CD Projekt joint CEO Michał Nowakowski described Songs of the Past to investors as a standalone story starring Geralt set after the events of The Witcher 3, while also saying it is “in a way, a prologue” for the franchise’s future. He clarified, according to IGN’s transcript, that it is not a verbatim prologue for The Witcher 4. Nowakowski said the core goal was “delivering a high-quality, fun experience to the existing fans of The Witcher.”
That distinction should temper the Gamescom speculation cycle. A Witcher 3 expansion reveal can contain connective tissue for the series without being a full next-era reveal. CD Projekt Red is also developing The Witcher 4, as ixbt notes, but the Gamescom announcement provided in the studio’s press release is specifically about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Songs of the Past.
For lore-minded players, the questions to watch are precise ones. Does the reveal identify where Geralt is when the story begins? Does it acknowledge the endings of The Witcher 3 or Blood and Wine? Does it position Songs of the Past as an epilogue, a bridge, or a self-contained contract gone complicated? The phrase “Songs of the Past” invites speculation about memory and legacy, but the confirmed story material is still limited to Geralt returning for a new adventure.
What to watch for before treating this as the next Witcher era
The Opening Night Live segment should be judged by what CD Projekt Red actually shows, not by the weight of the franchise around it. The most concrete reveals to look for are release timing beyond “2027,” confirmed platforms repeated on-screen, price or edition details, gameplay footage, and any explanation of how the expansion plugs into The Witcher 3’s existing progression.
A systems-focused reveal would answer whether Songs of the Past adds new mutations, gear sets, monster behaviors, signs, alchemy recipes, or meaningful quest-choice consequences. A story-focused reveal might instead give us the setting, central threat, and returning characters. Either approach would be useful, but they serve different player questions. Cinematic mood tells us what CD Projekt Red wants the expansion to feel like. Gameplay tells us whether it can still sit cleanly inside an RPG whose buildcraft and quest pacing have been studied for more than a decade.
There is also a production question hanging over the reveal. IGN says Nowakowski told investors that plans had once assumed Songs of the Past would release this year, but the team decided on 2027 “to achieve the best possible result from the consumer standpoint.” That makes Gamescom a first test of confidence: not whether the trailer is exciting, but whether CD Projekt Red can communicate scope without blurring the line between a Geralt expansion and the future of the series.
For now, the confirmed facts are narrow but substantial. The Witcher 3 expansion reveal is set for Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 on August 25. Songs of the Past launches in 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Geralt is the protagonist. CD Projekt Red will show the expansion at Gamescom through guided presentations after the broadcast. Everything beyond that, including size, price, save handling, quest design, and how directly it points toward The Witcher 4, remains unannounced.