The Witcher 3 One-Ups the Gaming Industry with New DLC

The Witcher game series has long been regarded as one of the greatest role-playing games of all time. It culminated in The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt winning Game of the Year way back in 2015. With recent announcement at 2026 Gamescom in Germany, developers of The Witcher, CD Projekt Red, have one massive final surprise for The Witcher 3 before the torch is passed their newest game, The Witcher 4, in 2027.

Before getting to that surprise, the context behind it paints a really interesting picture. The Witcher 3 was released in 2015 and still holds up really well to this day. However, compared to modern games like CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3 does indeed look date. Thus, The Witcher 3 is now remastered with the full nine yards of development required to make an old game modern. This means full graphics updates in gameplay and cinematics, and revamped mechanics and systems. Anyone that already owns the base game of The Witcher 3 has this remastered version on a new save file or an old. The surprise does not end there though.

It has already been announced that the main character in The Witcher 4 will be Cere. Fans are not mad about this, but the beloved Gerald of Rivia will be dearly missed. This is why The Witcher 3 was remastered – so players can go back and play as Geralt one last time. But players will not only be replaying the old, remastered content because on September 29^th, 2026, a completely new DLC for this 11-year-old game will be released. First off, this is completely unheard of in the gaming industry. Releasing new DLC for an old, non-live service game has basically never been done. Most developers would prefer to make a new game in the series rather than add DLC to an old game, but CD Projekt Red has decided to do both. Again, the surprises do not stop here!

This new DLC is called Songs of the Past and features between 20 to 40 hours of new content. Songs of the Past is centered around Geralt and will be a direct link to The Witcher 4 story, leading the player into an understanding of why Cere takes over for Geralt. This also includes all new boss fights, weapons and equipment, cinematics, and more. Now, what does this cost? Most developers would make players pay at least $40 for DLC with this much content. CD Projekt Red is releasing Songs of the Past for free to everyone that owns The Witcher 3 base game.

Speaking of DLC, this is the final addition to this massive surprise. The Witcher 3’s old DLCs, Blood and Wine and Heart of Stone, are widely regarded as some of the best DLC in the gaming industry, the literal gold standard. Each of these DLC feature dozens of hours of extra story, content, equipment, cinematics, and more. Together, the combine cost of this DLC are $30, or at least they were. Now, for all owners of The Witcher 3 base game, these two DLC are now free as well. Quite literally, what CD Projekt Red is doing to The Witcher 3 in preparation for The Witcher 4 is unheard of in game. It shows how much they care about and respect their fans.

To recap, The Witcher 3 is now completely remastered and revamped, including its two current DLC. A new DLC, Songs of the Past, is coming to this 11-year-old game on September 29^th, 2026. Lastly, the remastered version of the game and its three total DLC (Blood and Wine, Heart of Stone, and Songs of the Past) will be free for all owners of The Witcher 3 base game. This will all be available for owners of the game on PC, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2. Thank you, CD Projekt Red!