{"id":753049,"date":"2026-08-29T00:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T00:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/753049\/"},"modified":"2026-08-29T00:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T00:54:14","slug":"the-witcher-3-songs-of-the-past-geralt-of-rivia-returns-after-a-decade-in-the-sun-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/753049\/","title":{"rendered":"The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past \u2013 Geralt of Rivia returns after a decade in the sun | Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The game that graced us with Bathtub Geralt<\/a>, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, arrived more than a decade ago. So it was a touch surprising this summer when developers CD Projekt Red announced a new expansion to the venerable adventure, titled Songs of the Past, for next year. It will release alongside a full remaster of the original game, which will be free for anyone who bought it back in 2015. (The studio is also working on a sequel, The Witcher 4, but that\u2019s not due until 2028.)<\/p>\n

As it turns out, this is all possible thanks to a partnership with Fool\u2019s Theory, a studio founded by CD Projekt Red veterans, which took on the brunt of the development work. \u201cWe\u2019ve had this story in a drawer for many years,\u201d explains Marcin Blacha, VP story director at CD Projekt Red. \u201cOf course, we moved on to Cyberpunk 2077 and now The Witcher 4, as well as our other projects. But because we knew The Witcher 4 would take time, we saw a gap in our release calendar where Songs of the Past could go. Thankfully, we were able to find the right partner to help execute it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seemingly idyllic \u2026 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt \u2013 Songs of the Past. Photograph: CD Projekt Red<\/p>\n

The elephant in the room, though, is that The Witcher 3\u2019s 2016 expansion Blood and Wine felt like a natural conclusion to Geralt\u2019s tale. After decades covered in entrails, the legendary monster slayer hangs up his dual swords for a well-earned life of luxury on his recently acquired vineyard estate. What can he possibly have left to do?<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is certainly something we thought through,\u201d says Blacha. \u201cGeralt retired in Toussaint \u2013 but then his best friend comes calling. I don\u2019t think many of us would turn down that request.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, foppish fan favourite Dandelion the bard pulls the witcher back into action, asking Geralt to come to his aid in his homeland of Letten. It\u2019s a seemingly idyllic land of bountiful harvests and rowdy festivals that hides some sinister secrets.<\/p>\n

Sinister secrets \u2026 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt \u2013 Songs of the Past. Photograph: CD Projekt Red<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been exciting, and nostalgic. We spent so long with Geralt, but have also learned a lot in the 10-plus years we\u2019ve been away from him,\u201d says Blacha. \u201cWith Songs of the Past, we really wanted to return to The Witcher\u2019s roots. That meant drawing on old beliefs and folklore, revisiting landscapes inspired by Poland\u2019s history and countryside, and staying true to the series\u2019 tradition of difficult dilemmas. Going back to all of this has been a pleasure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team has also put to bed rumours that this expansion will be a prequel to The Witcher 4. Songs of the Past is focused on the gruff, grey witcher we\u2019ve already come to love, not Ciri, the younger protagonist of the forthcoming title. Rather, the expansion has all the trappings that seasoned Witcher fans should recognise, with a morally murky narrative brought to life by returning voice actors Doug Cockle and John Schwab, who reprise their roles as Geralt and Dandelion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

There are a few new features to play around with, though: CD Projekt has enhanced Geralt\u2019s combat and skill trees, and he now wields a chain weapon alongside his steel and silver swords. There are also new DNA-modifying mutagens to play around with, tweaking Geralt\u2019s biology and, therefore, his supernatural skills.<\/p>\n

The Witcher 3 is a modern classic that has already come to a gratifying end: bringing Geralt out of retirement is a risky move. But when his medallion starts humming, the White Wolf is still ready to answer the call.<\/p>\n

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt \u2013 Songs of the Past is in development for PC, Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox<\/a> Series X\/S, and is due for release in 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The game that graced us with Bathtub Geralt, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, arrived more than a decade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":753050,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[59,86,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-753049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-gb","tag-technology","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=753049"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/753049\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/753050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=753049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=753049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=753049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}