It seems like every year we get the “worst kept secret” in the gaming industry; this year and sometimes last year this secret was new The Witcher 3 — Songs of the Past DLC. Of course, that secret has now been officially revealed, as CD Projekt Red recently pulled back the curtain on the expansion a bit, confirming its existence and revealing its name.
We know that Songs of the past The DLC is meant to bridge the gap between the two The Witcher 3 and The Witcher 4and we know it features Geralt of Rivia as opposed to Ciri. But apart from the interesting context of development, like how Songs of the past is jointly developed with Witcher 1 remake studio Fool's Theory, that's pretty much all the info we have. The rest is up to interpretation, which of course can be wild. If we allow ourselves to stray into this realm of speculation for a moment, then perhaps the DLC title itself can give us some insight into what CD Projekt Red is planning. After all, this is the first The Witcher 3 expansion spanning more than a decade – you'd imagine CD Projekt Red put a lot of thought into their title.
The official re-release of The Witcher 3 coming next year will be a must-have before The Witcher 4
CD Projekt Red claims that The Witcher 3 expansion for 2027 will be a must in preparation for the next full entry in the series.
As already mentioned, Songs of the past is meant to be connected The Witcher 3 on The Witcher 4thus creating a clearer continuity for the series. One potentially messy element that Songs of the past will have to deal with a multi-ended structure The Witcher 3narration. All told, there are technically over 30 potential endings The Witcher 3none of which were specifically marked as canon finale. Of course, it's safe to assume that some endings, like the one where Ciri dies, will be non-canon, but not all of them are that simple.
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Arguably more important than ending canonization is actually creating context The Witcher 4. It looks like Songs of the past will do just that, maybe even walk us through the beginnings of Ciri's Witcher processes. It looks like Geralt will be the main focus of the expansion, so maybe it'll be a kind of passing of the torch, like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will seemingly set up Miles Morales as the new protagonist by pairing him with Peter Parker for a big team-up adventure. Thus, Songs of the past will be looking strictly towards the future of the franchise.
An extension with “past” in the title could simply be a cheeky reference to a double-digit age The Witcher 3but somehow i doubt it. “Songs” in this context probably refer to stories (for example, the Bard Dandelion writes songs about Geralt's adventures), so perhaps this expansion will be something of a retrospective of Geralt's history not only as a legendary Warlock, but also as a legendary video game protagonist. Perhaps an expansion will dredge up old secrets or enemies from Geralt's past and let him repeat his greatest hits. Additionally, Belletyn's presence in the key art has got fans talking as this is Yennefer's birthplace, suggesting that Ciri's other parent figure could have a significant role in the DLC.
Songs of the past is a fascinating and unprecedented expansion in that it builds on a single-player RPG from another console generation. As such, it's hard to know exactly what to expect – CD Projekt Red is definitely breaking new ground with this release strategy. But if CD Projekt Red is going to revisit a game as beloved (and old) as it is The Witcher 3that must be some real storytelling heat. Here's hoping that Songs of the pastwhatever it is, it lives up to the hype.
