CD Projekt Red just pulled off one of the biggest mic drops in gaming history. At Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026, the studio announced that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is launching on September 29, 2026 — and it’s completely free for every existing owner on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. If that wasn’t enough, they also revealed the first-ever teaser for a brand-new expansion called Songs of the Past, set to arrive in 2027.
Yes, you read that right. A remaster of one of the greatest RPGs ever made, with a massive list of improvements, and it costs you absolutely nothing if you already own the game. In an industry where companies charge $70 for glorified texture packs, CD Projekt Red just reminded everyone why they’re still one of the most consumer-friendly studios on the planet.
September 29: The Date That Changes Everything
The Witcher 3 Remastered will go live on September 29 across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S as a free upgrade. Every current owner of The Witcher 3 — whether you bought it on Steam, GOG, PlayStation Store, or Xbox Store — will automatically receive the remastered version at no additional cost.
But the news gets even better for Nintendo fans. While the original Switch version won’t receive the upgrade, a native Nintendo Switch 2 version of The Witcher 3 Remastered will be available as a separate purchase. However, if you already own the Switch 1 version, you’ll be able to claim the Switch 2 version for free as well.
For the first time, the game will also be available on Battle.net — and purchasing it there will unlock a special Geralt-themed skin in Diablo 4. It’s a crossover nobody asked for but everyone secretly wants.
What’s Actually New? A Lot.
This isn’t just a resolution bump with a fresh coat of paint. CD Projekt Red has overhauled virtually every aspect of The Witcher 3. Here’s what’s coming:
- Tweaked combat — reworked mechanics for a smoother, more responsive feel
- Improved traversal and movement — Geralt moves and feels better than ever
- Revamped mount handling — Roach finally gets the respect she deserves
- Enhanced monster behaviors — fights feel fresh even for veteran players
- Skill tree revamp — reorganized and rebalanced progression
- Armor transmog — look how you want without sacrificing stats
- Expanded photo mode — because screenshots are half the fun
- New finishers — more brutal, more cinematic Geralt takedowns
- Cross-platform mod support — the modding community rejoices
- New quest tracking, immersive meditation, refined animations, UI improvements, looting rework
On the technical side, the remaster includes ray-tracing improvements, path tracing, ray reconstruction, global lighting rework, foliage shading rework, subsurface scattering, a new tone mapper, refreshed motion blur, HDR improvements, and new accessibility features. PC players get Nvidia DLSS 4.5, AMD FSR 4, Intel XESS 2.0, native DX12, and rendering parallelization. There’s even ray-traced hair.
PlayStation 5 Pro support, Xbox Play Anywhere, and unspecified Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive features were also confirmed.
Songs of the Past: Geralt’s Final Adventure
The announcement that truly sent shockwaves through the community was the reveal of Songs of the Past — The Witcher 3’s third major expansion, and what CD Projekt Red is calling Geralt’s last adventure before Ciri takes the spotlight in The Witcher 4 (2028).
The expansion takes players to Letten, a brand-new realm described as “an idyllic land rich in rural tradition and folklore, where people enjoy a fulfilling life of bountiful harvests and lavish festivals.” But as always in The Witcher universe, something dark lurks beneath the surface.
The teaser trailer showed Geralt approaching a tree decorated with lanterns, dancing with a mysterious partner in a camp, and exploring moonlit skies and sun-kissed fields. But the real showstopper was the new chain weapon — a grappling chain that Geralt uses to pull enemies in before delivering a devastating finish. Fans immediately drew comparisons to Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, and the excitement has been off the charts.
Level design lead Miles Tost took the Gamescom stage to explain the expansion’s origins: “We had this idea for one more story with Geralt for a while, but we couldn’t quite figure out how to fit it into our busy schedules. Luckily, our friends from Fool’s Theory came around, and they hired a bunch of old veteran Witcher 3 developers.”
The chain weapon, Tost revealed, is actually a callback to The Witcher 1’s intro — a detail that has hardcore fans absolutely losing their minds on social media.
The Free DLC That Keeps on Giving
In a move that stunned the community, CD Projekt Red confirmed that The Witcher 3 Remastered will also include both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine expansions at no additional cost. That’s tens of hours of award-winning content, completely free, bundled with the remaster.
And yes — Songs of the Past will include more Gwent. The addictive card game within the game isn’t going anywhere.
The Witcher 4: Still Cooking
While no new footage of The Witcher 4 was shown at Gamescom, CD Projekt Red joint CEO Michał Nowakowski confirmed that the Ciri-starring sequel is targeting a 2028 release window. “Let the team cook,” he said. “It will be worth the wait.”
With over 500 developers working on what they describe as their “biggest, boldest, and most ambitious game to date,” the wait between Songs of the Past (2027) and The Witcher 4 (2028) should be filled with plenty of new content to keep fans engaged.
The Internet Reacts (Predictably Losing Its Mind)
Twitter and Reddit exploded the moment the announcement dropped. “Chains from the books are back, I can’t believe this man 😭😭😭” wrote one emotional fan. The combination of a free remaster, a brand-new expansion, and the promise of Gwent has created a wave of goodwill that most studios can only dream of.
In an era where remasters often feel like cash grabs, CD Projekt Red’s decision to give this away for free is a masterclass in brand loyalty. They’re not just selling a game — they’re building anticipation for The Witcher 4 by ensuring that millions of players are actively engaged with the franchise heading into 2028.
The Bottom Line
The Witcher 3 Remastered launches September 29 as a free upgrade for all existing owners. Songs of the Past, the game’s third expansion, arrives in 2027. The Witcher 4 targets 2028. And somehow, CD Projekt Red just made one of the best RPGs ever made even better — without charging a dime.
If you haven’t played The Witcher 3 yet, September 29 is your excuse. And if you have? Well, it’s time to return to the Path one more time.
What do you think about The Witcher 3 Remastered and the Songs of the Past expansion? Are you hyped for Geralt’s chain weapon, or is The Witcher 4 all you care about? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!
