The Witcher 3 is set to receive an unexpected new chapter with Songs of the Past, a Geralt-focused expansion arriving 11 years after the original game. While Ciri leads The Witcher 4, Geralt of Rivia is returning for what is described as another epilogue to his story.
The project brings together long-time quest designer Paweł Sasko and Geralt voice actor Doug Cockle. A behind-closed-doors Gamescom demonstration offered a look at its new setting, story and gameplay changes.
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Why Geralt is returning
Cockle said the expansion came as a genuine surprise. He knew Geralt would appear in The Witcher 4 in some capacity, but believed the character’s main journey had already concluded.
Sasko explained that Songs of the Past was conceived several years ago by the core Witcher team, including narrative director Philip Weber. The developers were waiting for the right point in the timeline, the right circumstances and the right creative team.
After Cyberpunk 2077 shipped, some members of the studio moved directly onto The Witcher 4. Another group remained focused on The Witcher 3, particularly during the game’s 2022 next-generation update. That team continued thinking about what else could be done with the existing game, so the developers do not see this project as returning to a world they had abandoned.
A new island in northeastern Redania
Songs of the Past takes players to Letten, an island in northeastern Redania. The developers wanted it to feel clearly different from familiar regions such as Novigrad, Velen and Skellige, while still belonging in the same world.
Where Toussaint drew heavily from France and Spain in Blood and Wine, Letten takes visual cues from the Polish and English countryside. Pink and violet tones are combined with new ray-tracing work to create an atmosphere that is fresh without losing the recognisable Witcher identity.
The team also had to avoid simply repeating the design of Velen, known as No Man’s Land. The aim is for someone playing the Complete Edition years from now to experience a coherent The Witcher 3, rather than a separate-looking game attached to it.
A darker fairy tale
The expansion’s demonstration mixed dreamlike fairy-tale imagery with a more unsettling, otherworldly horror. Sasko connected that tone directly to Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, which draw on fairy tales as well as English and Irish mythology.
The creative approach is built around the idea of a fairy tale that has gone wrong. That method has appeared throughout the series, including The Witcher 1, The Witcher 3 and Blood and Wine. This time, the team is leaning further into those literary roots while keeping the presentation airy, surreal and distinct.
The story begins after Geralt wakes from a celebration and gradually tries to work out what has happened, giving the opening a hazy and mysterious quality.
Dandelion takes centre stage
The central objective is to find Dandelion, one of Geralt’s oldest friends. Whereas The Witcher 3 often explored fatherhood and Geralt’s relationship with Ciri, Songs of the Past is designed around friendship.
Sasko felt Dandelion had not previously been given enough room to show his full personality. Earlier work involving the character included the quest featuring his many relationships and Priscilla’s final concert, but the new expansion provides more space to explore the person behind the jokes, songs and troublemaking.
Cockle noted that the books reveal serious aspects of Dandelion, including elements of his family history, that the games had not yet had an opportunity to examine. He is more than a comic performer, and that depth helps explain why he and Geralt work so well together.
Dandelion also serves as a contrast to Geralt’s reserved nature. Geralt’s emotional restraint can be difficult to communicate, but Dandelion regularly breaks through it, challenges his friend and prompts him to consider ideas he might otherwise ignore. Cockle described him as a more openly humorous counterpart to Geralt’s drier wit.
Gameplay changes inspired by Cyberpunk 2077
The developers identified gameplay as the area of The Witcher 3 most in need of modernisation. Lessons from the 2.0 update for Cyberpunk 2077 have influenced what Sasko calls an equivalent overhaul for The Witcher 3, applied to the older RedEngine 3 technology using design principles developed with RedEngine 4.
Exploration, Geralt’s movement and the absence of finishing attacks were among the issues the team examined. Addressing those areas is intended to make the game feel more responsive and contemporary.
Combat builds are also being reworked. Instead of relying so heavily on passive skills shared between different builds, the expansion introduces more active abilities. These should make player choices more immediately visible through new moves and combinations.
Geralt will also gain an iron chain. The weapon was mentioned repeatedly in the books and appeared in a well-known The Witcher 1 cinematic introduction, but this is the first time it has been brought into the combat system as a dynamic tool.
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More focused quest design
Sasko acknowledged that the popular Bloody Baron quest was close to four hours long and that its pacing could have been stronger, despite the quality of its story. The team has since refined its approach through later The Witcher 3 expansions and Cyberpunk 2077.
Songs of the Past is structured around concentrated sections of roughly 40 minutes, each built around a strong gameplay and story theme. These sequences are followed by opportunities to pause, explore and move through a more open world.
The pattern is not absolute. Endings and deliberately claustrophobic sequences, such as the bunker section in Phantom Liberty called Somewhat Damaged, can keep players moving without a convenient break. In those moments, the intention is to make the player feel the pressure and exhaustion experienced by the character.
Doug Cockle returns as Geralt
Cockle said he has never completely separated himself from Geralt. After voicing the character for more than 20 years, he considers the relationship between actor and role deeply established, with aspects of each influencing the other.
He joked that Geralt’s voice occasionally appears in everyday situations, including household chores and a dispute over a parking ticket. In the latter case, he said he slipped into Geralt’s voice while arguing that the ticket had been issued as he was attempting to pay through an app.
What the team is proud of
Cockle believes Geralt has changed with age, just as he has. Bringing additional life experience to the role gives this performance a different quality, although returning to the character still feels immediately familiar to him.
Sasko’s pride comes partly from the decision to release a completely new expansion 11 years after the original game. He also highlighted that it is planned to be free on day one and available on Nintendo Switch, describing that combination as highly unusual. He hinted that there are further parts of the story he would rather discuss after release.
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