Coming Out Of Retirement

When The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt arrived in 2015, it immediately joined many "greatest games of all time" lists. Here at Game Informer, we awarded it a 9.75 out of 10, with our reviewer, Kimberley Wallace stating that The Witcher 3 "encompasses what I hope is the future of RPGs." Fast forward 12 years into the future to 2026, and some of what The Witcher 3 accomplished still hasn't been topped. And though CD Projekt Red released two acclaimed and award-winning expansions to Geralt's adventure over the game's first year and has since announced The Witcher IV, which will star fan-favorite character Ciri, CD Projekt Red has demonstrated it isn't quite ready to move on from the protagonist of the first three games.

It all begins with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered, an updated version of the consensus 2015 Game of the Year. The aforementioned expansions, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, are now available for free to anyone who owns the base game, but it doesn't stop there. In collaboration with The Witcher 3 modders and Cyberpunk 2077 next-gen collaborators Yigsoft, CD Projekt Red is modernizing the 11-year-old game with enhanced visuals, better combat, new attacks and finishers, a revamped skill tree, improved movement for both Geralt and his mount Roach, and additional accessibility options.

Seeing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered in action is enticing. As my hands-off demo opens, the visual fidelity bump is noticeable. Though many of the improvements are gameplay-oriented and difficult to assess without getting my hands on this new version, I can confidently say that Geralt's greatest adventure has never looked better. I've been itching to replay The Witcher 3 in recent months, and this remaster looks like the best excuse I could possibly ask for. But despite how excited I am for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered, it was far from the main event of the demo I watched.

Instead, the expansion 12 years in the making, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past was the main reason for my visit to CD Projekt Red's Gamescom 2026 booth. In this continuation of Geralt's story, he travels to Letten, the hometown of his longtime friend Dandelion. In Letten, players can tackle dozens of new quests, encounter NPCs in their various daily routines, and, yes, play several hands of Gwent. After walking and riding through the town, fist-fighting a drunk to recover Dandelion's lute, and sailing across a body of water, Geralt arrives at Dandelion's impressive family estate, which seems to be anchored by he and his cousin Lilla's grandmother.

My brief tour of this expansion takes place after a festival in the town. Dandelion has gone missing, and, of course, it's up to Geralt to figure out what happened and save his old pal from peril. Dandelion's family seems to be front and center, with Lilla serving as a new companion and love interest for Geralt. Together Geralt and Lilla explore The Garden of Thorns, a fabled and seemingly haunted wooded area of Letten. Here, Geralt will fight off new threats, including Swarmians, who surround themselves with bees. 

In this encounter with the Swarmians, I also get to see another new addition to Songs of the Past: a chain weapon. This ranged weapon may look like Kratos' Chains of Olympus from God of War, but in actuality, it appears to function more like Scorpion's spear, pulling in enemies from a distance and, in the case of the Swarmians, separating them from their protective bee armor. 

I won't spoil much more, but the forest is clearly cursed, with terrifying tree-root themed spirits attacking Geralt and Lilla, and probably serving as the reason for Dandelion's disappearance. We won't know the true nature of Geralt's longtime friend's vanishing act until we get our hands on the expansion sometime next year, but Letten is a compelling setting full of fascinating mysteries and new gameplay mechanics, and having a new love interest in The Witcher 3 is icing on the cake.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Remastered is coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC on September 29. All current owners of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt for those platforms will receive the free upgrade. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past will arrive on those same platforms sometime in 2027, 12 years after the release of the original game.