The Witcher 3 launched in 2015 and has now sold more than 65 million copies, which helps explain why CD Projekt RED is doing far more than adding one final expansion. A full remaster arrives on September 29, 2026, while Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine become free for every existing owner starting today.
CD Projekt RED's official announcement puts the two releases on separate calendars. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered lands first on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X|S as a free upgrade for owners on eligible platforms. The paid Songs of the Past expansion, which CD Projekt unveiled in May, follows in 2027.
A remaster with teeth
CD Projekt is promising better visuals and performance, revised combat, smoother traversal and movement, smarter monster behaviour, reworked horse handling, new Sign effects, additional finishers and an expanded photo mode. Transmog is coming too, letting Geralt wear one armour set for its looks while keeping another set's stats.
The skill-tree overhaul may be the change players feel most often, because rearranging how abilities unlock and combine can reshape every fight across an 80-hour save. We will need to play it before judging how much it changes, but this is already well beyond a fresh coat of paint. Yigsoft, whose credits include Phantom Liberty and The Witcher 3 Complete Edition, is co-developing the upgrade.
CD Projekt calls it ‘the most polished and immersive version of Geralt's adventure to date’. That remains a promise from the studio. I confess that the skill tree interests me quite a bit, and it will decide whether the remaster has a personality of its own or merely gives the same game better manners.
Geralt's last Path
Songs of the Past takes Geralt to Letten, Dandelion's homeland, an idyllic region of harvests, festivals and rural folklore with something much uglier buried underneath. It brings new characters and enemies, returning friends, new abilities and a chain weapon. The trailer shows Geralt using it to control distance, a tool that could give fights a different cadence from the familiar dodge-and-sword rhythm.
Fool's Theory is co-developing the expansion for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch 2. It still has no exact date, price or confirmed length. Geoff Keighley, host of Opening Night Live, did confirm one important point: this is Geralt's final chapter before Ciri takes over in The Witcher 4, currently targeting 2028.
Switch 2, Battle.net and two freebies
September 29 also brings a native Nintendo Switch 2 version and The Witcher 3's first release on Battle.net. Buying Songs of the Past through Blizzard's store unlocks a Geralt-inspired Diablo 4 skin, with more details due at BlizzCon in September. The most generous part, however, requires no waiting: as of August 25, every Witcher 3 owner gets Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine at no extra cost, two expansions that were sold separately yesterday. It is the right way to prepare for the remaster, turning the base game into the genuinely complete edition without asking owners to reach for their credit card again. Remastered arrives September 29. Letten waits until 2027.
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