The Witcher 3 Remastered Is Free for Everyone on September 29, and Songs of the Past Finally Shows Its Cards

We expected a first look at Songs of the Past. What CD Projekt Red actually brought to Gamescom Opening Night Live was much bigger: a full remaster of The Witcher 3 launching September 29, 2026, completely free for everyone who already owns the game. And in case that was not generous enough, the studio also made Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine free for all current owners of the base game, effective now.

Back in July we noted that CD Projekt Red had promised real footage at this show, and the studio delivered on both fronts. Here is the announcement trailer for the remaster.

Video: The Witcher on YouTube

A free remaster that touches more than the graphics

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered, co-developed with Hungarian studio Yigsoft, lands September 29 on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and a native Nintendo Switch 2 version that is available for pre-order now. In a genuine surprise, the game is also coming to Battle.net through a new partnership with Blizzard Entertainment, which is not a sentence we thought we would ever write about a CD Projekt game.

This is not just a resolution bump either. The official list covers visual and performance upgrades, enhanced combat, improved traversal, new witcher sign effects, revamped mount handling, skill tree changes, transmogrification, an expanded photo mode, and new finishers. Some of those, like transmog and better Roach handling, are things the community has been requesting for a decade. The fact that all of it arrives as a free upgrade for existing owners on qualifying platforms, rather than a full-price re-release, sets it apart from how most publishers handle remasters of their biggest games.

Songs of the Past takes Geralt to Letten in 2027

The expansion we came for got its first proper reveal too. Songs of the Past is set in Letten, a brand new region described as an idyllic land of rural tradition hiding a dark secret just below the surface. Geralt faces never-before-seen enemies, reunites with some old faces, and picks up a new chain weapon, which is a first for the series. The expansion is co-developed with Fool's Theory, the Polish studio staffed with veterans of the original game, and launches in 2027 as a paid release on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2. No price or exact date yet.

Our honest read: this was the strongest showing of the whole Gamescom opening night, and it is hard to find the catch. A free remaster with real mechanical improvements, two beloved expansions given away, and a new expansion with an actual identity instead of a logo. The one thing worth tempering is the 2027 window for Songs of the Past, which is still vague, and remasters have burned players before at launch on older hardware. But if you have been waiting for an excuse to replay one of the best RPGs ever made, September 29 just became a very easy date to circle.