A couple of weeks ago, Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 provided us with our first look at both The Witcher 3 Remastered and CD Projekt Red's brand-new expansion for the RPG, Songs of the Past – an expansion that wouldn't have happened without the remaster.
Or, at least, that's what CD Projekt Red says in a recent interview with BBC News over on YouTube.
As Jakub Rokosz, game director behind both The Witcher 3 and now Songs of the Past, recalls, "the stars had to align and the conditions had to be just right to make this [the new expansion] happen." And right they became, as "the story of Dandelion's past and homeland came into our spotlight" at the perfect time.
Right when "CD Projekt Red started talking to us about about doing it," other "work on the remaster" was underway – "and those two things are intertwined in a way that the realization of Letten, Dandelion's hometown, wouldn't be possible without the remaster upgrades."
As Rokosz concludes, "there are a few things that had to click together" to make Songs of the Past "possible." And, thankfully, those things did indeed click.
Considering the sheer scope of Songs of the Past, I'm honestly not too surprised to hear Rokosz say that The Witcher 3 Remastered was practically necessary to make the expansion work.
After all, the original RPG from CD Projekt Red launched way back in 2015, leaving over a decade of technological advancements between then and now. Plus, it sounds like the remaster will be quite the overhaul, also.
We've got everything from "improved combat" to massively reworked visuals to look forward to, at times making it sound more like a remake than a remaster, honestly.
It's one heck of an undertaking for developers, undoubtedly, anyway, considering all of the other upcoming CD Projekt Red games, too. Coupled with Songs of the Past – which Rokosz makes seem huge as well – we Witcher stans have a lot to be excited about.
