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The Witcher 3 brings Geralt back to Opening Night Live tonight with a first glimpse of Songs of the Past
Eleven years after The Witcher 3 launched, Geralt has another gamescom appointment. Songs of the Past will appear during Opening Night Live on August 25, giving players their first new look at the full expansion before CD Projekt RED begins guided presentations in Cologne the following day.
By Maëlle The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 
Tonight is the glimpse, tomorrow is the showcase
CD Projekt RED has been fairly precise about that distinction. Its gamescom announcement says new information on Songs of the Past will be revealed during Opening Night Live, while the official gamescom page promises a glimpse on August 25 and calls the August 26 presentations the first-ever showcase of the expansion.
Opening Night Live starts at 8 PM CEST. Before the broadcast, there is still no published gameplay demonstration, detailed quest synopsis or confirmed new region for Songs of the Past.
That leaves plenty of room for speculation around the artwork, but very little of it belongs in the confirmed feature list yet.
CD Projekt is treating this as a real third expansion
Songs of the Past was formally announced in May as the third expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. It follows Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine rather than being positioned as a small anniversary quest pack or a technical update.
Geralt of Rivia is the playable protagonist again. The expansion launches in 2027 for PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Older hardware is being left behind. CD Projekt RED says Songs of the Past is being built on the foundation of The Witcher 3's 2022 next-generation update, so it will not come to PlayStation 4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch.
Fool's Theory is not just assisting from the sidelines
CD Projekt RED is co-developing the expansion with Fool's Theory. The studio includes developers who previously worked on The Witcher 3 and is separately leading development of The Witcher Remake.
Exactly which parts of Songs of the Past are owned by each team has not been disclosed.
The wording deliberately points toward Ciri
The gamescom description frames Geralt's new adventure as something players will experience before heading out on the Path as Ciri in The Witcher 4. That makes Songs of the Past an unusual release: new Geralt content arriving while CD Projekt RED is already building its next mainline game around another protagonist.
It does not confirm a direct narrative bridge. There is no official statement yet saying the expansion ends where The Witcher 4 begins, explains Ciri's new role or resolves any specific piece of continuity between the games.
The audience waiting for those answers is still growing. CD Projekt RED's July gamescom announcement says The Witcher 3 has now sold more than 65 million copies since 2015.
Cologne gets the longer presentation on August 26
From Wednesday, attendees will be able to watch guided Songs of the Past presentations at CD Projekt RED's gamescom booths. Business-area sessions run through August 28, while presentations in the entertainment area continue through August 30.
The release date remains simply 2027.