"The Witcher: Ballads of the Past" will conclude the story of The Witcher 3, not pave the way for The Witcher 4

"Songs of the Past" will conclude The Witcher 3's story, not pave the way for The Witcher 4

CD Projekt RED has confirmed that the third and final expansion for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, titled "Songs of the Past," is intended to finish the game's narrative rather than act as a setup for The Witcher 4. The studio clarified the expansion aims to close a chapter the team felt was missing from the original release and to give long-overdue focus to Dandelion.

We always wanted to give Dandelion the attention he deserves. We realized there was no space in the original game to do that justice. That's exactly what I wanted to say: honor Dandelion.

Jakub Rokosz, head of Fool's Theory studio and game director of "Songs of the Past"

In the expansion, Dandelion becomes central to Geralt’s final journey. Players will travel to Letten, the bard's homeland, and investigate a new supernatural mystery tied to his past.

We knew at some point we’d want to explore this topic because Dandelion is a very important character in Geralt's life. There’s a misconception that he is just comic relief and that this is his only role in the series, but that’s not true.

He is a deep and intelligent character. He was a professor at Oxenfurt Academy and writes beautiful poetry, so we want to show players what lies behind the jester’s mask, where he comes from, what his family is like, and what kind of world he grew up in.

Despoin Anetaki, senior quest designer, said the team was less concerned with how many years separated the expansion from the original release and more focused on telling the story properly.

What's important to us is not whether the expansion is released 11 years later — it could have been 20 or even 100 years. What matters is that the story we’re telling is complete. This is part of the Wild Hunt, and it felt like one chapter was missing, like something was absent. Another story we wanted to tell.

And Dandelion's story was one of them.

Developers also revisited Andrzej Sapkowski's novels for inspiration, using the source material to craft a story they felt would engage fans and challenge the team creatively. Anetaki said the developers needed a compelling reason for Geralt to "come out of retirement" that could justify a full expansion; that reason became Geralt’s best friend, Dandelion.

Once we identified this important thing, everything fell into place and it became clear: yes, we need to make this expansion, because it truly inspires us as Witcher fans, and I hope players will feel the same.

A specific release date for "Songs of the Past" has not been announced; the expansion is planned for 2027.