It’s good news for the company, and as Joint CEO Michał Nowakowski notes, there’s “a huge community of gamers for whom the new expansion provides an excellent opportunity to again hit the trail with the White Wolf.”

It can also “see great potential for Songs of the Past to become the first encounter with The Witcher universe, as well as the beginning of a fresh adventure, for many gamers – even as we await the release of The Witcher 4.” Both “first encounter” and “fresh adventure” are interesting because they could hint at the premise of Songs of the Past.

The latter implies that there are no ties to Hearts of Stone and Blood of Wine, which makes sense given that Geralt’s journey was pretty much wrapped. But the former could also just as easily imply a clean slate as a soft reintroduction to the world of The Witcher. With Crossroads of Ravens serving as a prequel for the books, detailing Geralt’s first kill as a Witcher, maybe there’s some connection there.

That’s a story for 2027 when the expansion launches (or later this Summer, when CD Projekt RED reveals more info). In the meantime, the CD Projekt Group reported 191 million PLN (about $52.68 million) in revenues and 106 million PLN (roughly $29.24 million) in consolidated net earnings. Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt continue to see strong sales, per CFO Piotr Nielubowicz, and even with successive increases in investment, the company maintains a steady cash reserve of 1.4 billion PLN ($386,113,000).

“We are well prepared to further intensify our parallel development work on several projects in the context of our excellent franchises,” said Nielubowicz, doubtless referring to The Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk 2. As for Songs of the Past, stay tuned for more updates in the coming months.

And what better way to do so than with a clip of Idris Elba, who played Solomon Reed in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty? Before the latter’s launch, he answered a fan question presented by IGN about the story of the “DLC.” Elba responded in his usual charismatic way, “Just to be clear – it’s not a DLC. It’s an expansion. You know why? Because we do expansions. Big, massive, monster! We don’t do DLCs, and when we do, we give them away.”

You could take this as Sasko claiming that Songs of the Past will follow the same pattern and deliver an absolutely massive experience. You could also look at it as a flex – that when CD Projekt RED says “expansion,” it’s promising something truly monstrous and not something to hand out for free like DLC.

Either way, we won’t truly know about Songs of the Past until later this Summer when the developer reveals more. Odds are it could end up setting the stage for The Witcher 4’s events. Maybe it ties into Crossroads of Ravens, the last novel in the series. Either way, like Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine before it, you can expect something special. Just make sure your PC hardware is up to snuff first.

“We originally planned to make this big reveal during our REDstreams tomorrow,” wrote CD Projekt RED. “But let’s say we found something we didn’t yet expect on RED Launcher.”

While it didn’t go into more detail about what this RED Launcher discovery was, it is easy to assume that it might have been an accidental leak about the expansion, revealing it to players well before any official announcement had been made.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Songs of the Past is slated for release on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S in 2027. CD Projekt RED hasn’t yet revealed too many details about it, aside from the fact that it will once more feature series protagonist Geralt of Rivia setting off on a “new adventure”. Other aspects, like its setting, haven’t yet been confirmed.

Shortly after announcing the expansion, CD Projekt RED also announced that it was raising the hardware requirements for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. In a social media post, the developer said that this was being done to “ensure smooth performance and compatibility going forward.” The studio also confirmed that the open-world RPG will run exclusively on DirectX 12.

Songs of the Past was announced after several rumors had indicated that CD Projekt RED was working on an expansion alongside Fool’s Theory. However, at the time, one analyst believed that the company would have released the DLC by now. The analyst has also said that the DLC will be priced at $30, and that it will be a part of the company celebrating the 11th anniversary of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which was released on PC, Xbox One, and PS4 in 2015.

The analyst, Mateusz Chrzanowski of Noble Securities, also believed that the release of this expansion would kick off the proper marketing plans for The Witcher 4, which doesn’t yet have a release window.

Interestingly, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt did quite a bit already to bring a satisfying end to Geralt’s overall story arc, especially with its Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine DLCs. With CD Projekt RED already having confirmed that The Witcher 4 will feature Ciri as its primary protagonist, it is likely that Songs of the Past might end up acting as a send-off to Geralt.

In the meantime, there have also been rumors indicating that the DLC’s story will largely take place around Velen, contrasting reports that it would instead take place in a new region, Zerrikania.

In the meantime, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. PC players can also enjoy the title on the go thanks to its excellent support for the Steam Deck.