The Witcher 3's Songs of the Past Expansion Reveal Is Coming at Gamescom, and Clues Point to Its Setting

The Witcher 3's expansion reveal is imminent, and just before Gamescom we may have gotten the biggest clue yet about where Songs of the Past actually takes place. Between an alleged leaked booth photo, older CD Projekt Red artwork, and a full internal demo screening held in Warsaw, several details are now pointing toward one location for the expansion, and the reveal itself sounds like it could be far bigger than a simple glimpse.

The Leaked Gamescom Booth Photo Shows a Festival Scene

An alleged leak shows what looks to be the Gamescom booth mid construction, with scaffolding still up and tools scattered on the floor. The booth carries The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt logo along with the Songs of the Past branding for the expansion.

On the side of the booth is our first look at artwork for the expansion, showing what appears to be some kind of celebration or festival, likely the Belleteyn. Older artwork previously shared by CD Projekt Red turns out to have been a teaser for Songs of the Past all along, we just did not know it at the time.

The new artwork also shows water in the background, and that detail might carry more information than it first appears, tying directly into the location theory below.

CDPR's Red Streams Will Run Five Days at Gamescom, With One Dedicated to The Witcher

CD Projekt Red announced it will run Red Streams live from the Gamescom show floor for five consecutive days, framed as five years, five days, marking the fifth anniversary of the Red Streams program. It is not yet known what all five days will cover, though I would expect special guests, interviews, game previews, and behind the scenes stories.

According to CDPR's senior community manager, at least one of those streams will be dedicated entirely to The Witcher, with more details arriving around 8 to 9 a.m. CEST on the 26th, the very first day of the Red Streams block and the day immediately after Opening Night Live. In my honest opinion, this is going to be The Witcher showcase.

An Internal Demo Screening in Warsaw Suggests This Is More Than a Glimpse

The only communication we had about Songs of the Past at Gamescom was that we would only get a glimpse of it, which to me suggested something short, like a trailer. However, CD Projekt Red just held an internal screening of the Gamescom demo for Songs of the Past in Warsaw, and one person quoted afterward said, "It's amazing to finally see Geralt return."

They then added a telling detail: "The team worked hard to make sure the demo strikes the perfect balance between showcasing the new content and avoiding spoilers." That does not sound like a regular glimpse. Nobody needs to mitigate spoilers in a demo that has nothing in it, so the fact that spoilers were a genuine concern suggests this demo has enough narrative substance to actually spoil something, even if that risk has now been managed.

What to Expect Across Opening Night Live, the Show Floor, and the Red Stream

Opening Night Live was scheduled for Tuesday, August 25th at 2:00 p.m. ET, hosted by Geoff Keighley. CD Projekt Red called it a glimpse, while Keighley called it a first look. My read is that this is where we get the trailer reveal, the emotional beats, and the clip that gets reposted a million times over.

On the show floor, presentations run by CD Projekt Red are expected from August 26th onward. I am not expecting hands on time with the expansion, that would be wild, but more likely a guided demo. The Red Stream is where the gameplay deep dives should live. I hope it is a significant amount of content, but I also do not want it to be too much, since I do not want spoilers.

The Location Clues Point Toward Cidaris, Not Just Skellige

The landscape artwork from the booth photo shows an ocean, which has a lot of people thinking this could be Skellige, the northern realms region west of Velen. According to UV, a Polish insider who was among the first to cover this expansion in a podcast a few months ago, the expansion will likely take place in Skellige, which he specifically tied to Dandelion's origins, though we do not actually know where Dandelion was born.

At the same time, there are rumors the expansion takes place in Velen or a new region near Velen, which would make Cidaris, or somewhere near it, make a lot of sense. People doing deep dives have noted that the sword Geralt holds in the Songs of the Past artwork has a flower like pommel, an Elven sword design, and that Cidaris was built on the ruins of an Elven city.

Add in Dandelion's family name, which also has roots tied to Cidaris, the title Songs of the Past itself, and the ocean visible in the landscape artwork, and the connections keep stacking up. There are apparently even more ties beyond these that I will leave to lore experts to sort through.

Songs of the Past Is Confirmed for 2027, and a Release Date Could Land Next Week

Songs of the Past is confirmed for 2027 on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X and S. It was originally planned for 2026 before CD Projekt Red moved it. The real question at the time was not whether it releases this year, but whether a hard release date would follow the next week. My honest read is that Opening Night Live will give us that date, though I would be fine with it coming during the Red Stream instead.

My guess is the date was not ready earlier because it was simply too early, and that CD Projekt Red also wanted to avoid launching near GTA 6, even if that competition might not amount to much. Giving the expansion its own slot in 2027 seems like a smart move to me.

What I find interesting is that if the game releases in 2027, I believe expansions are now eligible for Game of the Year, meaning there is a possibility CD Projekt Red could be in the running next year because of this expansion. In my opinion, Blood and Wine was the best game of its year back in 2016, and it is really not that close. As for the actual window, my guess is spring 2027, likely April or May, hitting the Witcher 3 anniversary year the same way Blood and Wine did, since the marketing practically writes itself. If we do not get a date by late Gamescom, my guess would be The Game Awards, though it is also possible they wait until next year.

Will Console Mod Support Finally Arrive Alongside the Expansion?

Back in May 2025, for the game's tenth anniversary, CD Projekt Red announced cross platform mod support for The Witcher 3 through mod.io, bringing PC made mods to PS5 and Xbox Series consoles for free, calling it "one more patch." That patch was then delayed to 2026 in September, and we have heard almost nothing about it since.

It makes sense that they would hold it until the big update, since releasing console mod support right before a massive expansion drops does not seem like the smart order of operations. I personally want to hear an update next week on whether that patch happens alongside the expansion or whether we are stuck in limbo until it finally arrives.

What I also find interesting is that Fallout 4 just received an update on PlayStation 5 that now officially allows custom external assets, which makes me wonder if PlayStation's own restrictions were part of why the console mod support for The Witcher 3 was delayed for so long.

What connections between Dandelion and Cidaris have you noticed?