The Witcher 3's Songs of the Past DLC is Officially Going in an Unexpected Direction

Every year, we seem to get a “worst kept secret” in the games industry; this year, and some of last year, that secret was the new The Witcher 3 — Songs of the Past DLC. Of course, this secret has now been officially uncovered, as CD Projekt Red recently drew back the curtain ever so slightly on the expansion, confirming its existence and revealing its title.

We know that the Songs of the Past DLC is probably meant to bridge the gap between The Witcher 3 and The Witcher 4, and we know that it’s featuring Geralt of Rivia as opposed to Ciri. But aside from some interesting development context, like how Songs of the Past is being co-developed with Witcher 1 remake studio Fool’s Theory, that’s essentially all the information we have. The rest is up to interpretation, which can obviously run wild. If we allow ourselves to wander into this realm of speculation for a moment, then perhaps the very title of the DLC can give us some insight into what CD Projekt Red has planned. After all, this is the first Witcher 3 expansion in over a decade–you would imagine that CD Projekt Red has given its title a good bit of thought.

The Witcher 3 — Songs of the Past Has One Foot in the Future

As previously mentioned, Songs of the Past is seemingly meant to connect The Witcher 3 to The Witcher 4, creating a clearer continuity for the series. One potentially messy element that Songs of the Past will have to contend with is the multi-ending structure of The Witcher 3’s narrative. All told, there are technically over 30 potential endings to The Witcher 3, none of which have been explicitly labeled as the canon finale. Of course, it’s safe to assume that some endings, like the one where Ciri dies, will be made non-canon, but they aren’t all so simple.

Arguably more important than ending canonization is actually creating the context for The Witcher 4. It seems like Songs of the Past will do exactly this, perhaps even taking us through the early days of Ciri’s Witcher trials. It looks like Geralt will be the main focus of the expansion, so perhaps it will be a sort of passing of the torch, like how Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 ostensibly sets up Miles Morales as the new protagonist by pairing him with Peter Parker for a big team-up adventure. In this way, Songs of the Past would be looking strictly toward the future of the franchise.

Songs of the Past won't be available on last-gen hardware, making it forward-facing on more than one level.

The Witcher 3 — Songs of the Past Has One Foot in the… Well, Past

The expansion having “past” in its title could simply be a cheeky reference to the double-digit age of The Witcher 3, but I somehow doubt it. “Songs” in this context likely refers to stories (the Bard Dandelion writes songs about Geralt’s adventures, for instance), so perhaps this expansion will be something of a retrospective on Geralt’s history as not only a legendary Witcher, but a legendary video game protagonist. Perhaps the expansion will dredge up old secrets or enemies from Geralt’s past, having him replay his greatest hits, as it were. Additionally, the presence of Belletyn in the key art has gotten fans talking, as this is Yennefer's birthplace, suggesting Ciri's other parental figure could have a significant role in the DLC.

Songs of the Past is a fascinating and unprecedented expansion, in that it’s building upon a single-player RPG from a different console generation. As such, it’s hard to know exactly what to expect–CD Projekt Red is definitely breaking new ground with this release strategy. But if CD Projekt Red is going to revisit a game as beloved (and well-aged) as The Witcher 3, it's got to be packing some serious narrative heat. Here’s hoping that Songs of the Past, whatever it’s about, lives up to the hype.