Songs of the Past Prep: 5 Things to Finish Before the 2027 Expansion [2026]

By Indie Kings | September 29, 2026

Updated September 29, 2026: Songs of the Past is confirmed as the third Witcher 3 expansion due in 2027 in the new realm of Letten, now on wishlist per CD PROJEKT RED. This prep checklist covers five high level jobs to finish first: clear the base hunt, play both included expansions in order, build a Gwent deck, bank crowns and a generalist set, and set cross save with clean saves.

Image: Remastered announcement art. Credit: CD PROJEKT RED via thewitcher.com.

Roadmap from Remastered to Songs to Witcher 4

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Remastered launched Sept 29 2026 and includes Hearts of Stone plus Blood and Wine at no extra cost, per IGN. That package matters for prep because it means every Remastered owner already holds the full prior story arc without a separate purchase. Songs of the Past is the third expansion due 2027, taking players to the new realm of Letten, now on wishlist, per CD PROJEKT RED. The next saga entry is separate, with Witcher 4 targeting 2028, per CDPR via IGN. Keep the two dates straight because they serve different planning goals.

Tom's Guide frames Remastered as the replay runway to Songs, and that framing is opinion, not a release fact. The value in that framing is practical. A replay now lets returning players rebuild muscle memory, refresh story context, and arrive at Songs with a lived in save rather than a cold start. New players get a cleaner path because the base game plus both prior expansions now sit in one install. The runway idea works only if the replay has a defined end point, which is why this checklist stops at five jobs.

The roadmap table below keeps the three beats apart. Remastered is the present bundle. Songs is the 2027 expansion in Letten. Witcher 4 is the 2028 saga start. Confusing Songs with Witcher 4 creates bad prep, such as saving resources for a game that will not read this save, or skipping expansions that Songs may reference in tone and systems.

The distinction between included content and future content is the most citable fact in this plan. Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are included with Remastered at no extra cost, per IGN. Songs of the Past is not included in that bundle fact, and it sits on wishlist for 2027, per CD PROJEKT RED. Witcher 4 targeting 2028, per CDPR via IGN, is a separate project with its own timeline. Players who keep those three rows apart will spend money and time in the right place.

Wishlist status deserves a short note because it drives timing. Songs of the Past is now on wishlist, per CD PROJEKT RED, which means store pages are live for alerts but no preload or unlock applies yet. That is the ideal window for slow prep. A player who starts the base hunt now and works through both expansions at a steady pace can finish with time to spare before 2027 marketing ramps up. A player who waits until launch week will face a choice between rushing or entering Letten undergeared and underfunded.

Platform continuity is the quiet part of the roadmap. Remastered spans current consoles and PC, and cross save hygiene covered below decides how portable the finished save will be. The roadmap assumes the player wants one main save that can move cleanly into Songs on their preferred device. If the player plans to switch devices for Songs, the time to test cross save is now, not during launch week server load.

Scope control is deliberate in this article. A separate local draft covers missable quests specifics in detail, so this page stays high level and does not repeat quest names, cutoffs, or fail states. The goal here is readiness, not completionism. Finish the stories, learn the systems, stock the vault, and protect the save. Leave the cutoff tables to the companion piece and use this page as the calendar.

The five item prep checklist

These five jobs are ordered for story sense and system sense. Story first, expansions in release order, then systems that pay off inside expansions and inside Songs. Each job includes a done state so the checklist stays objective. The status table after the list turns the same five jobs into trackable rows with prose status boxes.

1. Finish the base hunt before touching expansions. The base Wild Hunt campaign sets every relationship, political outcome, and power baseline that later content assumes. A player who enters Hearts of Stone or Blood and Wine with an unfinished base save splits attention and weakens payoff. The done state is simple: see the Wild Hunt story through to its ending on the save intended for Songs, at a level and gear state that feels comfortable, not rushed. Take time to learn dodge timing, sign rotation, oil use, potion upkeep, and contract reading, because those habits carry into harder expansion fights and into Letten. Avoid the urge to overthink import mechanics here, since CDPR has not confirmed what carries into Songs [NEEDS VERIFICATION]. Treat a finished base game as narrative readiness and mechanical readiness, regardless of what data transfers. This job also refreshes lore context that Songs can build on without requiring a wiki reread. Players returning after years will benefit most, because names, grudges, and debts return fast once the hunt resumes. New players benefit because the base game teaches economy and crafting before expansions raise the stakes.
2. Play both included expansions in order, Hearts of Stone then Blood and Wine. Both expansions are included with Remastered at no extra cost, per IGN, so there is no reason to skip or reorder them. Hearts of Stone is the tighter character story and the better bridge out of the base game, while Blood and Wine is the larger land with deeper systems for gear, mutagens, and player housing. Playing in release order preserves difficulty curve and tonal arc, from a grounded bargain story into a brighter but stranger duchy. The done state is both expansion stories cleared on the same intended Songs save, with side systems sampled enough to understand them, not necessarily fully completed. Keep this high level on purpose, since exact quest cutoffs live in the separate missable quests draft and are not repeated here. Focus on momentum: finish one expansion, consolidate gear and crowns, then start the next. Players who bounce between expansions dilute both stories and arrive at Songs with fragmented recall. Players who commit in order arrive with a clean memory of where Geralt has been and what he owes. That recall matters for an expansion titled Songs of the Past, where callbacks are likely even if import mechanics remain unconfirmed [NEEDS VERIFICATION].
3. Build a Gwent deck now, because Songs will contain more Gwent, per IGN reporting on CDPR. Present Gwent practice as prep with that attribution, not as a guarantee about rewards or transfer. Songs of the Past will contain more Gwent, per IGN reporting on CDPR, so a working deck and working knowledge are the correct prep. Start early, play vendors and innkeeps as encountered, and keep one faction consistent until wins feel routine. Learn spy draw, decoy reuse, tight bond stacking, weather answers, and round passing, because those concepts decide matches more than raw card count. The done state is a full playable deck the player understands, plus comfort with tournament pacing and deck review under time pressure. Do not chase a perfect collection unless Gwent is already a favorite system, since the prep goal is competence, not completion. High level practice beats grinding every card in every village. A competent player can pick up new Songs cards fast and integrate them, while a player who avoided Gwent entirely will face a learning wall inside new content. Keep notes on which leader ability fits the preferred style, and keep at least one weather clear answer in the list. That habit alone wins games that look lost after round one.
4. Bank crowns and a generalist set, not a perfect build. Crowns buy flexibility at expansion launch, when new diagrams, runes, and consumables can appear before income stabilizes. A generalist witcher set with solid resistances and stamina behavior beats a niche build that needs respec on day one. The done state is a crown reserve that covers several major purchases plus repairs, a repaired relic tier set with runes socketed, a stocked alchemy pouch with oils and bombs restocked, and decoctions the player actually uses. Sell excess saddles, excess glyphs, and duplicate diagrams rather than hoarding weight. Break down junk for crafting parts before selling, then keep one line of high value crafting mats for launch week. Avoid dumping everything into one damage type, because a new realm can punish mono builds with resistances that are still unknown. A balanced steel and silver pair, a crossbow that is current, and armor that permits mistakes will outperform a glass setup in blind content. This is also the moment to finish crafting loose ends from Blood and Wine systems, since those vendors and bonuses are already owned at no extra cost, per IGN, and they make banking faster than base game farming alone.
5. Set cross save and saves hygiene now. The goal is one clearly labeled main save that can move into Songs without confusion. Enable cross save or platform cloud save where available, verify it with a test load on the target device, and keep manual saves at major story beats with readable names. The done state is a verified cloud save plus two local manual backups from late game, one after the base ending and one after Blood and Wine, each labeled by story point and level. Rotate saves instead of overwriting a single slot, because a single slot turns one corruption or misclick into total loss. Confirm storage space before the expansion year, archive older autosaves, and keep a written note of which save is the Songs candidate. Whether story choices or gear import into Songs is unconfirmed, and any claim about import mechanics into Songs gets [NEEDS VERIFICATION] until CDPR states what carries. Hygiene still pays off even with zero import, because a clean labeled save removes launch day friction and protects hundreds of hours. Test the restore path once, not just the upload tick, since an upload without a verified download is only half a backup.

The checklist works as a sequence, not a menu. Base hunt first because it unlocks judgment and systems. Expansions second because they are included and they raise power. Gwent third because practice compounds while traveling. Banking fourth because income peaks late. Saves last because only a finished stack is worth protecting. Players who reorder at will still benefit, but the stated order minimizes backtracking.

Use the status column as a written log, not a memory. Copy the five rows into notes and update the prose box weekly. A player who can state each row in one line will enter 2027 calm. A player relying on memory will rediscover missing crowns or missing cards inside Letten, where fixes cost more.

Time budgeting helps the checklist feel real. A returning player can treat the base refresh as the long pole, with expansions as the second block and Gwent plus banking as parallel habits during travel. A new player should not rush to meet an imagined deadline, because Songs is due in 2027, per CD PROJEKT RED, and months remain. Steady sessions beat a launch week sprint, which is exactly the replay runway idea that Tom's Guide describes as opinion. The runway only works when paced.

What carries into Songs and what does not

CDPR has not confirmed what carries into Songs of the Past, so every import claim stays tagged [NEEDS VERIFICATION]. That includes level transfer, gear transfer, crown transfer, Gwent collection transfer, and story choice transfer. Until CDPR states the system, prep should optimize for optionality: a high level finished save with money, gear, and cards covers more possible import designs than a bare minimum ending. If Songs reads the save deeply, the prepared file is ready. If Songs starts fresh in Letten with thresholds, the same prep still helps through player skill and system knowledge.

Cross save is separate from import and should not be confused with it. Cross save moves the same save between devices on supported platforms, while import would move progress into new expansion content by design. The cross save job can be finished and verified today through platform cloud features and test loads. The import question cannot be finished today and must wait for CDPR. Keep one labeled candidate save, keep backups, and avoid spreading progress across many similar saves that will be hard to choose between later.

Wishlist hygiene belongs in this section because it is actionable now. Songs of the Past is now on wishlist, per CD PROJEKT RED, so follow the official thewitcher.com news channel and the store page for system requirements and edition details as they appear. IGN remains the cited path for expansion news in this article, including the included expansions fact and the more Gwent fact. Tom's Guide framing stays labeled as opinion about pacing, not as a source for dates or content. When CDPR confirms import mechanics, replace each [NEEDS VERIFICATION] tag with the named source and the exact rule, and update the checklist done states to match.

Sources for this page are external only. Expansion and bundle facts cite IGN reporting on CDPR. Realm and wishlist facts cite CD PROJEKT RED via thewitcher.com. Pacing framing cites Tom's Guide as opinion. No store links, no internal links, and no marketplace claims appear here, because prep should not depend on a purchase that has not been priced or dated beyond the 2027 window.

FAQ

When is Songs of the Past due and where is it set?

Songs of the Past is due in 2027 and takes players to the new realm of Letten, now on wishlist, per CD PROJEKT RED. Use the remaining months as a paced replay window rather than a rush.

What does Remastered include for prep?

Remastered launched Sept 29 2026 and includes Hearts of Stone plus Blood and Wine at no extra cost, per IGN. Play both in release order on the save intended for Songs.

Is Witcher 4 the same as Songs of the Past?

No. Songs of the Past is the third Witcher 3 expansion due in 2027, per CD PROJEKT RED, while Witcher 4 is targeting 2028, per CDPR via IGN. Prep this checklist for Songs, not for Witcher 4.

Why practice Gwent now?

Songs of the Past will contain more Gwent, per IGN reporting on CDPR, so a working deck plus basic tactics is direct prep. Learn one faction, spy draw, and weather answers before Letten.

Do my choices and gear carry into Songs?

CDPR has not confirmed what carries, so all import mechanics into Songs get [NEEDS VERIFICATION]. Keep one finished, well funded, and well geared save to cover the most possible designs.

What is the one save habit to fix this week?

Enable cloud or cross save, verify with a test restore, and keep two labeled manual saves from late game. Tom's Guide frames Remastered as the replay runway to Songs as opinion, and clean saves are what make a runway usable.

Bottom Line

Songs of the Past is real, dated, and placed: third expansion, 2027, Letten, on wishlist, per CD PROJEKT RED. Remastered is the bundle that makes prep simple, launched Sept 29 2026 with Hearts of Stone plus Blood and Wine at no extra cost, per IGN. Witcher 4 targeting 2028, per CDPR via IGN, stays on a separate track. More Gwent is coming in Songs, per IGN reporting on CDPR, so deck practice counts. Tom's Guide calls Remastered the replay runway to Songs as opinion, and this checklist turns that idea into five trackable jobs. Finish the hunt, clear both expansions in order, learn Gwent, bank crowns and a flexible set, and lock down one verified save while import details stay marked [NEEDS VERIFICATION].

Sources: expansion bundle and Gwent reporting via IGN on CDPR news at https://www.ign.com, realm and wishlist facts via CD PROJEKT RED at https://www.thewitcher.com, replay runway framing as opinion via Tom's Guide at https://www.tomsguide.com.

Related: Gwent Deck Building Basics Before Songs of the Past: 5 Decks [2026] | Simulate Witcher 2 Save On or Off in Remastered: 6 Changes [2026] | Witcher 3 Remastered Starter Builds: 4 Builds Under the New Skill Tree [2026]