CD Projekt Red says Songs of the Past only got off the ground because The Witcher 3 Remastered was already in the works. We first saw both during Gamescom Opening Night Live, and now the studio is explaining how closely tied they really are. During an interview with BBC News on YouTube, Jakub Rokosz — game director on The Witcher 3 and now Songs of the Past — said timing was everything.
"The stars had to align and the conditions had to be just right to make this happen," he said. According to Rokosz, the studio hit that window when "the story of Dandelion's past and homeland came into our spotlight." Perfect timing, basically.
Here's the key part: CD Projekt Red was already talking about the remaster when the expansion idea came up. Those projects became intertwined, and Rokosz says Letten, Dandelion's hometown, wouldn't have been possible without the remaster upgrades. A few things had to click together for Songs of the Past to exist, he added. Lucky for us, they did.
Honestly, that makes sense. The original Witcher 3 is over a decade old, so there's been plenty of technological progress since then. And this remaster sounds like way more than a fresh coat of paint. Improved combat, massively reworked visuals, the whole deal. Sometimes it honestly sounds closer to a remake than a remaster.
That's a huge undertaking on its own, especially with all the other CD Projekt Red games in the pipeline. Pair it with Songs of the Past, which Rokosz is making sound pretty massive, and Witcher fans have a lot to look forward to.
Also, after 20 years of voicing Geralt, The Witcher 3 star Doug Cockle says returning to the character for Songs of the Past is "like slipping into a warm bath."