The report from iXBT Games correctly identifies the expansion as a current-generation release for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. But it understates a decision CDPR put on its own support site months ago: Windows 10 is being removed from the game’s official minimum configuration, hard drives will no longer be supported, and the Windows version will run exclusively through DirectX 12.
CDPR will show new information about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Songs of the Past during Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25, 2026, with show-floor presentations following in Cologne from August 26 through August 30. The expansion is still scheduled for 2027, but the technical floor is already set.
The new baseline reaches beyond the expansion
CDPR’s language is unusually direct. Its support notice says the new minimum requirements begin “from the next update” and are meant to cover both The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Songs of the Past. That means a player who only intends to continue the 2015 base game on the current branch can still be affected by the coming patch.
The company’s new minimum PC configuration is:
- Windows 11 64-bit is now the minimum supported operating system.
- An AMD Ryzen 5 2600 or Intel Core i5-8400 is the minimum supported processor.
- An Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT with 8GB of VRAM is the minimum graphics hardware.
- Systems need 12GB of RAM, 6GB of video memory, and 70GB of SSD storage.
- The game is moving to DirectX 12 exclusively, ending official support for the DirectX 11 path.
For an 11-year-old game, the processor and graphics thresholds are modest by 2026 standards. The larger practical break is storage and operating system policy. Plenty of older gaming PCs can still run The Witcher 3 well enough on Windows 10, but a Windows 10 install on a mechanical drive will fall outside CDPR’s supported configuration even if its frame rate remains acceptable.
The company says the shift reflects modern hardware capabilities and software use. Its rationale is straightforward: SSDs improve loading and asset streaming, while DirectX 12 and currently supported Windows 11 hardware give its team a narrower technical target for future work.
Windows 10 is losing support, not necessarily the ability to launch
The distinction matters. CDPR says it will no longer test The Witcher 3 or Cyberpunk 2077 on Windows 10 after Microsoft ended standard support for the operating system on October 14, 2025. It cites the lack of ongoing security updates, official platform support, and continuing GPU-driver support as reasons to make Windows 11 the official minimum.
That is a support-policy decision, not proof that the next Witcher 3 update will mechanically refuse to start on every Windows 10 PC. CDPR has not announced a Windows-version lockout, nor has it said that every Windows 10 installation will fail. A game can often run below a published minimum specification.
What changes is the risk borne by the player. If a Windows 10-specific bug, driver issue, crash, or performance regression appears after the update, CDPR has already said it will not test that configuration. The game may work, but it is no longer a platform the developer promises to validate or support.
That is more consequential than the source report’s suggestion that a later patch could create compatibility problems. The vendor has already made the policy change. The unknown is how disruptive the next build will prove on unsupported systems, not whether Windows 10 remains an officially supported target.
PC Gamer and other outlets that reviewed CDPR’s announcement also noted the wider effect: the requirements are being raised for the base game ahead of the expansion, not held back for a separate 2027 installer. Existing owners should therefore treat the next update as the deadline for checking their storage, OS, and graphics-driver situation.
The fallback exists, but storefront choice matters
CDPR has pointed players who cannot meet the new requirements toward an earlier version of The Witcher 3. Its support documentation confirms that the pre-update “Classic” branch remains available through Steam and GOG Galaxy.
Steam users can select the Classic branch through the game’s Properties and Betas menu. GOG Galaxy users can choose Classic under the game’s installation configuration and select an older version. In both cases, CDPR warns that only the current release receives full support, fixes, and improvements.
Epic Games Store users do not have the same escape hatch. CDPR’s own instructions say Epic only provides the latest available version of The Witcher 3, with no option to revert to an earlier build. For an Epic owner running Windows 10, using an HDD, or relying on hardware outside the new minimum list, automatic updates deserve more attention than usual.
The legacy branch also is not a path into Songs of the Past. It is a way to preserve access to an older version of the base game. CDPR has not published a separate compatibility matrix spelling out which content, save behavior, mod tools, or online-facing features will remain available on that older branch after the new build ships. Players maintaining heavily modded installations should plan on testing before accepting the update rather than assuming an old mod list will survive a DirectX 12-only transition.
Current-generation consoles are excluded by design
The console limitation is not rumor or implication. CDPR has confirmed that Songs of the Past will launch on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One excluded. The company also confirmed the expansion is being co-developed with Fool’s Theory, while CDPR retains creative oversight.
At its May earnings presentation, CDPR said roughly 190 developers—mostly from Fool’s Theory—were working on the expansion. It also described the project as a full expansion rather than smaller free DLC, and said its scale is closer to Blood and Wine than Hearts of Stone, while cautioning that such comparisons are subjective. Price and a precise release date remain unannounced.
That production context explains why CDPR is moving away from older hardware rather than simply publishing a new add-on under the base game’s existing technical floor. A large expansion for a game first released in 2015 has to coexist with its old content, saves, mods, and storefront versions. Consolidating the supported PC baseline around SSD storage, DirectX 12, active drivers, and Windows 11 reduces the combinations the studio must validate as it adds new assets and systems.
It does not prove that the expansion would be impossible on older hardware. It establishes which machines CDPR is willing to support when problems arise.
Gamescom should answer the questions the spec sheet cannot
The claim that Songs of the Past will be Geralt’s final continuation, or a literal bridge to The Witcher 4, goes further than CDPR’s confirmed story details. The company has said the expansion returns players to Geralt for a new adventure and has described it as an indirect prologue or reminder ahead of The Witcher 4. It has not announced the plot, a definitive ending for Geralt, or a direct narrative handoff.
CDPR’s Gamescom announcement promises new information during Opening Night Live on August 25, followed by guided demonstrations rather than public hands-on sessions at its booth. That presentation is the logical place for the studio to explain what the expansion adds and whether the new PC baseline translates into ray-tracing changes, higher texture requirements, revised mod compatibility, or a broader engine update.
For now, the practical message is simpler: owners who want the supported version of The Witcher 3 and its 2027 expansion should plan for Windows 11, SSD storage, DirectX 12, and the updated hardware floor. Players staying on Windows 10 can preserve an older build through Steam or GOG, but they will be choosing a branch CDPR no longer intends to test—and Epic owners do not have that rollback option.