It's been more than a decade since The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt was first released, but CD Projekt Red isn't quite finished with the game just yet. Songs of the Past, the game's third expansion, is set to arrive in 2027, bringing with it an entirely new region to explore, new monsters to hunt, and more stories to tell.

But how do you expand on a game as beloved as The Witcher 3 without upsetting its notoriously dedicated fans? And how do you keep things fresh while remaining faithful to a universe with decades of established lore?

IGN spoke to CD Projekt Red's level design lead Miles Tost and Songs of the Past writer Paula Meissner at the Lucca Comics & Games festival about creating a distinct new corner of the Continent, the surprising importance of local booze, and why even bringing characters back from the dead doesn't necessarily mean breaking canon.

IGN: Talking about Songs of the Past, from a pure level design perspective, is there a special new mechanical hook that you're looking at for players? And also, how does the environment actively change in a way that maybe veteran players of The Witcher 3 are going to be finding something new?

Miles Tost: Generally speaking, the introduction of a whole new region. And if you've played the base game and the other expansions, for us, these regions are really fun. I think they have a lot of answers for that question by themselves because we try to always make each one feel unique, not just visually, but in the sense of the traversal.

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