It has been more than a decade since we first picked up our steel and silver swords and went adventuring through the Continent as Geralt of Rivia in search of his adopted daughter Ciri in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Players adore the game wholeheartedly, as proven by the latest sales milestone celebrated by CD Projekt Red.
In the company's latest financial brief, we see that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has sold more than 65 million copies. This puts it firmly in the no.8 spot of best-selling games of all-time, just behind Terraria at 70 million copies. If you've somehow not got round to playing The Witcher 3 yet, there's no need to be concerned if you want to hop in when Songs of the Past launches.
In fact, CD Projekt Red CEO Michał Nowakowski confirmed that it's a great introduction not only to Geralt's story, but The Witcher universe as a whole. "We also see great potential for Songs of the Past to become the first encounter with The Witcher universe, as well as the beginning of a fresh adventure, for many gamers - even as we await the release of The Witcher 4," he writes.
Nowakowski also described the third expansion as "an excellent adventure, and a trip down memory lane, before we pass the baton to Ciri in the upcoming The Witcher 4." While nothing is officially confirmed yet, perhaps this means that instead of continuing Geralt's life in Toussaint, where he seemed to retire at the ending of Blood and Wine, we could be jumping back into his past for the third expansion. The key may be in the name. That might be why it's seen as a good starting point for new fans, as it'll let them get brought up to speed without having to put tens if not hundreds of hours into the base game and its predecessors. We'll have to see later this year.