With the Songs of the Past expansion, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will add not only new story content and various improvements, but also a new weapon. Geralt will be able to use a chain in combat.
As it turns out, the developers originally wanted to add such a weapon model back in the original The Witcher 3. In a recent interview, Songs of the Past development lead Jakub Rokosz explained that it was impossible to implement at the time due to technical limitations:
We discussed the possibility of implementing [the chain] during the development of the original The Witcher 3. However, at that time it was impossible for various technical reasons and due to a number of difficulties. [...] we were able to solve these problems while working on the remaster. So we managed to implement a weapon that feels completely natural and very smooth.
With the chain, players will be able to "control crowds" of enemies. According to the developers, it's "a very cool weapon for players who might be tired of the crossbow because they've played The Witcher 3 and two expansions and want something new."
The remaster of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is scheduled for release on September 29, and the Songs of the Past expansion is planned for 2027 (no more precise date yet).