Following the announcement of The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, CD Projekt staff have taken to social media to emphasize that it should be considered an expansion rather than DLC—even using an IGN interview with Cyberpunk star Idris Elba to drive the point home.
Yesterday, CD Projekt revealed the third expansion for its massively successful fantasy RPG, The Witcher 3. Slated for a 2027 release, it arrives 12 years after the 60 million-selling base game launched in 2015, and 11 years after the second expansion, Blood and Wine, in 2016. The first expansion, Hearts of Stone, debuted in October 2015.
Details are scarce, with only an official description confirming that Songs of the Past will return players to the role of legendary monster slayer Geralt of Rivia for a brand-new adventure on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. This has left room for speculation about the expansion's size and scope, but comments from CD Projekt staff suggest fans can expect something substantial.
"Let me remind you the definition of the Expansion," tweeted Paweł Sasko, Associate Game Director on Cyberpunk 2 and a former developer on Cyberpunk 2077, its expansion Phantom Liberty, and The Witcher 3 itself. He shared a clip from an IGN interview with Idris Elba, who played Solomon Reed in the 2023 expansion. In the clip, Elba stresses that CD Projekt releases DLC for free, but expansions are a different matter.
"Just to be clear, it’s not DLC. It’s an expansion. You know why? Because we do expansions—Big! Massive! Monster! We don’t do DLCs, and when we do, we give them away."
If Songs of the Past is an expansion, it's safe to assume it will be, as Elba puts it, "big, massive, monster." Other CD Projekt developers have echoed this sentiment.
"For us at CDPR, DLCs are small pieces of content we release for free—like the additional outfits for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt," tweeted Marcin Łukaszewski, Community and Social Media Manager, in response to a fan question. "Expansions, on the other hand, are major pieces of content providing lots of hours of gameplay, including new story, characters, etc."
So while Songs of the Past is technically DLC because it's downloadable content, it should be thought of differently. (One recent report hinted at a 'Dune-style' location for the new expansion.) CD Projekt will host an official special anniversary stream for Blood and Wine today, May 28, where more details may emerge.
It's a hugely busy time for CD Projekt. The Witcher 4 is in production, though CD Projekt has cautioned fans not to expect its launch until at least 2027. The company plans an ambitious six-year roadmap that also includes The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6.
While further DLC for The Witcher 3 is now confirmed, CD Projekt has ruled out more DLC for Cyberpunk, suggesting fans will have to wait for Cyberpunk 2 to return to its dystopian universe. The wait looks significant; Cyberpunk 2 is further behind The Witcher 4, and co-CEO Michał Nowakowski has suggested it won't arrive until at least 2030.
