The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Gets 2 Massive Expansions

This week CD Projekt Red, the creators of the story-driven, next-generation open world role-playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, announced two expansion packs that will be coming to said title. The expansions will be called Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, and both will be paid content.

“With the development of Wild Hunt coming to an end, the team has embarked upon the creation of two new really big adventures set in The Witcher universe,” says Marcin Iwiński, CD Projekt Red co-founder. “We remember the time when add-on disks truly expanded games by delivering meaningful content. As gamers, we’d like to bring that back. We’ve said in the past that if we ever decide to release paid content, it will be vast in size and represent real value for the money. Both our expansions offer more hours of gameplay than quite a few standalone games out there.”

Below are descriptions for the expansions:

Hearts of Stone will take Geralt on an all-new, 10-hour-plus adventure into the wilds of No Man’s Land and the nooks and alleys of Oxenfurt, where he’ll try to complete a contract from the mysterious Man of Glass. Caught in a thick tangle of deceit, Geralt will need all his cunning and strength to solve the mystery and emerge unscathed.

Blood and Wine, a 20-hour-plus tale that will introduce the all-new in-game region of Toussaint, will take Geralt to a land untainted by war, where an atmosphere of carefree indulgence and knightly ritual masks an ancient, bloody secret.

If you think this is something you’ll like then you can purchase an Expansion Pass to go ahead and seal your fate to these two new experiences. However, Iwiński concludes, “While we’re offering the Expansion Pass now, we want to make one thing clear: don’t buy it if you have any doubts. Wait for reviews or play The Witcher and see if you like it first. As always, it’s your call.”

Hearts of Stone will premiere in October, while Blood and Wine is slated for release in the first quarter of 2016. In other words, these expansions will most likely be separated by 5 to 6 months, plenty of time for gamers to dig their teeth into these seemingly meaty experiences.

Our Opinion (whether you want it or not)

I don’t think we should be too upset here. Sure, it’s never fun to hear an announcement that a $60 game has multiple expansions coming to it before the game has even been released, but this seems more like an assurance that this game will hold our undivided attention for some time. And let’s be honest, these games cost a pretty penny to make, and CD Projekt Red will be scrambling to ensure it makes a profit on The Wicher 3: Wild Hunt. 

The quality of this series has been so stellar, and in light of that, I find myself feeling more excitement than dread over these expansions.

I stand with the sentiment shared by Marcin Iwiński: if you want it, buy it, and if not, speak with your wallet or wait to see if these expansions meet your standards. At least these will not exclusive content, as both expansions will be available on all three platforms: Xbox One, PC, PlayStation® 4.

For more information on obtaining the expansions, please visit buy.thewitcher.com