{"id":26038,"date":"2026-01-05T21:04:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:04:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=26038"},"modified":"2026-01-05T21:04:34","modified_gmt":"2026-01-05T13:04:34","slug":"the-witcher-3s-2026-dlc-is-all-but-confirmed-but-expect-some-big-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=26038","title":{"rendered":"The Witcher 3&#8217;s 2026 DLC is all but confirmed, but expect some big changes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong><em>The Witcher 3<\/em><\/strong> may have released over a decade ago, but that might not be stopping it from getting another full-fledged story DLC in 2026. Speculation about a late <em>Witcher 3<\/em> expansion began swirling in Summer 2025, when Polish journalist Borys Niespielak claimed that Fool&#8217;s Theory, the studio currently at work on the <em>Witcher 1<\/em> remake, was developing it. More recently, Noble Securities market analyst Mateusz Chrzanowski published a report suggesting that a <em>Witcher 3<\/em> DLC would debut at $30 USD this year, further stoking the flames of cautious excitement.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<p>In a Jan 2, 2026 article, Eurogamer editor Robert Purchese says he followed up with Niespielak about his <em>Witcher 3<\/em> DLC claims: the Polish insider doubled-down on his prediction, saying that his statements have been verified by several independent sources. To support his point, he pointed to a November financial report from CD Projekt Red, in which the studio&#8217;s CFO said &#8220;there is a chance that new content hinted upon in recent calls and reports may see release in the coming year, having an impact on our results and increasing the likelihood of achieving the earnings condition for the first stage of the incentive program.&#8221; Purchese contacted CDPR for a comment, and the developer did not confirm or deny the rumors. The expansion isn&#8217;t confirmed, but all signs seem to point to its existence.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-card  article article-card small  no-badge  active-content                      \" data-include-community-rating=\"false\" id=\"witcher-4-ciri-protagonist-concerns-complaints\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ciri-in-the-witcher-4-debut-trailer-cropped.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=140&amp;h=98&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ciri-in-the-witcher-4-debut-trailer-cropped.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=140&amp;h=98&amp;dpr=2\"\/><img width=\"440\" height=\"364\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"CD Project Red stand behind Ciri leading The Witcher 4\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ciri-in-the-witcher-4-debut-trailer-cropped.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=220&amp;h=182&amp;dpr=2\" src=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ciri-in-the-witcher-4-debut-trailer-cropped.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=crop&amp;w=220&amp;h=182&amp;dpr=2\"\/>\n        <\/picture>\n<p>                    <span data-field=\"label\" class=\"article-card-label\"><label>Related<\/label><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"w-display-card-content regular article-block\">\n<h5 class=\"display-card-title \">\n<p>\t\t\tCD Projekt Red Responds to Witcher 4 Ciri Concerns<\/p>\n<\/h5>\n<p class=\"display-card-excerpt\">The Witcher 4&#8217;s directors acknowledge concerns about Ciri as the protagonist but stand by the decision to make her an official Witcher.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"if-the-witcher-3-dlc-is-real-it-39-s-probably-not-being-developed-by-cd-projekt-red\">\n                        If The Witcher 3 DLC Is Real, It&#8217;s Probably Not Being Developed by CD Projekt Red<br \/>\n               <\/h2>\n<p>As previously mentioned, this rumored <em>Witcher 3<\/em> DLC is apparently not being made by CD Projekt Red, but Fool&#8217;s Theory, a studio best known for not only the upcoming <em>Witcher 1<\/em> remake, but the excellent <em>The Thaumaturge<\/em> as well; Fool&#8217;s Theory also supported Larian Studios during the development of <em>Baldur&#8217;s Gate 3<\/em>. Needless to say, this is a team with some serious narrative-driven RPG experience, even if it&#8217;s not the Goliath that is CD Projekt Red.<\/p>\n<p>Fool&#8217;s Theory leading the development of a new <em>Witcher 3<\/em> DLC was an idea first introduced by Niespielak, but it was potentially corroborated by yet another 2025 investor call by CDPR, wherein studio co-CEO Michal Nowakowski vaguely referenced a third unnamed project that Fool&#8217;s Theory is working on, separate from <em>The Witcher 1<\/em>&#8216;s remake and development support for <em>The Witcher 4<\/em>. It&#8217;s hard to imagine what else Fool&#8217;s Theory would be working on, if not a <em>Witcher 3<\/em> expansion. It&#8217;s possible that the studio is chipping away at something <em>Cyberpunk<\/em> related, but this seems unlikely given its other projects.<\/p>\n<p>What all of this means is that, while this hypothetical <em>Witcher 3<\/em> DLC will probably be more similar to <em>The Witcher 3<\/em> than <em>The Witcher 4<\/em>, it&#8217;ll likely still be quite distinct. Fool&#8217;s Theory is a talented studio with good writers\u2014<em>The Thaumaturge<\/em> alone proves that\u2014but it&#8217;s still not CDPR. Any <em>Witcher<\/em> game or expansion led by non-CDPR developers is bound to feel different, its gameplay and narrative injected with distinct DNA, for better or worse.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"what-will-the-2026-witcher-3-dlc-be-about\">\n                        What Will The 2026 Witcher 3 DLC Be About?<br \/>\n               <\/h2>\n<p>This is the most exciting aspect of this rumored DLC, but also the most nebulous: what will it actually be like? Will it follow Geralt or Ciri? Will it take place directly after <em>The Witcher 3<\/em>&#8216;s main story? Years after it? During it? Naturally, none of these finer details have been revealed or even hinted at, but we can make some educated guesses.<\/p>\n<p>For one thing, Geralt had a great send-off at the end of <em>The Witcher 3<\/em>, and the <em>Blood and Wine<\/em> expansion strongly implies that he retires, or at least takes a long sabbatical. Assuming that the upcoming DLC is set after the events of <em>Blood and Wine<\/em> (which would make sense\u2014what other setting could such a long-overdue DLC adopt?), throwing Geralt back into the fray could have an undermining effect. It runs the risk of contradicting the themes and impact of the <em>Blood and Wine<\/em> ending.<\/p>\n<p>The solution to this conundrum is rather simple and obvious: make the expansion about Ciri. She is going to be the protagonist of <em>The Witcher 4<\/em>, after all, and if that game&#8217;s sparse promotional materials are anything to go by, it would seem that she undergoes her Witcher transformation before the story begins. It might be wise, then, to bridge the gap between <em>Witchers 3<\/em> and <em>4<\/em> with a Ciri-focused expansion, walking players through her Witcher mutation. This would be a considerable shift away from Geralt&#8217;s story, and thus the differences in tone or style, courtesy of Fool&#8217;s Theory&#8217;s distinct talent pool, wouldn&#8217;t be so jarring.<\/p>\n<section class=\"emaki-custom-block emaki-custom-note\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<div class=\"emaki-custom note\" id=\"custom_block_13\">\n<div class=\"custom_block-content note\">\n<p>It might be interesting to see a Ciri-centric story from a different developer. Indeed, perhaps the worst thing Fool&#8217;s Theory could do with this rumored expansion would be to emulate mid-2010s CD Projekt Red, as that&#8217;s a legacy that&#8217;s hard to match.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><!-- No AdsNinja v10 Client! --><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"the-witcher-3-casts-a-long-shadow-can-fool-39-s-theory-get-out-of-it\">\n                        The Witcher 3 Casts a Long Shadow; Can Fool&#8217;s Theory Get Out of It?<br \/>\n               <\/h2>\n<p>Assuming that this <em>Witcher 3<\/em> expansion is in fact real, I don&#8217;t envy the team at Fool&#8217;s Theory: CD Projekt Red has long been hailed as DLC masterminds, with post-launch support for <em>The Witcher 3<\/em> being arguably the best DLC expansions in video games. Their only competition might be <em>Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree<\/em>, or perhaps <em>Cyberpunk 2077<\/em><em>: Phantom Liberty<\/em>, also created by CD Projekt Red. Fool&#8217;s Theory would have its work cut out for it if the aforementioned rumors are true.<\/p>\n<p>But as always, rumors and leaks without official confirmation should be taken with a grain of salt. At the time of writing, CDPR remains tight-lipped, if a bit coy, about the prospect of future <em>Witcher 3<\/em> DLC, and audiences ought to take care not to fall into the trap of wishful thinking. Still, I wouldn&#8217;t turn down another <em>Witcher 3<\/em> expansion, whether it&#8217;s made by CDPR or not, and I&#8217;m sure other fans feel similarly.<\/p>\n<div class=\"display-card type-video-game large\" data-show-streamrentbuy-links=\"true\" data-include-community-rating=\"true\" id=\"d2da-4b6f-92c5a5a011c9\">\n<div class=\"display-card-main-content-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"display-card-main-content\">\n<div class=\"display-card-content image-column\">\n<p>                        <!--    Rating block community and brand ratings --><br \/>\n                        <!--  Image --><\/p>\n<div class=\"w-img \" data-stnl-group-once=\"iBa7M8b7DQ\">\n<div class=\"body-img portrait \">\n<div class=\"responsive-img  img-article-square\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-08-dec-2024-01-48-pm-7604.jpg\" data-modal-id=\"single-image-modal\" data-modal-container-id=\"single-image-modal-container\" data-img-caption=\"&quot;&quot;\">\n                                                                                                                                                            <picture><source media=\"(max-width: 480px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-08-dec-2024-01-48-pm-7604.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=300&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-08-dec-2024-01-48-pm-7604.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=300&amp;dpr=2\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-08-dec-2024-01-48-pm-7604.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=400&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-08-dec-2024-01-48-pm-7604.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=400&amp;dpr=2\"\/><source media=\"(max-width: 1023px)\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-08-dec-2024-01-48-pm-7604.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=320&amp;dpr=2\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-08-dec-2024-01-48-pm-7604.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=320&amp;dpr=2\"\/><img width=\"960\" height=\"1440\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Tag Page Cover Art\" data-img-url=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-08-dec-2024-01-48-pm-7604.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=480&amp;dpr=2\" src=\"https:\/\/static0.gamerantimages.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/mixcollage-08-dec-2024-01-48-pm-7604.jpg?q=49&amp;fit=contain&amp;w=480&amp;dpr=2\"\/>\n        <\/picture>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                        <!-- User Rating widget --><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"display-card-content info-column\">\n<p>                        <!--  Display card community and brand rating widget --><br \/>\n                                                                         <!--  Display card open critics widget --><\/p>\n<p>                                        <!--  Display card main info widget --><\/p>\n<div class=\"w-display-card-info main-info\">\n<dl>\n<p><dt>\n                                            <strong>Released<\/strong>\n                                        <\/dt>\n<dd>\n                                            <span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMay 19, 2015<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n                                        <\/dd>\n<\/p>\n<p><dt>\n                                            <strong>ESRB<\/strong>\n                                        <\/dt>\n<dd>\n                                            <span><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\tM for Mature: Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<\/span>\n                                        <\/dd>\n<\/p>\n<\/dl><\/div>\n<p>                                        <!--  Display card main info widget end --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!--  Display card media widget start --><\/p>\n<p>                                        <!--  Display card media widget end --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!-- Where to play button preview --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!-- Where to play preview end --><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <!-- Extra content section, display hidden by default --><br \/>\n            <input type=\"checkbox\" id=\"extra-content-d2da-4b6f-92c5a5a011c9\" name=\"extra-content-d2da-4b6f-92c5a5a011c9\" class=\"expand-extra-info-checkbox css-menu-checkbox\"\/> <!-- Checkbox: control the expandable behavior  of the extra info --><\/p>\n<p>            <!-- Display card footer --><\/p>\n<p>            <!-- PROS and CONS section --><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/gamerant.com\/the-witcher-3-new-dlc-2026-fools-theory-ciri-protagonist-what-expect\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Witcher 3 may have released over a decade ago, but that might not be stopping it from getting another full-fledged story DLC in 2026&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[577,3093,3259,946,10956],"class_list":["post-26038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tech-gadgets-reviews","tag-big","tag-confirmed","tag-dlc","tag-expect","tag-witcher","wpcat-32-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}