CD Projekt staff have flooded social media with a clear message following the reveal of The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past. The company wants everyone to call it an expansion, not DLC. They even pulled out an interview with Cyberpunk star Idris Elba to make their case.
The Polish studio unveiled the third expansion for its blockbuster fantasy RPG. The Witcher 3’s new expansion, Songs of the Past, officially revealed with key details marks a return to Geralt’s story more than a decade after the base game launched. The Witcher 3 shipped in 2015 and went on to sell over 50 million copies. Hearts of Stone, the first expansion, came out in October 2015. Blood and Wine, the second, arrived in 2016. The new content is slated for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.
Details remain thin. An official description confirms players will step back into the boots of Geralt of Rivia for a fresh adventure. That lack of specifics has sparked debate about how large Songs of the Past will actually be. But comments from CD Projekt employees since the announcement point toward something substantial.
“Let me remind you the definition of the Expansion,”
said Paweł Sasko, Associate Game Director on Cyberpunk 2 and former developer on Cyberpunk 2077, its expansion Phantom Liberty, and The Witcher 3 itself,
alongside a clip of Idris Elba, who played Solomon Reed in the 2023 Cyberpunk 2077 expansion. The clip, pulled from an interview, features Elba drawing a hard line between how CD Projekt handles DLC and expansions. Elba has no direct connection to The Witcher series, but his status as a CD Projekt collaborator lent weight to the studio’s messaging.
“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 qualifies as an expansion under that definition, Elba’s words, “big, massive, monster,” set expectations high. Other CD Projekt developers have echoed the same distinction.
Marcin Łukaszewski, Community and Social Media Manager, offered
a direct explanation after a fan asked about the terminology.
“For us at CDPR, DLCs are small pieces of content we release for free – like the additional outfits for The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. 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 technically falls under the DLC umbrella as downloadable content, CD Projekt wants players to think of it as something else entirely. Official special Blood and Wine anniversary stream announced by CD Projekt amidst The Witcher 3 DLC rumours is scheduled for today, May 28, 2026. That broadcast could bring additional information.
CD Projekt is managing multiple major projects simultaneously. Production on The Witcher 4 continues, though CD Projekt has warned fans not to expect it before 2027. The company has mapped out an ambitious multi-year plan for the franchise.
More content for The Witcher 3 is now locked in, but CD Projekt has shut the door on additional DLC for Cyberpunk. Fans of that universe will need to hold out for Cyberpunk 2. That wait appears lengthy. Cyberpunk 2 is further back in development, and CD Projekt co-CEO Michał Nowakowski has indicated it will not arrive before 2030.
