5 January 2026

The Witcher 3’s 2026 DLC is all but confirmed, but expect some big changes

By newsgame

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. Speculation about a late Witcher 3 expansion began swirling in Summer 2025, when Polish journalist Borys Niespielak claimed that Fool’s Theory, the studio currently at work on the Witcher 1 remake, was developing it. More recently, Noble Securities market analyst Mateusz Chrzanowski published a report suggesting that a Witcher 3 DLC would debut at $30 USD this year, further stoking the flames of cautious excitement.

In a Jan 2, 2026 article, Eurogamer editor Robert Purchese says he followed up with Niespielak about his Witcher 3 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’s CFO said “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.” Purchese contacted CDPR for a comment, and the developer did not confirm or deny the rumors. The expansion isn’t confirmed, but all signs seem to point to its existence.

CD Project Red stand behind Ciri leading The Witcher 4

CD Projekt Red Responds to Witcher 4 Ciri Concerns

The Witcher 4’s directors acknowledge concerns about Ciri as the protagonist but stand by the decision to make her an official Witcher.

If The Witcher 3 DLC Is Real, It’s Probably Not Being Developed by CD Projekt Red

As previously mentioned, this rumored Witcher 3 DLC is apparently not being made by CD Projekt Red, but Fool’s Theory, a studio best known for not only the upcoming Witcher 1 remake, but the excellent The Thaumaturge as well; Fool’s Theory also supported Larian Studios during the development of Baldur’s Gate 3. Needless to say, this is a team with some serious narrative-driven RPG experience, even if it’s not the Goliath that is CD Projekt Red.

Fool’s Theory leading the development of a new Witcher 3 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’s Theory is working on, separate from The Witcher 1‘s remake and development support for The Witcher 4. It’s hard to imagine what else Fool’s Theory would be working on, if not a Witcher 3 expansion. It’s possible that the studio is chipping away at something Cyberpunk related, but this seems unlikely given its other projects.

What all of this means is that, while this hypothetical Witcher 3 DLC will probably be more similar to The Witcher 3 than The Witcher 4, it’ll likely still be quite distinct. Fool’s Theory is a talented studio with good writers—The Thaumaturge alone proves that—but it’s still not CDPR. Any Witcher 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.

What Will The 2026 Witcher 3 DLC Be About?

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 The Witcher 3‘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.

For one thing, Geralt had a great send-off at the end of The Witcher 3, and the Blood and Wine expansion strongly implies that he retires, or at least takes a long sabbatical. Assuming that the upcoming DLC is set after the events of Blood and Wine (which would make sense—what 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 Blood and Wine ending.

The solution to this conundrum is rather simple and obvious: make the expansion about Ciri. She is going to be the protagonist of The Witcher 4, after all, and if that game’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 Witchers 3 and 4 with a Ciri-focused expansion, walking players through her Witcher mutation. This would be a considerable shift away from Geralt’s story, and thus the differences in tone or style, courtesy of Fool’s Theory’s distinct talent pool, wouldn’t be so jarring.

It might be interesting to see a Ciri-centric story from a different developer. Indeed, perhaps the worst thing Fool’s Theory could do with this rumored expansion would be to emulate mid-2010s CD Projekt Red, as that’s a legacy that’s hard to match.

The Witcher 3 Casts a Long Shadow; Can Fool’s Theory Get Out of It?

Assuming that this Witcher 3 expansion is in fact real, I don’t envy the team at Fool’s Theory: CD Projekt Red has long been hailed as DLC masterminds, with post-launch support for The Witcher 3 being arguably the best DLC expansions in video games. Their only competition might be Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, or perhaps Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, also created by CD Projekt Red. Fool’s Theory would have its work cut out for it if the aforementioned rumors are true.

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 Witcher 3 DLC, and audiences ought to take care not to fall into the trap of wishful thinking. Still, I wouldn’t turn down another Witcher 3 expansion, whether it’s made by CDPR or not, and I’m sure other fans feel similarly.