The Witcher 3’s Rumored Surprise DLC Might Bring Everything Full Circle for Cyberpunk 2077 and CDPR

Reports indicate that The Witcher 3 will be getting another DLC in 2026, over a decade after the game first launched. Granted, CD Projekt Red hasn’t explicitly confirmed these reports, though it coyly acknowledged them during a recent investor call. Take the Witcher 3 DLC rumors with a grain of salt, but the expansion certainly isn’t a total pipe dream and could be the developer’s next move now that Cyberpunk 2077 has seemingly been wrapped up.

Assuming The Witcher 3 is really getting a 2026 expansion, important questions ought to be raised. For instance, why is CDPR pushing an expansion for a game that originally released in 2015? Or what is this late DLC going to be about? Most indicate it could be some kind of bridge DLC to The Witcher 4, which is rare but not unheard of in the industry. More interesting is what this practice could mean moving forward. If the rumored Witcher 3 DLC performs well, according to whatever metric CDPR values most here, then the developer could pull something similar with Cyberpunk 2077.

Another Cyberpunk 2077 DLC Doesn’t Seem So Impossible Now

To get the obvious out of the way first, yes, CD Projekt Red has denied plans for another Cyberpunk 2077 expansion; Phantom Liberty will be the only one, according to the developer. There’s absolutely a chance that this is true, and it should be assumed as such until further notice, but…anything seems possible now. Indeed, if The Witcher 3 can get another expansion over a decade later, why should we write off Phantom Liberty as the last major post-launch development for Cyberpunk 2077?

This sense of limitlessness is compounded by CDPR’s previous Cyberpunk 2077 subterfuge. The developer had previously stated that Patch 2.1 would be the last major content update for the game, with subsequent patches being focused more on performance and bug fixes, only to release two more significant content drops in Patch 2.2 and Patch 2.3. This is to say that perhaps we should not entirely trust CD Projekt Red when it claims to be “done” with a game. If The Witcher 3 DLC comes to fruition, we should all be willing to accept that, perhaps, the sun hasn’t set on Cyberpunk 2077 just yet. It could be years away, especially if these eleventh-hour DLCs serve as bridges to new games, but it’s certainly within a realm of possibility now.

A Surprise Cyberpunk 2077 Expansion Could Bolster CD Projekt Red’s Redemption Arc

CD Projekt Red’s reputation has followed a chaotic trajectory. Once considered a leader in the RPG genre thanks to best-in-class writing (not to mention the deftness demonstrated while adapting Andrzej Sapkowski’s seminal Witcher novels), CDPR lost considerable goodwill after Cyberpunk‘s disastrous launch. Cyberpunk 2077 was revolutionary in the sense that it was the peak of overpromising and underdelivering because it was marketed as the next great leap in single-player gaming. However, it could hardly run on current-gen consoles upon release.

CDPR has since clawed back much of its reputation, six years later. But for better or worse, transgressions tend to weigh more than consumer-friendly behaviors in the gaming community—the developer can still do more to make up for its 2020 blunders (and in the eyes of many, that will always be the case). By underpromising and overdelivering via a late-stage Cyberpunk 2077 expansion, perhaps used to bridge the gap between Cyberpunk 2077 and Project Orion, CD Projekt Red could continue to reverse the narrative that’s emerged about itself in recent years.

After The Witcher 3’s Rumored DLC, Cyberpunk 2077 Could Pull a Similar Narrative Move

Image via CD Projekt Red

If CD Projekt Red is to adopt something of a new DLC model in the wake of the rumored Witcher 3 expansion, then it might just work especially well for Cyberpunk 2077. It’s long been confirmed that there will be a Cyberpunk sequel, but considering the context of the first game, it’s quite unclear how this eventual sequel will play out. Even if CDPR is willing to make one of Cyberpunk 2077‘s many endings canon, none of them provide a clear path forward for characters like V and Johnny. It would seem that their stories are finished, and there are no obvious candidates to take over the series mantle, like how Ciri was primed to lead The Witcher in Geralt’s stead.

Questions about what comes next in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe could be answered, even if only partially, by another DLC, perhaps a few years from now. Maybe this hypothetical DLC could offer a firmer conclusion or addendum to V’s story, or position an NPC to lead a sequel, or introduce a new character altogether. The point is, the notion of a DLC to bridge the gap between Witchers 3 and 4 is logical, clever, and creative; it might be an equally smart strategy for the Cyberpunk franchise.

Released

December 10, 2020

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol