Witcher 3 will get a new paid expansion that leads up to events of Witcher 4, analyst predicts

A Polish analyst believes that CD Projekt could launch a new paid Witcher 3 expansion that bridges the gap between Geralt's path and Ciri's new saga.

Witcher 3 will get a new paid expansion that leads up to events of Witcher 4, analyst predicts
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Senior Gaming Editor
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TL;DR: CD Projekt RED may release a premium Witcher 3 expansion in May 2026 to boost sales and build anticipation for The Witcher 4, a new trilogy centered on Ciri. This expansion could significantly impact financial forecasts and marketing strategies, despite technical differences between game engines.

CD Projekt RED could release a new Witcher 3 expansion to spark sales and drum up excitement for The Witcher 4.

Witcher 3 will get a new paid expansion that leads up to events of Witcher 4, analyst predicts 34

The Witcher 4 is in full production, and will kick off a new saga for the medieval fantasy franchise. CD Projekt's new arc will be a multi-game trilogy centered around Ciri, but there's still a lot of questions about story and theme. One way to solve this problem could be a surprise new paid expansion for The Witcher 3.

According to reports from Polish news site Strefa Inwesterow, Pekao analyst Emil Poplawski believes CD Projekt could release a new Witcher 3 expansion that essentially sets the stage up for Ciri's new adventures. The new expansion could be $30, which is quite the premium--other expansions like Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine were $10 and $20, respectively.

"We expect the next paid add-on (DLC) for The Witcher 3 to be released in May 2026. We assume sales of 11 million copies at $30 each next year. We estimate the production budget at PLN 52 million. The release should kick off the proper marketing campaign for The Witcher 4," Poplawski said in a recent report.

However, there isn't enough hard data for Pekao to put this prediction into their financial modeling for CD Projekt.

"Due to the complete lack of detail, we have not included this expansion in the model. However, if it is released, it may require a significant adjustment to our financial forecasts (due to the potential for a third expansion) and may encourage the market to increase its sales assumptions for the upcoming Witcher IV. Therefore, this could lead to a significant positive market reaction."

CD Projekt has recently delayed the roll out of The Witcher 3's anticipated mod support on consoles, however it remains unclear what plans the studio has for more expansions--if any.

One point to remember is that The Witcher 3 uses a different video game production environment than the upcoming games. Geralt's games run on CD Projekt's internal REDEngine, whereas The Witcher 4 is being built entirely in Unreal Engine 5. If the expansion is meant to be a hand-off, there may be significant technical differences between the theoretical new TW3 expansion and the release of the mainline TW4.

CD Projekt has also reiterated its plans to release Ciri's full trilogy of games in a six-year period, saying that the use of Unreal Engine 5 is greatly assisting development.