A New Witcher 3 Expansion Back From The Dead?
The Witcher 3 might be getting a brand new expansion more than a decade after its original release, and the rumor is starting to look a lot less like wishful thinking and a lot more like a strategic move by CD Projekt.
Talk of surprise DLC for The Witcher 3 first surfaced in late 2025, when a Polish financial analyst and a known leaker both suggested that a new expansion was in active development. At the time it sounded like a long shot, but as 2026 rolls on there are now two main reasons why this idea is getting harder to ignore.
The first reason comes from a report by IGN Poland, which says it actually heard about this unannounced expansion years ago from a source that had reliably provided insider information in the past. The outlet chose not to publish anything back then because it only had a single source. Now that other rumors have appeared, it decided to go public with what it knew.
According to IGN Poland, this mystery expansion would take players to Zerrikania, a distant desert land that has only been mentioned in passing in The Witcher games. For long time fans, that setting alone is enough to spark a lot of speculation about where the story could go.
Why Zerrikania Matters For The Story
Zerrikania has always been one of those background locations in The Witcher universe that sounds fascinating but never actually appears on screen. It is far away from the familiar Northern Kingdoms and is often portrayed as more exotic and advanced compared to the lands we explore in The Witcher 3.
This makes it especially interesting for one character in particular: Ciri. Many fans have long imagined alternative futures where Ciri becomes a witcher in her own right. In the lore, creating new witchers is nearly impossible. The secrets of the mutation process are mostly lost and even when it was still in use, it killed the majority of candidates. Only about three out of ten would survive the Trial of the Grasses.
There has also been a common belief among some fans that girls cannot survive the witcher mutation process, which would seemingly block Ciri from following that path. But in 2025 Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski clarified that he never actually stated in his books that women cannot survive the trials. In classic Sapkowski fashion, he also added that he does not really care either way.
That clarification quietly opened the door for new stories about Ciri. If CD Projekt wanted to explore a version of her future where she undergoes some form of mutation, a far off, more advanced realm like Zerrikania would be a logical place to do it. The idea of a different but related mutation process in a remote land fits both the lore and the need for fresh storytelling.
None of this confirms that Ciri would be the star of a new DLC, but it does make the rumored setting feel like more than a random pick. It is a corner of the world that could support a big, meaningful narrative rather than just a side trip.
The Business Side: Why CD Projekt Might Need This DLC
The second reason the rumor feels more believable has nothing to do with lore or characters and everything to do with money.
During an investor call in March 2025, CD Projekt stated that The Witcher 4, sometimes referred to as Polaris, would not launch before 2027 at the earliest. At the same time the company explained that it needed to generate a bit more than 1 billion Polish zloty by the end of 2026 to hit a target tied to its executive incentive program.
One investor pointed out that reaching that revenue goal would be extremely difficult without releasing new products. Since then, Noble Securities analyst Mateusz Chrzanowski has estimated that CD Projekt is still roughly 700 million zloty short of that target, with only five financial quarters left to close the gap.
In his view, this gap cannot realistically be filled by minor updates or by releasing ports to niche platforms. The company would need something big, something that can sell to a large portion of its existing audience.
That is where the rumored Witcher 3 expansion comes in. Chrzanowski believes that a substantial new DLC could bring in around 330 million dollars in revenue by the end of 2026. At current rates, that would translate to nearly 1.2 billion Polish zloty, more than enough to push CD Projekt over its incentive threshold.
From a business standpoint, that math makes a lot of sense. The Witcher 3 still has an enormous player base across PC and consoles. The game is widely regarded as one of the best RPGs ever made, and its previous expansions, especially Blood and Wine, are beloved. Selling a fresh, story rich expansion to that audience would be far less risky than launching a completely new IP on short notice.
On top of that, a surprise DLC would keep The Witcher brand in the spotlight while The Witcher 4 continues development. It could also serve as a narrative bridge into the next main entry, offering hints or direct setup for where Ciri and the wider world are headed.
Still A Rumor, But Harder To Ignore
Despite all of this, nothing is confirmed. CD Projekt has not announced any new Witcher 3 content and has stayed consistently quiet whenever these rumors resurface. There have been no rating board leaks, store page accidents or job listings that clearly point to a new expansion.
What has changed is the weight of the circumstantial evidence. On one side there is IGN Poland’s older but credible source claiming a desert expansion set in Zerrikania. On the other side there is a very real financial target that seems tough to reach without a significant release, plus an analyst who is confident that some kind of major content is coming.
For now this all sits in the space between speculation and reality. Fans who love The Witcher 3 and its expansions have plenty of reason to hope, especially if the idea of exploring Zerrikania and possibly seeing more of Ciri’s future appeals to them.
Until CD Projekt finally speaks up, the safest conclusion is that a new Witcher 3 DLC is far from certain, but not nearly as far fetched as it once seemed. If it does materialize, it could be both a clever financial move and a chance to revisit one of the best RPG worlds on modern PC hardware with fresh eyes.
Original article and image: https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/witcher-3-dlc-rumors-pick-up-strength-as-ign-poland-says-it-knew-about-all-of-this-years-ago/
