Two Witcher 3 Expansions Announced, Promising 30 Hours of Gameplay

In addition to 16 free pieces of DLC, upcoming open-world role-playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be supported by two major, paid expansions, the first of which will launch this year, CD Projekt Red announced Tuesday.

The first is called Hearts of Stone, which sees players venturing into an area called "No Man's Land" and another location called Oxenfurt. Here, players will take on a quest from the "mysterious Man of Glass" that sounds like it will be a tough challenge.

"Caught in a thick tangle of deceit, Geralt will need all his cunning and strength to solve the mystery and emerge unscathed," CD Projekt Red said about the content, which should span around 10 hours.

The next Witcher 3 add-on is called Blood and Wine. This content, which is expected to provide 20 hours of gameplay, is set in an all-new region called Toussaint. CD Projekt Red isn't yet talking specifics, saying only that this content will "take Geralt to a land untainted by war, where an atmosphere of carefree indulgence and knightly ritual masks an ancient, bloody secret."

Both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine will include new gear and enemies, as well as characters who are "both new and dearly missed." CD Projekt Red also promises that both expansion packs are "crafted with maximum attention to detail and quality."

Hearts of Stone launches in October, while Blood and Wine is due to release in the first quarter of 2016, meaning it should arrive by the end of March 2016. The expansions will be sold together through a Witcher 3 Expansion Pass, though pricing was not announced. CD Projekt Red will also offer a bundle that comes with the game and the expansion pass. Pricing for this bundle was also not revealed.

Unfortunately, no images or video from either expansion have been released.

CD Projekt Red has criticized paid DLC in the past, but co-founder Marcin Iwinski says today that Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are truly significant add-ons that could rival some full, standalone games.

"We remember the time when add-on disks truly expanded games by delivering meaningful content," Iwinski said in a statement. "As gamers, we'd like to bring that back. We've said in the past that if we ever decide to release paid content, it will be vast in size and represent real value for the money. Both our expansions offer more hours of gameplay than quite a few standalone games out there."

"While we're offering the Expansion Pass now, we want to make one thing clear: don't buy it if you have any doubts. Wait for reviews or play The Witcher and see if you like it first. As always, it's your call," he added.

After multiple delays, The Witcher 3 release date is May 19 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.