The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past will be as big as Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty and Blood & Wine, say CDPR

CD Projekt Red has been very clear about one thing since announcing The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past: stop calling it a DLC. According to the studio, there is a meaningful difference between the two, and it matters a lot for what players should actually expect from this release. Multiple members of CDPR's team have made it clear that Songs of the Past will be similar in scale to Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty, or The Witcher 3's critically acclaimed Blood and Wine.

CDPR community manager Marcin Łukaszewski clarified the studio's internal definition of DLCs on social media, explaining that at CD Projekt Red, DLCs are small, free pieces of content, such as the bonus cosmetics and outfits previously released for The Witcher 3. Expansions, by contrast, are major paid releases with new story content, characters, and many hours of gameplay. Songs of the Past firmly falls in the latter camp.

That distinction was reinforced by Cyberpunk 2 associate game director Paweł Sasko, who shared a clip of Idris Elba making the same point when Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty launched, noting that CDPR builds big, substantial expansions and gives away anything smaller for free.

In terms of scope, CDPR CEO Michał Nowakowski addressed it directly during the company's Q1 2026 earnings call, saying Songs of the Past is closer to Blood and Wine than to Hearts of Stone in terms of scale, though he acknowledged that actual playtime will vary depending on how players approach the content.

That is a significant benchmark for determining the actual scale of the upcoming expansion. Blood and Wine, released in 2016 as The Witcher 3's second expansion, was so sprawling and content-rich that it took home Best RPG at The Game Awards that year, beating out full standalone titles. It was also considerably larger in scope than the first expansion, Hearts of Stone, which was more focused and story-driven by design.

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Songs of the Past is being co-developed with Fool's Theory and is currently targeting a 2027 release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. It is also expected to serve as a narrative bridge heading into The Witcher 4. If the Blood and Wine comparison holds, players are looking at something closer to a standalone game than a simple add-on.