CDPR is speedrunning the Witcher trilogy at one game every two years - but no DLC allowed

CD Projekt Red has apparently looked at its own track record, thrown caution to the wind, and decided to go absolutely feral with its upcoming Witcher trilogy plans. According to PC Gamer, the studio is targeting a release cadence of three full Witcher titles within a six-year window. That's one game roughly every two years, which in AAA development terms is basically the equivalent of beating Dark Souls blindfolded.

Before you start popping champagne and equipping your best silver sword, there's a catch. CDPR is reportedly not planning any expansions for this new trilogy. No Blood and Wine. No Hearts of Stone. No "one more thing" DLC that ends up being better than the base game. Just clean, full releases and onto the next one.

Is this actually good news?

Hear me out before you start typing in the comments. The original Witcher 3 expansions were legendary - genuinely some of the best DLC content ever shipped in an RPG. Losing that pipeline stings on paper. But if CDPR can maintain quality while actually shipping games faster than a new console generation, the trade-off might be worth it.

The studio's recent history gives us reasons to both hope and side-eye this plan. Cyberpunk 2077 famously launched in a state that would make any QA tester cry, but its Phantom Liberty expansion redeemed it hard. Going expansion-free means CDPR has to nail the base game every single time, no safety net, no second chances to patch the story with DLC content.

The math checks out, barely

Six years, three games. That timeline assumes everything goes to plan, no crunch disasters, no engine rewrites, no global pandemics. For context, Witcher 3 alone took about three and a half years to develop after Witcher 2. Either CDPR has massively leveled up its production pipeline, or we should temper our expectations about scope.

Still, if this strategy works and each game ships in a complete, polished state, this could be one of the most ambitious trilogy rollouts in RPG history. The Witcher universe has more than enough lore to fill three separate adventures, and frankly, after years of waiting, fans will take a more frequent release schedule over radio silence any day.

No pressure, CDPR. Just don't miss your respawn timer.