I was in line for coffee when a kid in a battered The Witcher T-shirt started humming the main theme. My chest tightened for a second—then I remembered why this game refuses to leave the room. The number CD Projekt Red just published proved that feeling wasn’t nostalgia; it was momentum.
I’ll be blunt with you: I think The Witcher 3 is one of the best games ever made. You can argue about jank or combat systems until your controller loses its buttons, but the story and side quests still set a bar that most studios aim for and miss. I’m telling you this because the sales figure that landed yesterday explains the strategy behind the new expansion in one line.
At a bar last week someone asked me, “Do people still play The Witcher 3?” The sales number answers that for you.
CD Projekt’s Q1 2026 report says The Witcher 3 has sold 65 million copies since its 2015 launch. That figure places it among the top-selling games of all time—roughly eighth on the commonly cited lists, just behind Terraria (around 70 million). That kind of longevity is a lighthouse in a fog.
Why does this matter? Because sustained sales change how a studio invests. For CD Projekt Red, high demand across Steam, GOG, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch turns a decade-old title into a platform for future narrative experiments and marketing leverage for the next mainline entry.
How many copies has The Witcher 3 sold?
Short answer: 65 million copies and counting, per CD Projekt’s official investor presentation. That number comes after multiple re-releases (including the Game of the Year Edition), next-gen patches, and consistent sales on digital storefronts like Steam and GOG.
I saw a message board thread where players debated whether a new expansion would set up a sequel. Here’s how the pieces line up.
CD Projekt has announced a new expansion called Songs of the Past. Details are thin, but the timing and the company’s language suggest it will either bridge to The Witcher 4 or add narrative weight to whatever comes next. The last major standalone DLC was Blood and Wine in 2016, which itself won acclaim and extended Geralt’s story in a satisfying way.
Will there be a The Witcher 4?
Short answer: CD Projekt has signaled development on next-gen Witcher entries and spin-offs for years. Songs of the Past reads like a narrative breadcrumb trail—positioning characters, themes, or world-states that could feed into a future mainline title.
Look at industry patterns: studios often use acclaimed back-catalog hits as testing grounds. Ubisoft, Bethesda, and even Kojima’s experiments show that new content for legacy titles can both placate fans and prime them for a sequel.
At a friend’s apartment last night, someone asked whether the DLC will cost extra. The short market reality is straightforward.
CD Projekt hasn’t confirmed whether Songs of the Past will be sold separately from the Game of the Year Edition (which already bundles Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine). If it follows common pricing, expect a modest fee—CD Projekt has floated small DLC prices before. For comparison, rumors and precedent suggest a typical premium could sit around $9.99 (€10).
If you don’t own the GOTY package, buying into the base game plus DLC on sale through Steam, GOG, or console stores has been one of the best value propositions in modern gaming.
I overheard a podcast host say the Witcher phenomenon is “a fluke.” That’s an easy argument to counter.
The Witcher’s success is the product of reputation, consistent support, and cultural reach. It won Game of the Year honors, drove sales spikes after the Netflix adaptation, and continues to sell in bundles and during promotional windows. It’s not a fluke; it’s a living example of long-tail value in games.
And yes, the community still trades theories about quests and characters as if new clues are treasure—proof that narrative investment can outlast technical debates about combat or UI.
If you’re deciding whether to start your first run or replay it now, the decision is simple: if you want story-driven RPGs that still influence the industry’s conversation, this is a low-risk, high-reward play. The question is whether CD Projekt will use Songs of the Past to tidy up old threads or to deliberately set the stage for a bolder next chapter—what do you think?