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The Witcher 3 DLC Guide: What’s Included in the Complete Edition and What to Play First

The Complete Edition includes The Witcher 3’s base game, Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. Here’s a sensible first-playthrough order and what to know about access.
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The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition includes the base game and both major story expansions: Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine. For a first playthrough, play the main campaign, then Hearts of Stone, then Blood and Wine. That order is a recommendation, not a requirement: CD PROJEKT RED says the expansions can be started separately from the main menu.

What’s included in The Witcher 3 Complete Edition?

The Complete Edition bundles the base game with its two major story expansions. In the main campaign, Geralt searches across the Continent for his adopted daughter, Ciri. The expansions are substantial, separate adventures:

  • Hearts of Stone: Geralt takes on a contract connected to the mysterious Man of Glass. Its locations include No Man’s Land and Oxenfurt.
  • Blood and Wine: Geralt travels to Toussaint, a new region, for a separate story.

CD PROJEKT RED’s current game page and FAQ describe the Complete Edition and current storefront changes. Edition names and contents can differ across platforms and older physical releases, so check the exact listing for the platform and package you are buying. The publisher’s 2016 Game of the Year Edition announcement, for example, said that edition included all DLC and updates and improvements released by that time; that historical description should not be treated as a guarantee about every package bearing a similar label.

What order should you play The Witcher 3 DLC?

  1. Play the main campaign. It establishes the central search for Ciri and gives a first-time player the main story context before moving to either separate adventure.
  2. Play Hearts of Stone. It was the first of the two major expansions and takes Geralt to No Man’s Land and Oxenfurt. In its 2015 announcement, CD PROJEKT RED estimated a 10-plus-hour adventure; that is a launch-era estimate, not a guaranteed playtime.
  3. Finish with Blood and Wine. It followed Hearts of Stone and introduces Toussaint. The publisher’s 2015 announcement estimated a 20-plus-hour tale and framed it as a journey that closes Geralt’s story; this, too, is an estimate rather than a promise about an individual playthrough.

This sequence follows the expansions’ release order and the publisher’s concluding-story framing for Blood and Wine. CD PROJEKT RED does not prescribe it as mandatory. Its FAQ says either expansion can be started separately from the main menu, so you are not locked out of one by choosing the other first.

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#1 Best Overall
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition - Xbox Series X
  • Trained from early childhood and mutated to gain superhuman skills, strength, and reflexes, witchers are a counterbalance to the monster-infested world in which they live.
  • Built for endless adventure, the massive open world of The Witcher sets new standards in terms of size, depth, and complexity.
  • Take on the most important contract of your life: to track down the child of prophecy, the key to saving or destroying this world.

How do the two expansions differ?

Expansion Setting and premise Publisher’s launch-era scale estimate Why play it in this order?
Hearts of Stone A contract involving the Man of Glass, with locations including No Man’s Land and Oxenfurt. 10-plus hours, estimated by CD PROJEKT RED in 2015. It was the first major expansion released.
Blood and Wine A separate story in the new region of Toussaint. 20-plus hours, estimated by CD PROJEKT RED in 2015. It followed Hearts of Stone and was described by the publisher as a journey that closes Geralt’s story.

The hour figures are estimates published at launch, not measured completion times. Your actual time will depend on how you play.

Do you need to buy the expansions separately?

If you are buying the Complete Edition, its listed contents include both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine, alongside the base game. If you already own the base game, access depends on your platform and edition history. CD PROJEKT RED’s current FAQ says standalone expansions are delisted in the storefront changes it describes, the base game is replaced there by the Complete Edition, and existing expansion owners keep them in their libraries as the content is patched into the base game. It also says previous-generation PS4 and Xbox One owners can download the expansions free. Store availability wording can vary by platform and later release updates, so check the current publisher guidance and your platform’s listing rather than assuming every account has the same entitlement.

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What changed with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered?

CD PROJEKT RED released The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered on September 29, 2026. The publisher’s release notice says the update includes Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine for owners on GOG, Steam, Epic Games Store, Battle.net, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch 2. For how to claim or access it, follow the current instructions for your specific platform; the announcement’s included-content statement is not a substitute for checking account eligibility or platform steps.

Quick Recap

Bestseller No. 2
Bestseller No. 3
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition - Xbox One
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition - Xbox One
If you buy this game, you will receive a free next-gen update on December 14th!; Play as a highly trained monster slayer for hire.
$24.99
Rank #3
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Complete Edition - Xbox One
  • If you buy this game, you will receive a free next-gen update on December 14th!
  • Play as a highly trained monster slayer for hire.
  • Built for endless adventure, the massive open world of The Witcher sets new standards in terms of size, depth and complexity.
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Game of the Year edition brings together the base game and all the additional content released to date.

Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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