The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Fiend Fight

CD Projekt Red, developer of upcoming The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, has a bone to pick with the gaming industry and it's one that most gamers will have no problem siding with: paid downloadable content and season passes. In an open letter on the game's official website, the developer has confirmed that 16 pieces of DLC will be available for FREE to anyone that picks up The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, regardless of platform they play on. That's right. No season pass. No paid DLC. Just free.

Martin Iwinski, co-founder and joint CEO of CD Projekt Red expressed his views on the matter:

“We love games. We love collecting them, playing them, and everything connected to that experience. Every time we reach out for a new release, we expect to be taken care of. We expect support if we encounter any problems, we love updates constantly improving the experience, and we feel really special when we receive free content that gives us more than we initially paid for. It doesn’t have to be huge, it can be an awesome skin for a character, or an extra sword, or armor.

Unfortunately this treatment is quite rare these days. As gamers, we nowadays have to hold on tight to our wallets, as surprisingly right after release, lots of tiny pieces of tempting content materialize with a steep price tag attached. Haven’t we just paid a lot of cash for a brand new game?

Image. Php

This new free DLC initiative is available to anyone buying the game on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. It doesn't matter if you have pre-ordered or not, or purchased the Collector's Edition. Any Witcher 3 gamer that wants the extra DLC can have it for absolutely free.

The DLC won't all be available on day one, but players can expect two bundles on Feb. 25th, the day after the game launches. The first will be a Temerian Armour set (horse armour included) and a Beard and Hairstyle set for the game's main protagonist. The second adds a new quest and a new look for one of the game's main characters. After this date, the developer plans to release two new bundles each week beginning on March 4, for the next seven weeks.

Speaking with Polygon, Iwinski is hoping this free DLC program "will initiate a change in the industry, even if it's a small one at first. This, and we also hope to make someone's day better." Sounds like a real standup guy if we were to say so ourselves. Only time will tell if this will spark any change.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be out on February 24th, 2015.

[source thewitcher.com, via polygon.com]