'The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine' Expansion News & Update: Developer Confirms Huge Area, Gameplay 'More Refined' & Complex

"The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt" has won the Best Role-Playing Game and the Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2015. At this year's SXSW Gaming Awards, the game was also being a finalist for Game of the Year.

With last year's 10-hour long "Hearts of Stone", the already massive game got its first expansion. The second expansion called "Blood and Wine" is expected to come on the market in the first part of 2016.

One of the biggest selling points of "The Witcher 3" was the density of things to see and do in the open-world and "Blood and Wine" will come to give players even more to enjoy.

According to the website IGN, the developer CD Projekt Red declared that "Blood and Wine" will be even more complex and refined than the main game itself. The expansion will introduce a new setting that will be separated from the realms of Skellige, Velen and Novigrad. According to Game Spot, the new map area called Toussaint will rival the size of those present in the main game.

"Blood and Wine" is expected to double the number of game play hours from first expansion "Hearts of Stone". Michal Platkow-Gilewski, CD Projekt Red marketing lead, announced that the expansion will also contain new weapons, new monsters, new quests, and lots of new places to visit and explore.

CD Projekt Red unveiled that in terms of the story twists the new expansion will take Geralt to a land untouched by war where an ancient bloody secret is covered by a carefree atmosphere and a knightly ritual. This would come in contrast to the war torn lands that make the setting of the main game.

The story in "Blood and Wine" is completely separated and more complex than the story in "The Wild Hunt", according to an interview with CD Project RED published on Euro Gamer  and translated via Onlysp.