The Witcher 3: How Long to Beat (Base Game, All DLCs & Playstyles)

• TL;DR
• Main story only: around 52 hours.
• Main story + side quests: around 100–110 hours.
• Full completionist (base game only): around 150–180 hours.
• Hearts of Stone main story: around 10 hours. With side content: 18–25 hours.
• Blood and Wine main story: around 15 hours. With side content: 30–40 hours.
• Everything — base game + both DLCs, completionist: 170–200+ hours.
• Songs of the Past (2027) is expected to add roughly 30+ hours based on its Blood and Wine comparison.
• Both DLCs are now free and included in every copy of the game since The Witcher 3 Remastered launched on September 29, 2026.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the longest RPGs ever made. The base game alone can swallow hundreds of hours if you let it. Add both expansions and the number climbs even further. And with Songs of the Past on the way in 2027, there has never been more Witcher 3 content to work through.

This guide breaks down the time commitment for every part of the game — main story, side quests, completionist runs, and all DLC — so you know exactly what you are signing up for before you start.

How Long Is The Witcher 3 Main Story?

The main story of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes around 52 hours to complete. That figure comes from a sample of over 1,000 player-reported completion times and is a reliable average for someone playing at a normal pace, following the main questline without going too deep into side content.

That said, 52 hours is an average. Your actual time will depend heavily on how you play.

• Rushing the main story: Around 35–40 hours. Possible if you skip most optional dialogue, fast travel everywhere, and ignore side quests entirely.
• Normal pace: Around 50–55 hours. This is the average. You do the main quests, pick up some contracts and side quests along the way, and explore regions as they open up.
• Leisurely pace: 70–100 hours for just the main campaign, if you stop frequently to explore, read in-game books and documents, and take time with every conversation.

The Witcher 3’s main story is not a straight line. It has major branches, multiple endings determined by choices made throughout the game, and questlines that can close off permanently if you delay too long. The game rewards players who engage with it fully rather than racing through it.

Witcher 3 Remastered

How Long Is The Witcher 3 With Side Quests?

Side quests are where The Witcher 3 separates itself from most other open world games. The quality of side content here is genuinely comparable to the main story. Many of the game’s most memorable moments are in side quests, not the main questline.

If you want to play the main story and complete most side quests and Witcher contracts, expect around 100–110 hours. That includes:

• Side quests — multi-part quests with their own characters, moral choices, and outcomes. Several of these rival the main story in quality.
• Witcher contracts — monster hunt missions that require using your Witcher senses to investigate and prepare before the fight.
• Treasure hunts — scavenger quests for Witcher School gear sets, which are the best armor and weapons in the game.
• Gwent — the in-game card game. Collecting all Gwent cards and winning all relevant matches is a time sink in itself.
• Question marks on the map — hidden locations, abandoned sites, monster nests, and points of interest scattered across Velen, Novigrad, Skellige, and Kaer Morhen.

How Long to 100% The Witcher 3 (Completionist)?

A full completionist run of the base game alone — every quest, every contract, every question mark, every Gwent card, all achievements — takes around 150–180 hours on average. Some players take significantly longer, especially if they engage with multiple difficulty levels or reload for different choices and endings.

The extreme end of completionist play goes well beyond that. Players who count time spent experimenting with builds, testing different choices in branching quests, or clearing the map of every last marker have reported 250 hours and beyond in the base game alone.

The Witcher 3 has three possible main endings and several variations depending on choices made throughout the game. A full completionist run typically involves seeing at least two or three of those endings across multiple playthroughs, which multiplies the time commitment accordingly.

How Long Is Hearts of Stone?

Hearts of Stone is the first expansion for The Witcher 3. It is set in and around Novigrad and introduces one of the game’s most memorable characters — Gaunter O’Dimm, a mysterious figure who makes deals with people for their souls.

Hearts of Stone is smaller in scope than the base game or Blood and Wine, but it is extremely dense. The writing quality is high throughout and the story takes some of the darkest turns in the entire Witcher 3 experience.

• Main story only: Around 10 hours.
• Main story + side quests: Around 18–25 hours.
• Full completionist: Around 25–30 hours. Hearts of Stone has 12 achievements and a range of optional content including the Runewright system, the Borsodi Brothers questline, and the wedding sequence.

Hearts of Stone does not add a new open-world region. It uses existing Novigrad and surrounding areas but adds new locations within them. This keeps the map familiar while the content itself feels distinct from the base game.

How Long Is Blood and Wine?

Blood and Wine is the second and largest expansion. It is set in Toussaint — a brand new region inspired by the French countryside and Provençal architecture. Toussaint is visually unlike anything in the base game. It is bright, colorful, and idyllic in a way that makes the horror underneath it feel even more jarring when it surfaces.

Blood and Wine is widely considered one of the greatest expansion packs ever released for any RPG. CD PROJEKT RED called it a full standalone adventure, and the size backs that up.

• Main story only: Around 15 hours.
• Main story + side quests: Around 30–40 hours. Toussaint is packed with contracts, treasure hunts, a full Tourney questline, a vineyard you maintain, and numerous multi-part side quests with their own story arcs.
• Full completionist: Around 40–45 hours. Blood and Wine has 14 achievements including some tied to choices and endings within the expansion’s story.

Blood and Wine also contains its own ending separate from the main game’s ending. Your choices throughout the expansion affect the final state of Toussaint and Geralt’s retirement. There are branching paths with different outcomes, which adds replay value for players who want to see all variations.

How Long Is the Full Game With Both DLCs?

Here is the complete picture for The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt Remastered with both expansions included — which is now the standard version of the game since the Remastered launch on September 29, 2026.

• Main stories only (base + HoS + B&W): Around 75–80 hours.
• Main stories + most side content: Around 140–150 hours.
• Full completionist (base + HoS + B&W): Around 170–200 hours.

These numbers represent a significant time investment. But it is worth noting that the quality of content across those hours is consistently high. The Witcher 3 does not pad its length with filler. Every side quest has its own characters, writing, and resolution. Contracts have investigation phases before the fight. Treasure hunts send you across multiple regions and into dungeons. You are earning your hours here.

What About Songs of the Past?

Songs of the Past is the third expansion, launching in 2027. It has not been released yet and no official hour count has been confirmed. However, CD PROJEKT RED compared its scale directly to Blood and Wine — a 30-plus hour expansion with a full new open-world region.

Based on that comparison, Songs of the Past is expected to add roughly:

• Main story only: Around 15 hours (based on Blood and Wine comparison).
• With side content: Around 30+ hours.
• Completionist: Likely 40+ hours, depending on how dense the Letten region is.

If Songs of the Past matches Blood and Wine in scope, the full Witcher 3 experience including all three expansions would reach somewhere between 200 and 250 hours for a thorough playthrough and well beyond that for completionists.

Songs of the Past is a separate paid expansion and is not included in Remastered. For full details on what it contains, see our Songs of the Past everything we know guide. And for clarification on exactly what is and is not included in Remastered, see our Songs of the Past included in Remastered guide.

What Is the Best Order to Play Everything?

The recommended order for getting the most out of The Witcher 3 and its expansions is straightforward.

• Start with the base game. Complete the main story and as much side content as you want before moving to the DLCs. Both expansions are designed to be played after the base game and assume you know the characters and world.
• Play Hearts of Stone after completing Velen and Novigrad. It is set in familiar territory and works best once you understand the world. A recommended level of 30 or above is advised before starting it.
• Play Blood and Wine last. CD PROJEKT RED designed it as Geralt’s send-off. It works as a finale and is better experienced with the full weight of the base game’s story behind you. A recommended level of 35 or above before starting.
• Play Songs of the Past after Blood and Wine when it launches in 2027. The expansion picks up after Blood and Wine’s ending and is built on the Remastered version of the game.

You do not have to finish the main story before starting the DLCs — the game never locks you out — but playing in this order gives you the best narrative experience and ensures you are appropriately levelled for each expansion’s combat.

Tips for Managing Your Time in The Witcher 3

The Witcher 3 can feel overwhelming at the start, especially looking at a world map covered in question marks and quest markers. A few things that help.

• Do not try to clear every question mark as you find it. Question marks are map markers for hidden locations. Some of them are worth visiting for loot or context, but chasing every one in order will break the pacing of your playthrough. Come back to regions after finishing their main quests.
• Witcher School gear scavenger hunts are worth doing before the late game. The Witcher gear sets — Cat, Griffin, Wolf, Bear, Manticore, and Viper — are the best equipment in the game and scale up through enhanced, superior, mastercrafted, and grandmaster tiers. Starting the hunts early gives you time to gather materials without rushing them at the end.
• Side quests expire. Some side quests become unavailable after story milestones. The game warns you when a point of no return is approaching, but it is worth completing Novigrad and Velen side content before moving the main story to Act 3.
• Gwent is easier to complete throughout the game than at the end. Many Gwent cards are only available from specific merchants and innkeepers who can be gone later in the game. If you want to complete the Gwent quest, pick up cards as you encounter vendors rather than saving it for later.
• The Remastered Skill reset is actually a good opportunity. Patch 5.0 reset all skill points for returning players. Rather than rushing to rebuild your old setup, take time to read the new skill tree from scratch. The new structure changes how builds come together — our best builds guide and skill tree guide cover all playstyles in full.

Frequently Asked Questions