DLC has naturally evolved over the course of gaming since hitting its stride in the previous generation, and although some games have used it as a compromise for day-one DLC or other means, developer CD Projekt RED is set against these practices with the DLC of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - case in point, they are giving it to players for free.

In an open letter blog post on the developer's website, CD Projekt RED co-founder  Marcin Iwiński spoke at length about the game's DLC content, and making sure to thank players for their purchases of the game, rather than spare expenses to nickel-and-dime players for additional pieces of content.

Iwiński detailed that CD Projekt Red will be releasing 16 DLC packs that will available for free to all purchasers of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on all platforms, whether they are pre-ordered or purchased after the game's launch. DLC bundles for the game will be released on a weekly basis following the game's launch this February, including new quests, costumes, equipment, and yes...even beards. In the letter, Iwiński mentioned:

“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?

As CD PROJEKT RED, we strongly believe this is not the way it should work and, with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, we have decided to do it differently. Cutting to the chase, everyone who buys Wild Hunt will receive 16 specially prepared DLCs absolutely for free, regardless of platform. You don’t have to pre-order, you don’t have to buy any special edition to get them — if you own a copy of Wild Hunt, they’re yours. This is our way of saying thank you for buying our game.”

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt releases for PS4, Xbox One, and PC on February 24th, 2015.