The Witcher 3 devs are in on the hype, as Elden Ring DLC takes best-reviewed expansion crown

Swarms of Tarnished have returned to venture through the Lands Between once again after FromSoftware finally released its long-awaited Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Although casual gamers make up most of the expansion’s current massive player base, some professionals have also unsurprisingly hopped on the hype train, as The Witcher 3 developer CD Projekt Red recently shared a collage of its team members getting ready for the DLC.

In a post on The Witcher 3’s official Twitter/X account, CD Projekt Red initially congratulated the Elden Ring devs, saying, “For the last 8 years, The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine had the honor of being the best-reviewed expansion for a role-playing game.” “But Elden Ring gets to wear that crown now. Congratulations to the entire team at FromSoftware on their stellar work,” they continued.

Here's a live view of REDs this week trying to prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree. pic.twitter.com/Ixb3rxrpyZ

— The Witcher (@witchergame) June 21, 2024

Back in 2016 (on previous-gen platforms) and again in 2022 (on current-gen), Blood and Wine gained universal acclaim for the dramatic conclusion of Geralt’s story. Plus, the sheer size of the expansion gave players plenty of new content and could have practically made it a standalone game. This time, Shadow of the Erdtree is gaining plaudits for similar reasons, with some on Reddit even claiming the Elden Ring expansion is “too big” to be called a DLC.

In an additional post, CDPR shared “a live view of REDs this week trying to prepare for Shadow of the Erdtree.” The image included several screenshots of dev team members’ in-game characters at Mohgwyn Palace, presumably after they’ve beaten or were in the process of defeating Mohg. For those unfamiliar, learning how to beat Mohg, Lord of the Blood easily is necessary if you want to start the Elden Ring DLC. You’ll also need to make sure you kill the right Mohg, or you’ll just be wasting precious time.