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Dynamic Beard Growth Confirmed for Witcher 3

But not to Gandalf-like lengths, developer CD Projekt Red confirms.

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Impressive-looking facial hair is nothing new for video games. But Polish developer CD Projekt Red is going one step further with its upcoming role-playing game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

In this game, main character Geralt's beard will grow over time. The action hero's beard has several "states," according to CD Projekt Red's communications boss Michał Platkow-Gilewski.

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"The beard grows as time passes and when Geralt moves between locations," he told Eurogamer. "The beard has several 'states' and these states determine its length--the longest is really long but it's not Gandalf-long."

Witcher 3 images released so far show Geralt with only a small amount of facial hair. It's unclear if there will be a button prompt to make Geralt stroke his beard.

In other facial hair news, CD Projekt Red has also revealed that the moment you apply The Witcher 3's free "Beard and Hairstyle" add-on (one of 16 free DLC packs for the game), Geralt's beard growth will come to an end.

"When you download the free Beard and Hairstyle DLC the growth of the beard will stop because we decided that when players want a predefined look, it would be weird to require from them to reapply it time after time," Platkow-Gilewski said.

CD Projekt Red previously described Geralt as a "relatively handsome man," citing his beard as one of his standout features.

After yet another delay, The Witcher 3 release date is May 19 for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC. For a closer look at the game, check out the images in the gallery below.

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