The Witcher 3 developer CD Projekt Red have included one slightly bizarre new feature to the upcoming game: Geralt's beard will grow over time.

In a statement made to Eurogamer, the studio's communications chief Michael Platkow-Gilewski confirmed the protagonist's facial hair has a variety of beard "states" that will triggered over time. Players can alternatively choose an unchanging style of facial hair by downloading the free Beard and Hairstyle DLC coming to the game.

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

"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."

The Witcher 3 launches on May 19 for Windows PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.