Following its bombastic success during The Witcher 3‘s heyday, Gwent kind of fizzled out in popularity even though the developer CD Projekt RED did invest in its standalone offshoot. Now, though, a physical edition of the game is on the horizon, and it looks very neat indeed.
Developed by No Loading Games and officially licensed by CDPR, Gwent: The Legendary Card Game is an all-new physical tabletop experience slated to launch in 2025. Whereas the standalone digital version of Gwent is now under the players’ control and a far cry from the game’s original Witcher 3 version, this appears to be a love letter to the legacy version specifically. This, too, makes perfect sense when you consider that the project is being produced to celebrate The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt‘s 10th anniversary, though it comes with its own set of caveats.
No Loading Games’ physical edition of Gwent is coming out next year
While not everything is yet known about Gwent: The Legendary Card Game, No Loading Games has already confirmed that it will specifically “stay true to the original in-game experience.” This is an important point to make, as the standalone and post-launch versions of Gwent ended up going in wildly different directions in the end. To say nothing of the Thronebreaker version of the card game.
No Loading Games has also said that Gwent will feature all five core factions and a board, so it’s going to be a full package right off the bat, ready for playing. It’s also going to be available in a variety of languages, with German and French already confirmed.
It’s worth pointing out that Gwent: The Legendary Card Game won’t be immune to “post-launch DLC,” as it were. No Loading Games has already invited potential players to subscribe to a newsletter to receive a free Legendary booster pack containing alternative artwork featured in the Ballad Heroes DLC for The Witcher 3. No telling yet whether more art-packs of its type might be planned further down the line.
Since No Loading Games made a point of highlighting the fact that this is going to be a Witcher 3 version of Gwent, specifically, it makes sense that any bonus booster packs would simply contain alternative artwork. Another reason why this is important is that some players felt that the original Witcher 3 version of the card game was the most fun, even though it was also rather poorly balanced in some ways. For example, the Monster and Scoia’tael decks were (in)famously underpowered compared to the three main faction decks.
This will, then, serve as an appropriate celebration of one of the most widely beloved and successful mini-games ever conceived. What more could a Gwent fan wish for?
Published: Dec 7, 2024 08:05 am