The Witcher Needs to Decide If It’s Doubling Down or Retiring Gwent

Highlights

• Gwent in The Witcher 3 led to popular standalone game, Gwent: The Witcher Card Game.
• Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales combined Gwent with narrative to extend gameplay.
• CD Projekt Red faces a decision to keep Gwent or introduce new mini-games in future Witcher titles.

The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt is largely celebrated as one of the best open-world RPGs of the last decade and generation. CD Projekt Red’s most ambitious title at the time, 2015’s The Witcher 3 proved extremely popular due to its incredibly considered design, setting, and storylines. One of its most well-liked inclusions was Gwent, a mini-game that captured gamers’ attention by being just as excellently crafted as many of the game’s major components. CDPR then surprised and delighted fans by releasing a full spin-off based on it to great success in 2017.

The studio had one more card to play with Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales in 2018, a narrative adventure set in the world of The Witcher. It featured a series of missions consisting of increasingly complex Gwent matches and puzzles combined with resource management mechanics that together formed a fresh story in the universe. Thronebreaker extended the utility and lifespan of Gwent in addition to an engaging yarn connecting it to the series’ overall lore. Given Gwent’s status, there are good reasons for CDPR to continue to bet big and go all-in on keeping a version of Gwent in upcoming franchise entries. Conversely, there are arguments to be made for trading it in favor of something entirely new yet still relevant to its vision for the latest Witcher experiences.

Pros and Cons of Gwent Returning in Future Witcher Games

Gwent’s Popularity in The Witcher 3 and Beyond

In its original Witcher 3 incarnation, Gwent is a deceptively simple but tougher-to-master in-universe strategic CCG. Various NPCs challenged protagonist Geralt to Gwent duels during his adventures. Players could go on to collect and purchase more powerful Gwent cards if they sought to become the greatest known champion of the addicting mini-game. After seeing how deeply many fans embraced and enjoyed Gwent in The Wild Hunt, CDPR seized the opportunity by creating the aforementioned standalone game, styled Gwent: The Witcher CardGame, and expanded its rules and sets via a format that swiftly became a sensation in its own right.

Gwent provided a platform for casual as well as intense ranked matches, with meta-builds emerging in an eventual Gwent tournament scene. After robust post-launch additions, however, Gwent received its last update in the Fall of 2023, leaving the community with a noticeable lack of official support. While Thronebreaker also offered more of it, its other detachments in gameplay from the core of both Gwent and the main Witcher titles saw it get a somewhat lesser reception than either. It stands to reason, though, it would still be an easy choice to have a form of Gwent make a return in the upcoming Witcher games.

Why it May be Best for The Witcher to Move on From Gwent

If the next Witcher game is to have mini-games similar to Gwent, as is highly likely, it could be a better decision to create a completely fresh one, or at least a different enough version of the original, to set it apart for the next cycle of entries. As the forthcoming series of games looks to move on from Geralt being the central figure, perhaps it’s time to also have a new mini-game or two that fits more with the latest installments’ time period and other details that will distinguish them from previous outings. CDPR is known for treating fans to fun surprises and satisfying twists in various ways, and giving them more mini-games of equal quality to Gwent without being a copy of it would be another great way of moving the franchise forward.