So far, Gwent has appeared in a few different incarnations. The popular card game first appeared in The Witcher 3 as a minigame that could be found in various locations across the Continent, and a full-fledged standalone game titled Gwent: The Witcher Card Game was released in late 2018. Now, it appears that fans will receive yet another option — this time in the form of a standalone, single-player game set to release later in 2022.
That’s according to a report by IGN which reveals the new single-player Gwent game is codenamed Project Golden Nekker – an amusing working title given those pesky little critters hardly earn themselves the honour of being gilded in both The Witcher 2 and 3. The site reports that development of the game is currently being handled by CD Projekt Red’s Gwent team and it sounds like it’ll be something of a departure from the game players know. It’ll offer a “captivating single-player experience”, the site says, that’s different to previous versions of Gwent.
It’ll also apparently be totally standalone, which means you can pick it up and get started when it launches without needing to own any previous versions of Gwent.
This is, of course, not the first time Gwent has seen a standalone single-player offshoot. Also in 2018, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales arrived. This is an isometric RPG set years before the events of the first game in The Witcher series which mashes narrative-driven exploration with puzzles and card battling mechanics.
Reportedly, Project Golden Nekker will be a whole different kettle of fish, though. “It’s not another Witcher Tales but something different,” IGN quotes Gwent comms lead Paweł Burza as explaining. “We’re aiming to provide a captivating single-player for players who prefer it over competitive multiplayer Gwent.” The site also has a bunch of concept art images in a gallery if you’re keen to get a taste of what it’s all about at this stage.
There’s no release date for Project Golden Nekker yet other than sometime in 2022, it seems. However, as IGN suggests, given the previous (and expected) release cadence of previous Witcher games and Gwent cards, it’s possible it could arrive in October this year, though that’s just speculation for now. If you’re after something with a firmer debut set, you can always take a look at our list of upcoming PC games.