IGN can reveal that The Witcher's Gwent is becoming a new, single-player, standalone game, codenamed Project Golden Nekker and set to launch in 2022.
Project Golden Nekker is currently in development within CD Projekt Red’s Gwent team and aims to provide a “captivating single-player experience” different to previous versions of the digital card game.
Project Golden Nekker will be a completely standalone game, and won’t require players to own any other versions of Gwent to get the full experience.
Gwent was a fan-favourite minigame included in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but evolved into a standalone multiplayer game in 201. In turn, Gwent got its own spin-off two years later with the excellent The Witcher Tales: Thronebreaker.
Project Golden Nekker will be something else entirely according to Gwent Comms Lead Paweł Burza: “It’s not another Witcher Tales [game] but something different,” he said. “We’re aiming to provide a captivating single-player for players who prefer it over competitive multiplayer Gwent.”
Although this is the first time we've learned that it's an entirely new game, CD Projekt Red has been quietly teasing the project for several months, dropping hints on Gwent streams and community podcasts.
In a developer update streamed during Gwent World Masters #3 in December – the game’s esports finals – Game Director Vladimir Tortsov said an official reveal for the game is coming soon.
He said: “We want to announce stuff that we’re working on when the time is right," continuing, “I’m really excited about this project coming together and I hope you like it as much as I do.”
Tortsov also revealed new concept art for the game to go alongside the handful of images already teased, all of which can be viewed in the gallery above, along with a new image of “The Barbarian” that IGN can reveal for the first time.
Four of the images – The Barbarian, The Golden Nekker, Living Fire, and Fire Elemental – are in the style of Gwent cards, meaning this could be a first look at some of the playable units in Project Golden Nekker. The other two appear to be environment art of some kind, featuring a library (with a lurking Golden Nekker), and a marketplace.
When The Witcher Tales: Thronebreaker released, new cards in the standalone game were also added to the multiplayer version of Gwent, meaning these new cards will likely be added to that game as well.
The 2022 Gwent roadmap has already revealed that new cards are due to be released in April, July, October, and December, and every Witcher game has been released in either May or October in the past.
This means that, assuming the cards appear in Gwent: The Witcher Card Game alongside the new standalone game, it’s very possible that Project Golden Nekker will release in October 2022.
Ryan Dinsdale is a freelance writer for IGN.
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