After CD Projekt Red released its seminal hitThe Witcher 3, it didn’t take long for the game’s considerable fanbase to pick up on how surprisingly good its card-based mini-game,Gwent, ended up being. Eager to build on its hype, CDPR prepared a proper multiplayer offshoot of the game, which remains relevant and retains a solid player base even today.
Now, following months of radio silence, CD Projekt Red has finally revealed its next bigGwentrelease, and it’s significantly more prospective than most fans may have expected. Namely, the newly revealedRogue MageDLC is a full-blooded expansion pack for the card game that adds veritable PvE elements to the mix, though it’s immediately worth pointing out that it’s not a free release, but a standalone installation.
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SomeGwentfans may remember that CDPR hinted atthe production of a “Golden Nekker” gameearly in 2022. This, as it turns out, was simply the working title forGwent: Rogue Mage, which is a substantial expansion pack for the regular mainlineGwenttitle.Rogue Mageis set to release tomorrow, July 7, and will cost $9.99 by default, though fans may also opt to purchase the premium edition of the DLC, featuring a variety of cosmetics and card packs for multiplayer modes, and which costs $19.99 instead.
ThoughGwentis no stranger to content updates,Rogue Mageis a rather unprecedented expansion for the game. The core gameplay loop more closely follows that of Gwent as it appeared inThe Witcher 3, rather than the standaloneGwenttitle, and the DLC seems to deliver most of its content via the novel rogue-lite expedition system. Here, players can tweak the content difficulty using a dozen different settings, though the game’s director, Vladimir Tortsov, claims that there’s roughly 30 hours' worth of content featured therein, regardless of how easy or hard players wantRogue Mageto get.
Curiously, the narrative ofRogue Magetakes place hundreds of years beforeThe Witcher’s beloved Geralt of Riviawas ever born. Players step into the shoes of Alzur, the apparent progenitor of the Witcher order, and then set about creating the very first Witcher by navigating combat viaGwentand various moral quandaries that the franchise is known for. As interesting as this concept might be, Tortsov did say that it wasn’t “an official addition toThe Witcherlore.”
On a similar tangent, it’s curious to note that the formerGwentdirector is leadingThe Witcher 4developmentat this time, which may lead to some interesting additions to the upcoming RPG’s core gameplay formula. This could mean that some ofRogue Magemight rub off on the next entry in the mainlineWitchersaga, too.
Gwent: The Witcher Card Gameis currently available on PC, PS4, Xbox One, and mobile devices. TheRogue MageDLC is launching on July 7.
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