One of the worst kept secrets ahead of E3 that wasn't a Microsoft product,was the upcoming Witcher spin-off, Gwent. CD Projekt Red announced Gwent: The Witcher Card Game there as a title that was taking the card playing mini-game designed for Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt and turning it into a full fledged product of its own.
At that time, the plan was for Gwent to go into a closed beta in September. One of the things they told us at E3 was that they were working on fleshing out some of the mechanics and balancing parts of Gwent to function better, especially as a standalone game. CD Projekt Red also explained that they expect the title to be more story focused than some of its competitors in the same genre, like Hearthstone, as they plan on having different single-player story-driven campaigns and are working out how to mix the multiplayer and singleplayer play.
That work is apparently taking longer than expected for the team at CD Projekt Red. In a press release, they explained that they need some extra time to work on Gwent and that they'd rather make sure there's a good game for testing rather than adhere to the deadline they had set. Thus, instead of the September closed beta release, Gwent is now targeting a closed beta date of October 25th.
Check out our Gwent preview if you want to learn more about the game, as we were able to try it out at E3 and share some impressions on it.
Gwent will be having a PC and Xbox One closed beta on October 25th, and will be eventually releasing on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Quick Take
While delays are always a bit disappointing, I prefer that they take the time to work out issues like netcode and rules tweaks that are needed now for the most part. While Witcher 3 was one of my favorite games last year, it took me a while to get into Gwent, likely due to my background in other CCGs like Magic: The Gathering made it seem overly simple. Still I've come to appreciate Gwent for what it is and am really looking forward to the story focus so I can spend some more time with these characters we've grown to know.
What do you think of the delay? Are you looking forward to playing it? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
