When Gwent's Single Player Story Mode Will Finally Arrive

CD Projekt Red has been working arduously on the collectible card game, Gwent, and the company has finally made enough headway on the core mechanics to put in some time and effort into the single-player mode, which has finally received a release window.

The news was rolled out over on the official website, where the team revealed that within the next six months the single-player story mode is expected to arrive for gamers.

It may be hard to believe but the game was originally announced way back at E3 2016, just a year after The Witcher 3 had released for home consoles and PC. Gwent started as a mini-game that Geralt could play at the local taverns in the game. The popularity of Gwent skyrocketed to the point where gamers were spending inordinate amounts of time playing the mini-game rather than the main game, and hoping that there would be a large scale spin-off themed around the CCG.

Well, CD Projekt wasn't one to let fan hype and anticipation go unnoticed, and began working on the game immediately after seeing the strong response and engagement from the community for the presence of Gwent in The Witcher 3. After announcing that it would become its own full length, free-to-play title in 2016, it was followed up with a variety of beta tests.

Throughout 2017 there were a number of tests conducted with the public's participation, and now the team is announcing that Gwent's single-player story mode is moving into the homestretch of development, hence the team is calling it "Gwent Homecoming". Over the next six months, there are plans to spruce up the playability and eventually get the single-player portion of the game ready to ship.

Once the Homecoming phase of development is complete, CD Projekt has plans on bringing Gwent out of beta and releasing it in full. This will also include a full run through the eSports sector, as the team looks to capture the attention of the electronic sporting leagues.

Throughout the next six months there are a number of fixes that will be applied, including fixing the board so that it plays a far more strategic role in the gameplay. The team is considering cutting one of the eight rows on the board in order to help the cards shine big and bright, something that is quite evident in order CCGs such as Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Hearthstone.

The coin flip mechanic is being worked on as well, along with an overhaul on player progression, which will allow gamers to experience an all-new leveling and achievement system in Gwent. The team is also revising the ranked mode with more "suitable" rewards.

This all ties into the added focus on the core gamer experience, and player agency. The team is minimizing the redundancy of RNG mechanics, and focusing more on a "deep game" experience for players who enjoy engaging in a more tactical and strategic gameplay environment.

All of these features will be present when the single-player campaign goes live later into 2018 with the full release of Gwent.