Summary
The development team behindThe Witcher 4recently hinted at the return of a beloved side activity from the previous game: Gwent. One of the first new game announcements to come from last week’s The Game Awards 2024 was the official first look atThe Witcher 4, which CDPR confirmed to be working on back in 2022. The stunning, pre-renderedWitcher 4trailer confirmed that Ciri will be taking over as the lead protagonist from Geralt, who will also make an appearance in the upcoming follow-up to his own acclaimed trilogy.
There are still many questions left unanswered aboutThe Witcher 4, though some of the developers at CD Projekt Red have been sharing more information following the game’s action-packed showing at The Game Awards 2024. CDPR’s Adam Badowski recently stated thatWitcher 4will explain how Ciri became a Witcherafter the events ofThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and it was later announced that newcomer Ciara Berkeley will take over from Jo Wyatt as the voice of Geralt’s former protégé as she comes into her own as a slayer of monsters.
One question that hasn’t been addressed yet is whether fans will get toplay more Gwent inThe Witcher 4, and some of the staff at CD Projekt Red have suggested that the popular card game will indeed return. While speaking to gaming news outlet Easy Allies,Witcher 4executive producer Gosia Mitrega said that she and her team love Gwent, and that she doesn’t think “anyone will be disappointed” in the next game.Witcher 4game director Sebastian Kalemba added to this by saying that Gwent is “part of the experience” and repeated Mitrega’s assertion that the developers love it.
Gwent May Return in The Witcher 4
Gwent was first introduced toThe Witcherseries as an optional side activity in2015’s award-winningThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, where players quickly fell in love with its fast gameplay and deep levels of strategy and customization. CDPR released a free-to-play standalone version in 2018 titledGwent: The Witcher Card Game, though support ended late last year. A physical version of Gwent is scheduled to be released in 2025.
Meanwhile, it appears that Ciri might also follow her mentor Geralt’s footsteps toward the Gwent table inThe Witcher 4, with fans already speculating on how the card game willimpactWitcher 4’s storytellingand how CDPR will fine-tune its mechanics in the next installment of its epic RPG series. Gwent was already a fun diversion from the main plot ofThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and seeing how the game evolves in the future is an exciting prospect for those who have already poured numerous hours into it.
The Witcher 4
WHERE TO PLAY
The Witcher IV is a single-player, open-world RPG from CD PROJEKT RED. At the start of a new saga, players take on the role of Ciri, a professional monster slayer, and embark on a journey through a brutal dark-fantasy world. Powered by Unreal Engine 5, it aims to be the most immersive and ambitious open-world Witcher game to date.
