Almost three years have passed since CD Projekt Red announced the end of support for its standalone card game, GWENT: The Witcher Card Game. It could’ve been CDPR’s biggest live-service game, and its unfortunate demise still stings.
GWENT: The Witcher Card Game was a game nobody saw coming. As The Witcher III: Wild Hunt continues to draw monumental success since its launch in 2015, so does its in-universe minigame called Gwent.
How Gwent Changed Witcher III: Wild Hunt
Gwent was an addictive card game tucked behind Witcher III’s expansive open-world RPG. When players weren’t hunting down Nekkers or Ghouls, they were usually found sitting in some Novigrad tavern, playing Gwent with random strangers. That’s probably why my Witcher III playtime skyrocketed from its standard 50-60 hours to over 100 hours. Wherever I went, there was always someone up for a round of Gwent. No matter how dire the game’s story was, my Geralt of Rivia couldn’t just say no to a silly card game.
CD Projekt Red saw Witcher fans enjoying it so much that they even expanded on the mini-game through Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine, adding new cards and the Skellige faction to Geralt of Rivia’s card collection.
When Geralt’s journey ended in his time in Toussaint, CD Projekt Red had to keep Gwent’s momentum going. Seeing fans so captivated by Gwent in Hearts of Stone and Blood & Wine, the most obvious decision was to make a standalone card game.
READ: Analyst Report Suggests New Witcher 3 DLC in 2026, Witcher 4 in 2027
GWENT: The Witcher Card Game’s Rise and Fall
When GWENT: The Witcher Card Game launched, it brought not only fans of The Witcher’s in-universe minigame, but also players from other popular collectible card games like Hearthstone and Yu-Gi-Oh! It had so much potential, even attracting professional CCG players like Adrian “Lifecoach” Koy and Jeffrey “Trump” Shih.
The standalone Gwent game was starting to become huge, especially with a now-growing Esports scene with major tournaments sponsored by CD Projekt Red itself. From 2017 up until Gwent’s end in 2023, Gwent players vied for supremacy, bringing in their well-rounded decks and factions to be the top of the world.
Then the cracks begin to show.
Fans of the game realized they were never going to be as massive as Blizzard’s Hearthstone, with its playerbase slowly declining over the years. The community was left with its own loyal players, theorycrafting meme decks, or simply stuck to the meta favorites.
The game went through a rough period of stale, repetitive seasons, most notably with its notorious Midwinter Patch, which reworked GWENT’s core mechanics and added over 100 new cards, further overcomplicating the system. CD Projekt Red’s inability to balance the game properly caused massive backlash among the community. The balance issues were far too overwhelming, and if players weren’t playing a meta deck, they stood no chance.
It was the Midwinter Patch that GWENT: The Witcher Card Game saw a massive decline in playerbase. As sad as it was, CD Projekt Red was having a tough time balancing the game’s meta without making a few sacrifices. They tried all they could.
While they did remedy some of the issues Midwinter created, it was no longer enough to win back its playerbase. Years have passed since the Midwinter update, and CD Projekt Red decided to end GWENT: The Witcher Card Game’s support in 2023.
What GWENT: The Witcher Card Game is Now
After all that success and fiasco, CD Projekt Red had to move on to greener pastures and officially stopped active development for GWENT: The Witcher Card Game. No more new cards and content.
The good news here is that CD Projekt Red recognized the community’s role in shaping Gwent, so they made a community-driven project called “Gwentfinity.” Through its ‘Balance Council,’ players can vote and decide which cards deserve balance changes. This massive shift gives players power to influence the game’s meta.
Personally, while it still hurts to see it be a shell of its former self, there was no other way GWENT: The Witcher Card Game could bounce back, especially with the CCG genre becoming too niche. A sequel would’ve changed things, but that would also spark issues among its community, as they have to start all over again.
I still boot up GWENT: The Witcher Card Game every now and then. Surprisingly, there’s still a handful of active players. While I’m no professional player, nor someone at high-elo, I still enjoy crafting my own decks and see if I still have what it takes to climb the ladder. After spending over 400 hours in this game since launch, coming back always feels so nostalgic. I may not have the time and the grit to make the most bonker decks, but at least I know GWENT: The Witcher Card Game’s legacy will never fade.
Maybe when Witcher 4 comes out, we can see a resurgence of CD Projekt Red’s collectible card game. Fingers crossed!
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