The Witcher card game Gwent's single-player story campaign is now a 30-hour standalone RPG
Due in Q4.
CD Projekt has revealed that Thronebreaker, its long-in-development single-player story campaign for The Witcher-themed free-to-play collectible card game Gwent, has evolved into a 30-hour RPG and will now be sold as a standalone title.
Thronebreaker - which was previously said to focus on Mever, a war-veteran queen who embarks "on a dark journey of destruction and revenge" - was initially expected to launch at the end of 2017. However, last November, CD Projekt announced a delay into 2018, citing the story campaign's increased scope for the extended development time. A brief update in April suggested that Thronebreaker was still at least six months away from release.
Four months later, and CD Projekt has finally - as part of its sexily titled H1 2018 financial results conference - offered more news about Gwent's single-player campaign, and big changes are afoot. Most notably, Thronebreaker - which is now titled Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales - has seemingly blossomed into a full-scale RPG, with a campaign of around 30 hours, full of choices and consequences, albeit one where actions are still decided by the outcome of Gwent games.
As a result of its massively increased scope, Thronebreaker: The Witchers Tales will now be offered as a standalone title, and won't require the Gwent collectible card game client to play.
Although CD Projekt hasn't announced a release date for the expanded Thronebreaker, it noted that the game will launch "in parallel" with its previously outlined major Gwent overhaul, Homecoming. This large-scale update is intended to course-correct Gwent's development, after CD Projekt's admittance that it "lost sight of what was unique and fun about the game", and is now scheduled to arrive in Q4 this year.
Thronebreaker: The Witchers Tales will launch on the same platforms as Gwent, so expect to see it on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.