The card game of Gwent first emerged in The Witcher 3; an original game developed by CD Projekt Red and named after a card game mentioned in the original novels. It quickly proved so popular that the studio chose to develop Gwent into its own standalone, free-to-play game. Initially, the studio also had a plan to release a single-player story mode. However, this morphed into a separate game; Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, which released late last year. Now, a new video delves into the development history of Thronebreaker.
How Gwent’s Story Mode Grew into Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
Released as part of a recent video interview series on the PlayStation YouTube channel, this video looks at the story and development of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales. It follows on from a video, for example, looking at the development of Cyberpunk 2077. Like all of the videos in the series, this video is narrated by Doug Cockle; the voice of Geralt of Rivia in the Witcher games. It begins by looking at the early conception of Thronebreaker as a way to tell a totally new story in the existing setting.
“In a world as big as The Witcher’s,” explains Cockle; “there are many more stories beyond the adventures of Geralt of Rivia, and CD Projekt Red saw Gwent as a completely unique way of telling a brand new tale. What was once intended to be a single-player mode for Gwent grew to become a standalone game in its own right, and Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales was born.”
While Thronebreaker does use the Gwent card game mechanics for its battles, it’s a sizeable story experience first and foremost. Players make decisions, engage in dialogue with characters, and more in their role as Queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia. The story takes place in-between The Witcher 2 and The Witcher 3, and deals with the Nilfgaardian invasion of the Northern Kingdoms. The game is available on Xbox One, PS4, and PC, on both GOG.com and Steam.