Gwent: Rogue Mage was announced to be released on August 25, 2025. It is a roguelike deck builder by CDProjekt Red.
Gwent: Rogue Mage is a Roguelite Deckbuilder that Predates the Witcher
First, we had aRogue Trader, now we have a Rogue Mage? What’s up with all these sneakyroguesgetting past our defenses? Introducing CD Projekt Red’s latest (surprise) project, Gwent: Rogue Mage. This is a spinoff from the regular Gwent game but built around the single-player roguelite experience.
Players will take the role of Alzur as he roams the countryside trying to find out how to create the first Witcher. Yes, you read that right - Gwent: Rogue Mage takes place centuries beforeGeraltis even born.
The Rogue Mage
The Continent, where all theWitchergames take place, had just suffered the effects of the devastating event called the Conjunction of Spheres. This circumstance brought about Monsters that humanity needed to fight back against.
Alzur was a powerful mage from the past who was able to create many wonderful and monstrous things. One of his most famous inventions was the mutagens used to create the first Witchers.
Up for a Round of Gwent?
The game will follow Alzur as he roams the continent for the perfect samples for his various experiments. He will be able to make use of Gwent cards to do battle against many foes, ranging from man to beast.
Gwent: Rogue Mage’s initial deck will consist of cards that excel when they are boosted (or have their strength buffed). From the reveal at IGN, the game will start out gradually so as not to overload the player with too much information. Instead, new cards will be drip-fed to ensure that the player will learn the game’s mechanics at a slow and steady pace.
Eventually, things will open up and players will receive more cards and more opportunities to choose different options. Places of Power will be a familiar landmark from the mainline Witcher games. Whenever Alzur approaches one of these, he will be given the choice of how to improve his deck. One example on the Gwent: Rogue Mage Steam Page shows that he will be able to choose between upgrading a unit or gaining additional energy.
All in all, the game should have approximately 30 hours of gameplay if the players take their time. Each individual run or attempt should last around an hour if played correctly. This is a pretty good deal considering that players only need to shell over $9.99 to experience this. Of course, this runtime can extend even further if the player is an achievement hunter or completionist.
Pull Up a Chair ‘round the Hearth!
Gwent: Rogue Mage will be purely single-player, in a similar vein toThronebreaker: The Witcher Tales. However, this new deck builder will not have the story take center stage. In fact, CDProjekt Red doesn’t consider this game’s setting to be part of the mainline game’s lore.
Instead, it will be arogue-litegame where failure looks like it constantly looms its ugly head around the player. The single-player nature of the game should relieve some of the tension that some people get when engaging in multi-player games. Some call it “ladder anxiety”.
Game director Vladimir Tortsov even acknowledges that some OG Gwent Players prefer the low stakes of the card game back in The Witcher 3. He states:
While Gwent multiplayer is a fantastic game for those who are looking for a great PvP multiplayer experience, we perfectly understand that many Witcher players loved the original mini-game of Gwent for totally different reasons. With Rogue Mage we aim to give this audience a reason to play modern-day Gwent in the format they prefer.
The House Always Wins
Gwent: Rogue Mage should be the perfect substitute for other roguelite deck builders such as the ever-classicSlay the Spireor newer titles likeWildfrost. For more excellent card games, be sure to check outForetales, a Story Based Card Game, orElder Scrolls Online’s newest minigame,Tales of Tribute.
The game will release on July 11, 2025, at $9.99 for the standard edition and $19.99 for the deluxe. The deluxe edition of the game will contain cosmetics and card packs for the multiplayer Gwent experience. For more on The Witcher, check outour speculations on the upcoming Witcher 4.
For more news, check out ourWeekly RPG Digest,Valkyrie Elysium Gets September Release Date and New Action-Packed Gameplay Trailer, andForspoken Now Delayed to 2023; Now in ‘Final Polishing Stage’.
