CD Projekt Red announces that the beta for Gwent: The Witcher Card Game will begin on October 25, leaving little time for gamers to sign up before it begins.

Earlier this year, CD Projekt Red confirmed that it was developing a standalone version of The Witcher 3's Gwent card game, an announcement that caught many gamers by surprise. Appropriately titled Gwent: The Witcher Card Game, the rustic-looking card battle game was initially supposed to enter a closed beta this September, but shortly before the original due date CD Projekt Red delayed the Gwent beta to October 2016.

As everyone is likely very well aware, most of October has now come and gone. CD Projekt Red has finally broken radio silence on the secretive beta's date and has confirmed that the long-awaited Gwent: The Witcher Card Game beta will take place this Tuesday, October 25 for Xbox One and PC at 12PM central time. Gamers and witchers hoping to take an early peek at the card game can trek over to the official Gwent website to sign up for the beta here.

Collectible cards being featured in video games is nothing new, but over the last few years the presence of digital collectible card games has certainly grown. Games like Hearthstone and FIFA have proven that modern card collecting could push a profit, and now gamers can see cards in everything from Gears of War 4 to heavily licensed mobile applications like Animation Throwdown or Plants vs Zombies: Heroes.

Even before the title was announced, there was a clear interest in such a product. One talented fan even went so far as to make a real life rendition of Gwent as a gift for their significant other, which clearly sets the bar high for other gift-giving fans of The Witcher 3 (lest someone goes into debt by buying someone a statue of Geralt). 

Despite the studio's comparitively new focus on collectible cards, the recent beta doesn't mean the studio hasn't been paying attention to the the main Witcher series. The studio just released a rather large patch for The Witcher 3 two months ago, although it did confirm that a 4K resolution patch would not be coming for the PS4 Pro version of the game.

So far, CD Projekt Red has remained mum on when the beta for Gwent will end, so interested fans shouldn't waste time signing up to try it out. Fans don't have to be knowlegable about The Witcher franchise as a whole to be good at the card game, so the game should be approachable for all.

Gwent: The Witcher Card Game will release for Xbox One and PC, although the full release date hasn't been revealed yet.

Source: Game Informer