Gwent: The Witcher Card Game Economy Changes Detailed

If you’re someone who enjoys an occasional game of Gwent, you may be interested in checking out this article that outlines the latest changes to CD Projekt’s The Witcher-themed CCG. In short, from now on, the game is going to be less generous with its premium cards, and getting balance-related full value card refunds won’t be possible anymore. Have a look:

When designing GWENT’s economy, our principles were fairness and simplicity. We also always understood that generosity goes a long way. This will never change. However, we made some calls along the way which resulted in our economy slowly shifting toward directions that are not favourable for the players — most notably those who put a lot of time and effort into completing their collections of normal and (especially) premium cards.

There are three currencies in the game, two of which (scraps and meteorite powder) are used at aimed card creation. If you wish to craft a specific normal card, you use scraps. If you want this normal card to feature animated art, you use meteorite powder and convert it to premium. However, we also allowed for crafting animated cards with scraps, thus mixing vanity and game economies. The result is an overabundance of premium cards, which diminishes the sense of accomplishment that comes from getting ahold of an animated version of your favourite card. Additionally, mixing of vanity and game economies always results in loopholes coming into play sooner or later.

We want premiums to feel special, as was originally intended, and not give anyone the opportunity to gain an unfair advantage in card collection and vanity progression. That is why we decided to disconnect scrap and meteorite powder economies by switching off the option to craft premium cards with scraps. Moving forward, vanity economy will be based on meteorite powder. While small amounts of meteorite powder will still be retrievable from milling premium cards, we want it to stay as disconnected from the scraps economy as possible.

Another in-game economy related matter we’re revisiting is the full mill value refund system. The way the system operated back in beta made a lot of sense, as gamers were helping us test GWENT while playing and core mechanics were in a state of constant, significant flux. Now that GWENT has officially launched across all platforms, changes will be much more subtle, and the extent to which the full mill value refund system covers them needs to follow suit.

From here on out, minor tweaks to a card’s values, strength, or abilities will no longer qualify the card for full mill value refund. Regular balance and gameplay changes are typical for any online competitive game, and GWENT’s no different. We’re committed to building on top of the foundations the core of the game offers, while constantly listening to the community and making adjustments when and where it’s necessary. That said, fundamental changes or complete reworks of a card will still be considered for full mill value refund.

Starting today, crafting premium cards will only be possible using meteorite powder. Full mill value refund periods following future updates will no longer be a typical occurrence, the January update included. Leaders can still be crafted with scraps and will give scraps (50% less) once milled.