Gwent's first expansion, Crimson Curse, is coming this month

CD Projekt's Witcher-based card game Gwent will get its first expansion later this month, a tale of vampires and vengeance called Crimson Curse. The expansion will add more than 100 new cards to the game—31 neutrals and 14 per faction—in both standard and premium animated variants, with new Poison and Bleeding effects, Shield and Vitality boosts, and new mechanics included Deathblow and Berserk. 

The expansion focuses on Dettlaff van der Eretein, a character introduced in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Blood and Wine. I won't go too deep into spoilers but he's a Higher Vampire, and he's bringing his undead pals to the party. 

"A dark ritual performed by a mighty higher vampire Dettlaff turns the moon blood red, corrupting the land and its inhabitants. No one is safe and there’s nowhere to run — new breeds of monsters are awaking from their slumber, thirsting for blood. Will you join Dettlaff in his quest for revenge and destruction or choose to fight back and protect the innocents?" 

The reveal page at playgwent.com currently features five new cards, some with new mechanics or abilities: Windhalm of Attre, for instance, gets a boost of 2 at the end of each allied turn if it has a shield, while Samum's Deathblow ability moves adjacent units to the other row. Details are thin right now but more cards (and, I would think, information on how the new mechanics will work) will be revealed prior to the launch of Gwent: Crimson Curse on March 28.   

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.