It’s been eight months since CD Projekt announced that it’s working on an augmented reality mobile game set in its beloved Witcher franchise. Think Pokemon Go, only with a lot more swearing and murder. The developers say that the game will hit Android in an early access soft launch this summer, and you can apply to be a beta tester now.
According to the gameplay trailer (which is quite old at this point, to be fair), the primary loop of Monster Slayer brings in a lot of elements from The Witcher on consoles. You’ll walk around the real-world map slaying creepy Slavic monsters with swords and potions, slashing and blocking as necessary. But there’s also a lot more to do, in the spirit of the varied RPG gameplay of the main series. You can visit NPCs to accept quests, investigate scenes of monster attacks for clues, gather materials for crafting, and more. Almost all of the interactive elements are visible in augmented reality, overlaid on the real-world environment using your phone’s camera.
This summer, your hunt begins in The Witcher: Monster Slayer!
We’re opening up registration for an early-access soft launch phase of the game on the Google Play Store.
Right now, Android users can register for the early access opportunity here: https://t.co/03mkIQu5TE pic.twitter.com/i1hCgLB3J1
— The Witcher: Monster Slayer (@TheWitcherMS) April 22, 2021
That’s according to the initial trailer, of course. Infamously, Pokemon Go was missing many of its initially advertised features when it launched back in 2016, which didn’t stop it from becoming a worldwide phenomenon. We also have no idea what the in-app purchase system will look like; CD Projekt confirmed that The Witcher: Monster Slayer will be a free-to-play game when it was announced. Of course, any game elements might be changed between the test version and the final release.
Oh, and the soft launch is only available on Android, despite the fact that the publisher announced the game was coming to both iOS and Android. So that’s pretty cool.
To apply for early access to the game, head to this link and submit your primary Google login information and phone model. The developers say that they’ll “draw the upcoming Witchers” at the end of April, though when you’ll actually be able to install and play the game isn’t mentioned.
