The standalone version of Gwent is still in closed beta, but CDPR is chugging along nicely when it comes to updates. They've already released numerous balance and performance patches, and just recently they have unleashed perhaps the most important additions so far - Ranked Play and the progression system rework.

The way the progression system functioned previously was rather... poor, to say the least. You would only gain experience if you won the match, so even if you lost a game after the most exciting 20 minutes of your life you would still get absolutely nothing for your efforts! With the most recent update, however, the progression system now tracks how many rounds you've won, so the closer the match the more experience you will get - as it should be. If you're interested in all of the minute details you'll find the brief developer update video down below:

As for the newly introduced Ranked Play system, its very similar to what you're used to seeing in other competitive games. In order to start playing Ranked you'll need to reach level 10, after which the only difference between Casual and Ranked matches will be the addition of rating points. Winning games will increase your rating, and once you reach a certain tier you will increase in rank (of which there are 15), while losing games will decrease your rating, but not your rank. The reason this is important is because once the Ranked Play season ends you will be awarded with a currently unknown prize depending on your rank. As such, it doesn't matter if you lose a ton of rating once you reach your season high, you will still be rewarded for your efforts!

If you're interested in learning more about all these changes, but also about the balance update that arrived alongside them, head over to the official website. And if you're wondering whether Gwent is good enough to occupy your attention, you can find my review and thoughts by heading over here.