Balatro's Witcher 3 collab came to life thanks to a senior CDPR employee "getting many colleagues on board" with the hit indie roguelike

Balatro's unexpected Witcher 3 collaboration is now live, and it sounds like it's partly a reality thanks to one CD Projekt Red employee who wouldn't stop talking about the hit indie roguelike at work.

Balatro's big Friends of Jimbo update was one of the biggest surprises from yesterday's Nintendo Indie Direct, and it's not just a crossover with The Witcher 3. In fact, it includes four collabs in one, with Among Us, Dave the Diver, and Vampire Survivors all featuring in it. It dropped on all platforms for free right away, and allows you to customize the look of your cards with fresh designs inspired by the four games – whether you want to rock cards with Geralt of Rivia or a sus Imposter on the front, the choice is yours.

Following the announcement, CD Projekt Red's global PR director, Radek Grabowski, took to Twitter to explain how The Witcher part of the update came about. "I often evangelize video games at work. I did it with Balatro, getting many colleagues on board, including the amazing folks who run CDPR's partnerships," Grabowski said. "Meanwhile, a friend from Playstack [Balatro's publisher] DM'd me an idea, which later became Friends of Jimbo. Perfect timing – the rest is history."

In a separate thread, Grabowski confirms that The Witcher-themed cards were "created in-house by one of CD Projekt Red's talented artists, Olgierd Ciszak." The PR director adds: "They're true gems, and I love them."

For Balatro fans, the excitement is far from over, as it was previously confirmed that the roguelike will be getting a "major gameplay update" – including "new ideas and strategies" – at some point next year. What exactly these will be is a mystery at this point, but there's no doubt that they'll threaten to steal even more of our free time.

You can find more games like Balatro on our list of the best roguelike games.