CD Projekt dev explains why Geralt ended up at Balatro and the answer is shocking: CD Projekt devs love Balatro.

Yesterday, we wrote, "Geralt has arrived in Balatro," following the announcement of the Friends of Jimbo Update, a large cosmetic crossover that brought The Witcher 3 Dave the Diver, Among Us and Vampire Survivors to the game. How did Geralt end up in Balatro? It turns out that when you create a game that everyone loves, you'll get a lot more people wanting to work with you. And many of the CD Projekt staff are Balatro enthusiasts.

"I often evangelize video games at work," CD Projekt's global PR director Radek Grabowski tweeted (via GamesRadar). "I did it for Balatro and got many colleagues to join in, including the amazing people who run CDPR’s partnerships. A friend from Playstack sent me a DM with an idea that later became Friends of Jimbo. Perfect timing - the rest is history."

Grabowski revealed that the backs of Balatro's Witcher 3 cards were created by CD Projekt's Olgierd Ziszak. He previously worked on Gwent Thronebreaker and Cyberpunk.

Grabowski tweeted: "Working on this project was a remarkable and unforgettable experience." "I have been in video games PR for over 10 years, and to see this collaboration come into fruition has been truly inspiring. Five gaming companies, united by passion and friendship, worked towards the same goal. "Thank you, friends!"

The collaboration was described as a "career highlight" by Playstack's PR manager Wout van Halderen. He may or may not be the friend Grabowski referred to.

Van Halderen tweeted: "The industry may be competitive, but the people behind it are all just people who love gaming. This shared passion is what allows these types of collaborations to happen."

Geo Morgan, the lead partnership manager at Poncle, also gave a shout out to all those involved. He said "it's truly been lovely." Grabowski appeared to agree.

It's lovely, isn’t it? Playstack, the publisher of Balatro, said that the Friends of Jimbo update was just the beginning of a planned series of crossovers. More cards will be released later this year. There's still one more Balatro update to come out of the three promised in August. This follows the tease of an upcoming major gameplay update in 2025, and of course the Friends of Jimbo Update. We'll let you all know when we find out.