But that's exactly what they've stated...

"At some point, we have mentioned that there will be a certain online element related to Cyberpunk.”

They didn't hint about gwent or anything else, it flat out stated Cyberpunk2077.

Time'll tell as to what it involves though.

As I said "...plan to have some Gwent-like game tied to Cyberpunk too."

As some mini-game in Cyberpunk that can either be player solo inside the game or be played as a stand alone F2P game with other players similar to Gwent.

It could be (1000% pure speculation here), you play the game solo normally, then you go into a bar (who happen to be one of those "social hub" they mention) there you can meet talk with other player and play mini-games with them, once you have finished you leave the bar and continue on with the solo story. (and if you are offline then said bar is full or NPCs instead)

That would match their description of "online element" and also their "seamless multiplayer" while at the same time not negatively impacting the single player.

this is going to be a bad type of game... like Gwent... A game that does not belong to GOG drm-free philosophy

Maybe online as in optional co-op (Saints Row Style) & modding online-communities? Stuff like that makes the game interesting long-term. Chances are always that we got a blatant lie but that blatant from a dev house that actually still takes pride in their games, while not impossible, I consider very unlikely.

I at least am not worried about that anymore.

As long as they have enough resources for a strong single player experience and the multiplayer aspects are completely optional and won't bother the single player experience this could mean a net positive for customers and CDPR alike. I remain cautiously optimistic but I will wait with judgement until I actually play the game.

Guys! No Microtransactions :D

http://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-red-responds-to-cyberpunk-2077-multiplayer-concerns-we-leave-greed-to-others/

"We leave greed to others" LOL!

Phew...and here I was about consider putting CD Projekt Red on the MT Blacklist...

CD Projekt, you guys are still the best developers on the whole planet. Period.

Looking forward to Cyberpunk 2077, you guys are literally the sole reason why I still have faith in gaming :P

Well, that's certainly reassuring. Nice to see such a direct answer from them - that's pretty rare in this business (or indeed any business).

Well, it is good that they assure us that C2077 will be mainly single player ... BUT they still avoided clarifying what Kiciński meant exactly with 'online elements' and especially with 'games as a service'.
Adding a multiplayer mode to Cyberpunk totally makes sense, also co-op would work nicely in a Cyberpunkworld. But 'games as a service' is an idea that is directly opposed to the idea of 'DRM-free'. These two concepts are mutually exclusive. So CDPR NEEDS to make a clarification here, if they want to restore the faith they lost through that statement. I wish that they will take a clear stand AGAINST 'games as a service' and for DRM-free!

Not going to happen, I'm afraid. I think Gersen's take on this is correct, and maybe they'll pull it off. CDPR does seem to be somewhat insulated from the market dynamics that are dragging this world into the gutter, but how long is that going to last?

Stay tuned.

not to nitpick - but does it not depend a lot more on mechanics and design than the setting?

If you don't want to nitpick, then why do you do it? ;-) Also, not my point here. My point is, I wouldn't be opposed to C2077 having some optional co-op multiplayer. But I am very much opposed to it having mandatory online components and even more to it being a 'service type' game. If C2077 is multiplayer focused to a level that the single-player campaign is neglected (or intentionally difficult to play without online features), I will not buy it. ... And if GOG actually switches to 'service type' games, they will lose me as a customer completely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpk32gnn-MY

Basically a fluff post, they didn't mention anything about Cyberpunk2077 & online stuff...

Reading the 2 Articles CDPR stating it is just like TW3 with a huge vast singleplayer world. Well, that would make Cyberpunk DRMfree in that regard we have exactly what we wanted. Add in a Souls or Dogma style of mutliplayer and we STILL have a DRM free experience as Souls and Dogma worked fine without online interactivity.

Even the Gwent idea works fine, that said C2077 is based of Cyberpunk 2020 RPG. that alone could seriously impact the mulitplayer aspect, its still going strong with small groups rp'ing all over the country. as for the GWENT game inside the game: Netrunner and Cyberopunk CCG are 2 decent cardgames that came out of the universe. I have full faith CDPR will do something far more exciting. What about a way to play multiplayer inside the singleplayer at a card table by jacking into the net ^_^ or finding the game while net running and make it a base level skill all classes can use. so many amazingly sweet things they could do!

There is so much cyberpunk happening soon in the gameworld. As long as i have my Singleplayer and really badass DLC (like TW3 had) im fine with whatever CDPR wats to do with C2077!

If it needs to use Galaxy though, they really gotta fix that Update Bug! ;)

I guess DRM-free multi-player is out of the question in this one...
Not that it would change much for me since it's most likely a Windows exclusive again anyway.

Unfortunately yes. For multiplayer CDPR/GOG has already scrapped their DRM-free ideal. Gwent is DRM-ed.

Talking of which, I created a wish to remove DRM from Gwent: https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/make_gwent_drmfree
Wishful thinking? Yes. But that's what wishes are for. I know that GOG wants DRM on this - and unfortunately it is accepted by many. But I still hope that some day GOG will remember that they once stood for DRM-free gaming without compromises and add a DRM free option to Gwent.

...perhaps with the Thronebreaker release.