Success of Netflix's 'The Witcher' makes players pick up 'Witcher 3' again

Netflix original series The Witcher just dropped on December 20. Initial reviews suggest that the series is already a big hit with fans, in fact, the series was such a hit that it has evoked feelings of nostalgia within gamers so that they are picking up the game The Witcher 3: The Wind Hunt and playing it again.

The rise in concurrent players

12 years ago, gaming company CD Project Red released the first game in The Witcher series after the final The Witcher novel came out in Poland in 1999. The success of the first game prompted two equally successful sequels in the form of Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings in 2011 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2015. The Witcher game franchise is one of the best role-playing games of this century and it has a fair share to award to prove that and is also an ambitious fantasy tale on par with the books that inspired them. Each of the games contains hundreds of hours worth of story that has delighted gamers for decades.

With the much-anticipated release of the Netflix series on December 20, show watchers seem to be returning back to their gaming consoles to dive back into the world of The Witcher. According to statistics December 19 recorded only 12,745 concurrent players for the game The Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt, jump forward a few days after the release of the Netflix series The Witcher jumped to more than 47,000 per hour on December 22. The number of concurrent players jumped threefold in a matter of days and that is quite a feat for a game that came out back in 2015.

The months leading up to the release of The Witcher series saw an average of 20,000 players with the peak player count in October being 20,385.  The peak player count in the month of August was 25,591, the peak player count for the month of December was 47,441.

The series showrunner Lauren Hissrich has stated in an interview that the source material for the show is Andrzej Sapkowski‘s books, but fans of both the series and games have claimed to seen similarities and subtle nods towards the game in the series.
Lead actor Henry Cavill who plays Geralt of Rivia in the series has said that in order to get into the head of the character he was playing he played the games, as a part of his character research.

Read: The Witcher: All You Need To Know About The Cast And Plotline Of The Netflix Series

Read: The Witcher Star Freya Allan Talks About Her Bizarre And Confusing Casting

'The Witcher' season 2

Just days after the release of Netflix's The Wicher, fans are already demanding and looking forward to season 2. The good news is that The Witcher has already been renewed for a second season which means that fans of Henry Cavil's portrayal of Gerald of Rivia can look forward to seeing more of the White Wolf. 

While there is no release date for season two just yet but Showrunner Lauren Hissrich already confirmed that there will be a second season, the renewal for a second season was announced on November 13, 2019, which is a full five weeks before The Witcher season one even dropped meaning that even before its worldwide release Netflix already predicted that The Witcher would be a smashing hit with the fans.

According to sources, filming and production for season two is supposed to begin in early 2020 with a release date sometime in 2021. It has also been confirmed that Henry Cavil will be returning as Geralt of Rivia as well as Anya Chalotra who plays the sorceress Yennefer and Freya Allan who plays Cirilla.

Read: 'The Witcher' Review: Fans Hail Henry Cavill Starrer For Top-notch Action Sequences

Read: 'The Witcher' Season 2 Confirmed For 2021, Henry Cavil To Return As Gerald Of Rivia