The debut of Season 2 of The Witcher series on Netflix has sparked a new wave of interest in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, with over 71,000 daily concurrent gamers. Season 1’s release in 2019 sparked a surge of players that surpassed the game’s launch day in 2015, as I reported at the time, with over 100,000 concurrent players.
Although a rise to 71,000 doesn’t quite match the launch record of nearly 92,000, it does show that a single-player PC game that’s been out for over six years can still draw so many concurrent players. After seeing season 2, people may be picking it up or returning to it.
In any case, it makes you question if the popularity of “video game shows” could work in the opposite direction. Is there a chance we’ll get a cool Witcher prequel game with Michelle Yeoh if this proves to be a hit? It’s difficult to say because it would very certainly entail a complicated legal battle between Netflix and CD Projekt over those notoriously difficult videogame rights.
In any case, I’m sure I’ll be writing this essay again when Season 3 comes out. Hopefully, by then, the Witcher 3’s long-awaited next-generation upgrade will be available, and the game will look a little better… Is it 2023 or 2024? We’ll have to wait and watch when that happens.
also read:
