The role-playing game has seen a significant boost in player numbers in December 2021. One reason for this is certainly the 2nd Season of the Netflix series, but there are others.
The Witcher 3 is holding its own as a perennial favourite among role-playing games, much like Skyrim – and this despite the fact that the NextGen version is still a long time coming. In December 2021, the player numbers have now shot up again. Of course, this is connected to the release of season 2 of the Netflix series with Henry Cavill, but there are also other factors.
Why The Witcher 3 is getting so much play again right now.
A look at steamcharts.com reveals that in December 2021, player numbers increased by over 60 percent compared to the previous month. Currently, there are about 65,000 Steam players playing Novigrad, Skellige and co. at the same time. Added to this are many more who own The Witcher 3 on GOG and Epic.
There was a similar increase back in December 2019, when the first season of The Witcher series launched on Netflix. Season 2 is also guaranteed to have attracted new fans to the game and brought back old ones. Fittingly, however, the role-playing game is also on offer in the big Steam Winter Sale.
The GOTY edition with all DLCs is currently only 10 euros (valid until 5 January 2022), also on GOG and Epic. This should also have a positive influence on player numbers. Looking for more exciting discount campaigns? Here you go:
Christmas 2021 on Steam, GOG & Co.: All sales and free promotions at a glance (UPDATE)
More players than Cyberpunk 2077
According to (steamdb), CD Projekt’s other big role-playing game, Cyberpunk 2077, also increased its player numbers in December. However, to a much lesser extent, there are currently around 24,000 Steam users active in Night City at the same time. Another interesting fact is that while Twitch viewer numbers are also going up for The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 remains largely unnoticed there.
Many are hoping that the beleaguered cyberpunk game will still get its act together. After all, the developers have promised several free DLCs and at least one big add-on. However, the release plans keep getting pushed back, currently there is talk of a big patch 1.5 in the 1st quarter of 2022. The expansions have no known release date.
Naturally, Cyberpunk 2077 lacks the media attention generated by the Netflix series for The Witcher 3. But lower user ratings and the disastrous console release may also have contributed to the waning interest. Nevertheless, Cyberpunk 2077 has had a very successful first year on Steam: it was one of the (Top Sellers of the Year) (The Witcher 3 too, by the way) and reached over 200,000 players simultaneously at peak times.
Did the Netflix series also lure you back to Geralt’s adventures? Or did you finally have time to get started over the holidays? Maybe you’ve already left The Witcher 3 behind. Feel free to let us know in the comments!
