Longevity in video games is a tough thing to achieve. There are so many competing titles that seeing gamers simply finish a game and move on is often the best a developer can hope for. But some titles endure, and occasionally they’ll see a second life given the right circumstances.
That appears to be the case with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the 2015 installment of the Polish action RPG that recently inspired a very fun Netflix series starring Henry Cavill. And it seems that new streaming content has given Witcher 3 a significant boost in attention on Steam. According to Kotaku, Witcher 3 set a streaming record on Steam on Sunday, a few days after the show hit Netflix.
New player record for @witchergame on @Steam, over 4 years after the release! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/mTGvmrMM5a
— Marcin Momot (@Marcin360) December 29, 2019
It helps that Witcher 3 is on sale on Steam, but sales happen all the time. And given the significant popularity of the show, which just debuted and is already listed as one of the most popular properties on Netflix in its year-end recap, it makes sense that those that loved the show would go back to the Witcher video game well, or perhaps give the series a try for the first time.
According to Polygon, other Witcher games are getting a bump as well.
Other titles in The Witcher series are also seeing a bump. The Witcher: Enhanced Edition, the 2008 revision of the original game in the series, also cracked the top 100 most-played games on Steam according to SteamCharts. It’s also at an all-time concurrent peak player count, with well over 12,000 players in the last 24 hours.
It’s an interesting Netflix effect happening here, but it’s also nice that the game is very good. And for $15 bucks, now is as good a time as any to give it a go.