The Witcher’s Wild Netflix Success Could Ignite a Video Game Adaptation Boom

• The Witcher has been popular among audiences, if not with critics.
• It has caused a massive surge in gamers playing The Witcher 3 this past weekend.
• The success of The Witcher could cause a huge spike in the number of video game adaptations coming out.

Netflix’s The Witcher series has been insanely popular. At least among viewers – critics have been less than enthusiastic about the show. If there’s one area in which The Witcher has thrived, it is in advertising the game, which is based on the same source material.

Following a fantastic debut for Netflix’s newest darling, The Witcher 3 has enjoyed an unexpected renaissance. The show’s popularity has rekindled interest in the blockbuster video game. Not only are gamers returning to the 2015 title from CD Projekt Red, but new players are also jumping on board.

The Witcher Could Spark a New Generation of Video Game Adaptations

With The Witcher being such a hit – both for Netflix and CD Projekt Red – it seems likely that we’re going to be seeing more adaptations of this kind in the future.

It won’t take long for other companies to start taking notice. Before too long, Nintendo, Sony, and Xbox will likely be pumping money into their own star-studded adaptations. With so many people now playing a four-year-old game in droves, it’s hard not to see the appeal.

Although Netflix’s The Witcher is an adaption of the book, and not of the game, it doesn’t seem to matter. Being tied into the popular IP is clearly enough to drive people to play the game.

This Sort of Media Boom Has Happened Many Times Before

Maybe over the next few years, we’ll get a Netflix adaptation of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. That would be living the dream, and it wouldn’t be the first time that one spectacular success has driven a media bubble.

Back in 2008, The Dark Knight fueled the insane comic book movie boom that still hasn’t died out a decade later. Of course, it helped that a string of quality movies kept that particular boom going.

We even had a video game adaptation boom back in the 80s and 90s. Nintendo and Sega especially have a long history of slapping their IPs onto everything they could get away with. It wouldn’t be so unusual to see someone remake The Wizard, but have it be about Smash Bros Esports instead.

Of course, how much of a boom there is, and if there is one at all, will depend on what happens next. If season 2 of The Witcher proves just as successful, we might see some braver companies testing the waters.

If we’re really lucky, 2021 may even bring us Netflix’s adaptation of Bubble Bobble .

About the Author

William Worrall

William Worrall is a professional writer based out of the UK who has been writing about video and tabletop games for over a decade and has covered industry events such as EGX and UKGE. Contact him at [email protected], see his LinkedIn profile here.

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