CD Projekt Red is having a great 2021 so far, as The Witcher franchise has now sold as many as 50 million copies throughout its history.
According to a Twitter post, The Witcher franchise has now sold more than 50 million copies of their games. Among those numbers, Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sold the lion’s share, with more than 30 million copies sold in total.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt sold over 30 million copies
The Witcher is one of the most celebrated modern titles in the history of gaming. It is among the biggest titles of the recent years, and will likely go down as a modern classic. The game is so good too, offering deep storytelling with hundreds of gameplay hours.
— CD PROJEKT IR (@CDPROJEKTRED_IR) April 22, 2021
It’s not a surprise that Witcher is as successful as it is. Witcher 3 put CD Projekt Red on the map, creating years of goodwill within the fanbase. This allowed them to create a powerful hype around their games, especially for Cyberpunk 2077.
Besides the main trilogy, CDPR is looking to milk the franchise even more. The franchise features Gwent: The Witcher Card Game as among their latest offerings. There’s also the upcoming The Witcher: Monster Slayer on its way.
The mainline trilogy received a resurgence due to the TV show. Henry Cavill’s stellar performance in Netflix’s The Witcher created a better mainstream interest in the game. The show led to stronger interest among players who didn’t play the game.
CDPR gets $562 million revenue despite CP2077 launch issue
The news of The Witcher franchise selling 50 million copies is quite the story. It comes after the official investor relations Twitter account reported the company’s revenue for 2020. So far, CD Projekt Red estimated $562 million in revenue last year.
— CD PROJEKT IR (@CDPROJEKTRED_IR) April 15, 2021
The announcement details that CDPR earned $303 million in consolidated net profits. A good chunk of this came off the sales from Cyberpunk 2077 at launch. Despite its atrocious launch, CP2077 had a good chunk of sales coming from pre-orders.
Industry experts estimated that they paid as much as $51 million in refunds for the game. These refund numbers are in heavy contrast to the reported $2.2 million loss that the Polish company reported.
Even then, the devs only noted the returns done through their own returns program. $51 million makes much more sense, considering the semi-finished state that the game was delivered in.
There’s a possibility that this is not yet the end for The Witcher franchise. Season 2 of the TV show is on its way, with a roadmap and next-gen update due for the title.
Featured image courtesy of The Witcher/YouTube Screenshot