The wind is howling; CD Projekt Red has just released new financial statements that show how The Witcher 3 fared in 201449, and the results are a bit surprising. 53% of all purchases in 2019 were on PC; PlayStation 4 had 26%, Nintendo Switch was 11%, and Xbox One accounted for 10% of the sales. 2019 brought an additional 6,500,000 sales in the fifth year since its original release, cementing its standard-bearing pro-consumer DLC practices and community-building presence that CD Projekt has been know and celebrated for.
Every year since The Witcher 3 has released, it has continued to sell surprisingly well on PC versus other consoles; not one year since its release beyond 2015 has any console outsold The Witcher 3 in comparison to PC sales. In 2015, PlayStation 4 purchases accounted for a whopping 48% versus 31% on PC.
It bodes well for what many consider to be a PC-centered franchise with modding tools and libraries available, and CD Projekt Red’s stance on never including DRM in their has clearly not been a factor in regards of selling the product, in spite of many companies doubling down on digital rights management protection for their titles; some stacking more than two additional protections on top of a software service such as Denuvo Anti-Tamper.
The Witcher 3 has now sold well over 28,000,000 copies internationally in both physical and digital mediums, although 2019 saw consumers more readily approaching digital ownership with 82% of sales being digital.
The financial report goes well beyond merely how The Witcher 3 sold in 2019; they also talk at length about the upcoming Cyberpunk 2077, and how monumentally hyped everyone is to explore the futuristic world where we’ll encounter not only Keanu Reeves in all of his meme-styled glory, along with the seedier underbelly of Night City.
CD Projekt Red has reported that the level of interest they’re seeing is ‘enormous’, likely due primarily to the reception that The Witcher 3 received. With fantastic levels of hype though comes a far sharper critical focus on the title from fans and critics alike, and it’s likely going to be difficult to please literally everyone with a new scope for the studio to handle; while The Witcher 3 dealt primarily with melee combat, the projectiles were admittedly a bit rough around the edges in comparison to how well the melee combat felt.
These levels of anticipation are likely somewhat to blame for Cyberpunk 2077 being delayed to September this year, missing their April launch that CD Projekt Red. If The Witcher 3 is any indication, however, it’s going to be a title that is more than worth the wait.
