The Witcher 3 was an extremely popular game on release. This action RPG was dubbed “one of the greatest games of all time” so it’s not a surprise that its player counts reflected that. Now in January 2023, over 7 years after the release of the game we’ve decided to revisit the Witcher 3 and its player count and stats to see how the player base is faring all these years after the initial release date.
Currently The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is played by 44,993 players according to Steam Charts, with an average of 46,775.4 players in the last 30 days. This a far cry from the game’s peak which was recorded in January 2020 when 103,329 were playing the game in that month alone. It’s natural to expect that such an older game will somewhat decline in popularity. However, with the new planned releases in the Witcher series, the popularity will surely bounce back.
Now that you know the short answer and how many players currently play the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it’s time to analyze other numbers and stats related to the game. If you’re interested, stay with us and keep reading!
Why was Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt so popular?
In 2015, CD Project published Witcher 3. The game followed the successful release of the second installment in the series. Witcher 3 was praised for its storytelling, depth of characters, narrative and immersion, and overall world-building. By the time all expansions and downloadable content were released and included in the Game of the Year edition, the game sold over 40 million copies which instantly launched it into the sphere of bestselling games of all time.
What players praised the most were Geralt’s backstory of a lone-wolf type of monster hunter and the fact that the game’s open world offered much the explore. Side-quests weren’t just a nuisance to complete but engaging stories of lore that serve to compliment the world of the Witcher.
Having said that, it was obvious that the game would be an instant success.
How many people play the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt in 2023?
At the moment of writing this post, 44,993 people play the game. This number is nowhere near all-time high that was recorded in January 2020 when the number reached 103,329 during the whole month.
This of course relates only to players on Steam as numbers for other platforms that Witcher 3 is played on are not available. Considering the many consoles and platforms that Witcher 3 is available on the number is likely significantly higher. Still, when it comes to the gain/loss of player trend, we have a decent picture of the player numbers and interest over the last 6 months. This can be seen in the table below with data provided by Steam Charts.
| Month | Avg. players | Gain/loss | Peak players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Last 30 days | 46,775.4 | +12.30% | 89,259 |
| December 2022 | 37,310.1 | +156.37% | 89,259 |
| November 2022 | 14,553.0 | +23.25% | 34,827 |
| October 2022 | 11,807.5 | -5.96% | 27,275 |
| September 2022 | 12,556.3 | -7.48% | 28,770 |
| August 2022 | 13,571.4 | +0.67% | 26,510 |
| June 2022 | 12,177.7 | -12.77% | 23,048 |
As you can see from the provided table, there is a mixed trend of declining and rising interest in Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt. The game recorded losses in player numbers in the months of October and September only to regain them in the last 30 days. The popularity and player base of the game skyrocketed in the month of December due to the release of the Witcher 3: Nex Gen update that brought many improvements to the game.
How many people stream Witcher 3: Wild Hunt?
At the moment of writing this post, 7,615 people watch The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt on Twitch according to the data provided by Twitch Tracker. The numbers paint a picture of lessened interest and the current number is far cry from the peak that happened on August 17th, 2020 when 90,314 viewers were streaming Witcher 3-related content on Twitch.
The number of channels that stream The Witcher 3 content ranks well with 151 currently live channels and 241 channels over a period of the last 7 days. The peak related to channels happened on January 4th, 2020 when 701 channels streamed Witcher 3. Currently, The Witcher is #49 when it comes to the ranking of the most popular games with 1,059,932 hours of content watched in the last 7 days.
In-depth statistics related to the viewers and channels can be seen in the table below for the last 6 months.
| Month | Concurrent viewers average | Gain/loss | Concurrent streams average | Gain/loss | Hours watched | Gain/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 2023 | 6.1K | -4.6% | 240 | +24.4% | 1.31M | -72.4% |
| December 2022 | 6.4K | +1.1K% | 193 | +233% | 4.74M | +1.1K% |
| November 2022 | 542 | -23.1% | 60 | +11.1% | 247K | -49.3% |
| October 2022 | 705 | -51.3% | 54 | -16.9% | 487K | -52.7% |
| September 2022 | 1.4K | +11.8% | 65 | -1.5% | 1.03M | +6.8% |
| August 2022 | 1.3K | +45.3% | 66 | +3.1% | 965K | +46.6% |
| June 2022 | 766 | -44.4% | 67 | -13% | 551K | -46% |
As you can see the number from Twitch reflect the rising trend of popularity and interest since the release of the Next Gen update the number of interest and viewers on Twitch has risen by +1.1K%. The trend of popularity will likely continue but will slowly decrease over time.
Will The Witcher 3 be popular again?
There’s no doubt that the Witcher 3 will be popular again. Several announcements have been made in the last few months regarding the continuation of the franchise. For starters, in the March of this year, it has been revealed that a new trilogy in the franchise, focusing on a different character is starting. Nothing is known regarding the gameplay and the protagonist as of now but what we do know is that the game will be made in Unreal Engine 5.
Unreal Engine 5 will also be used for Witcher 1 remake was also announced. Considering everything, it’s just a matter of time before the numbers skyrocket again.
