Changes That Anger Book Fans Actually Drive The Witcher's Success
Netflix’s The Witcher debuted in late 2019 to unprecedented success, igniting a cultural frenzy and effectively confirming the commercial viability of high fantasy for mainstream audiences. Despite the popularity of the games, and the books that spawned them, the Netflix adaptation was, for many viewers, their first introduction to the franchise, spurring renewed interest in both the games and the books that inspired them.
For those who felt compelled to catch up, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt would prove amply satisfying; the same, unfortunately, cannot be said of the original book series. While long-time fans of the books have been very vocal about their disappointment over changes made in the Netflix show, critical analysis of these changes reveals that they were actually necessary to the show’s success.
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Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski published eight books about the titular Witcher, Geralt of Rivia (played in the show by Henry Cavill) over the course of the 1990s, with a ninth, standalone adventure, added to the saga in 2013. The books have since sold more than 15 million copies; while this figure is nothing to sneeze at, it pales in comparison to staples of the genre, such as The Lord of the Rings (150 million copies) and The Wheel of Time (90 million copies)—or, notably, A Song of Ice and Fire (90 million copies).
More popular were CD Projekt Red’s three games based on the books, which have sold more than 50 million copies. Although some of The Witcher 3's recent success has been driven in part by the Netflix adaptation, it is worth noting that the series had already sold more than 25 million copies before the show was even released. Of course, it is difficult
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