Orbit Publishing has called Andrzej Sapkowski’s The Witcher novel saga a “publishing phenomenon” as it pledged to print 500,000 new copies to cope with demand following the popularity of Netflix’s recent adaption.
The show launched back in December to a middling critical reception, but it’s enjoyed mostly positive user reviews and attracted an enormous audience; Parrott Analytics claimed last month that it was the most in-demand TV show in the world.
The sheer number of people watching has had a ripple effect for both the acclaimed video game series and Sapkowski’s books. In January, developer CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt recorded its highest concurrent player count ever, surpassing 100,000.
Interest in the books has also increased dramatically. We reported weeks ago that Sapkowski’s The Last Wish and Blood of Elves had entered The New York Times’ list of best-sellers, and now we hear that publishing companies are buckling under the weight of demand.
Orbit Publishing said in a blog post:
“The demand for all eight books in the series increased steadily last year in anticipation of the Netflix launch. Since its release, sales have been phenomenal in all formats – print, ebook and audio – and Orbit’s US division is currently reprinting over 500,000 copies to meet the exceptional demand.”
Sapkowski’s The Witcher is comprised of two short story books and a novel saga. Netflix’s The Witcher adaptation was based on The Last Wish and Sword of Destiny short stories. Season two is expected to begin the saga properly, based primarily on Blood of Elves.
Earlier this week we learned that members of Netflix’s production team visited Scotland to scout film locations.
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