Regardless of whether we are talking about a video game, TV series, animation, board game, card game or comics – the projects expanding the universe created by Sapkowski have for a long time resembled a goose laying golden eggs. A strong brandidentified with the “charismatic” (in his own way) Geralt, will of course attract mainstream attention for a long time, but the time of automatic successes of side projects – is slowly coming to an end. The best example of this is Reigns: The Witcher, which debuted at the end of February – a spin-off of the extremely popular card game, which has sold several million copies since its premiere, both on mobile platforms and on PC.
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The latest production, in which we follow the (often imaginary) adventures of Geralt, Jaskier and several other famous characters from this world, apparently did not interest players at all. On Steam, Valve's leading digital distribution platform for PCs, the title was played at its peak only 179 people. Several dozen hours after the premiere, interest dropped to 60-80 people at a time and it does not look like it will increase dramatically in the near future. Unfortunately, the situation is not much better on mobile platforms, which are a slightly more natural place for the gameplay offered by Reigns: The Witcher. At this stage there is an Android version downloaded just over 1,000 times and only 54 opinions were issued. In the case of the iOS version – Apple does not make public all data regarding the number of downloads, but when user reviews appear, these are visible to everyone. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this material, the game didn't have any.
How does it compare to the most popular installment of the series? The original Reigns, debuting in 2016, had 1,600 players on Steam at its peak. Of course, this is quite little in global terms, but the brand's power was clearly visible in mobile versions. There Reigns has been downloaded over a million times on Android alone, and users have left nearly 150,000 likes. opinions. The difference is colossal, although one must, of course, take into account the fact that the game needed a decade to collect such results. Reigns: The Witcher is still a fresh title, although a weak start does not give much hope for repeating this success.
However, the Witcher version of the game is not the worst performing spin-off. Over the years, the creators, the Nerial studio and the publisher Devolver Digital, have decided to cooperate in various ways, including: with the Game of Thrones brand. However, the vast majority recorded decent results, with the number of purchases and downloads reaching at least 100,000. The 2024 installment of Reigns Beyond was definitely the weakest – it was not released at all on Android and iOS, and the PC version attracted only 12 players at the same time at its peak.
However, the reactions of people who decided to buy Reigns: The Witcher seem to be good (the game has 87% positive ratings on Steam and a rating of 4.8/5 on Google Play), despite the fact that the publisher valued the title at twice the price of the other versions. The amount you have to pay to check out Geralt's new adventures is, depending on the platform, from PLN 25 to PLN 30.
However, some of those interested in the brand express some disappointment with CD Projekt RED's involvement in projects of this type. Although, due to the intensive work on The Witcher 4, it was not very large and a different team was responsible for the production, the whole thing was created in cooperation with a Polish studio. The title was also promoted several times in the official channels of the Witcher brand. From a recent conversation conducted by GamesRadar editorial staff with Nerial representatives, we also know that between the two entities intensive consultations regarding the script took place so that individual stories were consistent with the brand built over the years. During the conversation, in addition to praising the cooperation with CD Projekt RED, it was openly admitted: – Each scenario you encounter in the game has been checked by many universe experts, scriptwriters and producers to make sure that all content is fully consistent with the tone and lore of The Witcher world.
Of course, Business Insider Polska asked representatives of CD Projekt RED about additional details of this cooperation and its scale. If we know them, the material will be updated.
However, the frustration of some people with this cooperation in most cases seems to result not so much from the state of Reigns: The Witcher itself, but from the lack of official communication regarding the alleged addition to The Witcher 3, about which more or less credible rumors circulated intensively a few weeks ago. CD Projekt RED, in accordance with its communication policy, has neither officially denied nor confirmed the rumors so far.. Some players, however, are waiting for a specific message on this matter, and in a situation where the only news about the “Witcher game” has recently been the promotion of a simple card game created mainly for smartphones – they are giving vent to negative emotions on social media and forums.
