The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt currently has more concurrent players than Red Dead Redemption 2. While CD Project Red has made one of the best RPG’s in modern history on it’s own, it’s also highly likely that Netflix’ TV show is responsible for the resurgence of popularity surrounding the 4.5 year old game.
As of writing, Red Dead Redemption 2 has just under 43,000 concurrent players (via SteamCharts). On the other hand, almost 50,000 people are enjoying The Witcher 3 right now. That makes it the 14th most played game of today, beating games like Terraria, Rocket League, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, and PAYDAY 2.
Red Dead Redemption 2 takes the 15th slot on that same list. Do note that Rockstar’s western epic is also available on the Epic Games Store, via Rockstar’s own launcher, and through Google Stadia (though that is supposedly not working very well). The total amount of players is therefore most certainly higher. That being said, the Witcher 3 is also available through CD Projekt Red’s own GOG.
Disregarding the whole launcher-nuance, it’s quite remarkable that a fairly old game still draws in more players than a recently released title. Especially considering the latter is Rockstar’s brilliant Red Dead Redemption sequel. Moreover, The Witcher 3 has no online mode; a feature that provides replay value over a longer period of time. Just look at GTA V, a game that is even older than The Witcher 3 and – probably thanks to GTA Online – has close to 160,000 concurrent players.
The Witcher TV show launched a few days ago and it is being praised with a solid 8.9 on IMDB. Netflix’ adaptation is based on the popular fantasy books by Andrzej Sapkowski, just like the videogames. So even when you’ve binged the entire 8 episodes already, The Witcher 3 still has plenty to offer. Oh, and it’s 70% off on Steam right now!