In order to meet the soaring demand for books in the Witcher series by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, Orbit Books will go back to press with all titles in the series, printing 500,000 additional copies.
An Orbit spokesperson said sales in print, e-book, and audiobook have all been "phenomenal" following the release of the Netflix adaptation, starring Henry Cavill as the titular witcher, Geralt of Rivia, on December 20. "We’re aware that the novels might not be available everywhere at this time, but our inventory team and printers are working incredibly hard and all books will be back in stock and flying out of our warehouse very shortly," the publisher said in a statement.
"We're thrilled that the Netflix adaptation is introducing the Witcher, and Andrzej Sapkowski's wonderful books, to a whole new audience," Tim Holman, Orbit's publisher, told PW. "The series has already been a huge success, with more than two million copies sold across all formats, and sales this month have been phenomenal. With a season two already confirmed by Netflix, our feeling is that the Witcher is all set to be one of the biggest fantasy series of the year—and perhaps the decade.”
Netflix, in a rare release touting viewership numbers, said The Witcher was its second most-watched series release of last year, behind its hit 1980s-style adventure-horror show Stranger Things. The show's success has impacted the video game industry as well: according to the popular video game platform Steam, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the award-winning 2015 installment in the video game series also adapting Sapkowski's Witcher series, was being played by more than 103,000 users concurrently on the platform on January 5, shattering previous records.
