Netflix’s relaunch of The Witcher is losing viewers, according to new streaming data. The Witcher Season 4 has created plenty of headlines with Liam Hemsworth stepping into the role of Geralt of Rivia, formerly played by Henry Cavill. This change has drawn plenty of controversy, similar to the decision to have David Corenswet be the new Superman. Yet, where the new Superman seems to have mostly paid off for Warner Bros., Netflix is not so lucky with The Witcher recasting.
According to What’s on Netflix, The Witcher Season 4 landed at number 2 on Netflix’s English TV list with 7.4 million views across its first four days of release. While there is no direct metric for Season 1, Season 2’s first-week views were 18.5 million. Even though that is three extra days, it is unlikely Season 4 would have doubled its viewership in the three days that followed. Season 3 pulled in 15.2 million, though it is worth noting that Season 3 was split into two premiere weeks, first in June 2023 and then in July.
What is Really Behind ‘The Witcher’s Viewership Drop?
There is certainly a lot to take from The Witcher‘s Season 4 viewership. It is likely many fans jumped ship following Henry Cavill’s departure. Yet it is clear that The Witcher has been losing viewers with each new season, a trend seen with many Netflix series. This is partially why Netflix tends to end series after three seasons, as their logic has been that a returning show brings in fewer viewers than a new series.
Another important factor to note is that Netflix dropped The Witcher Season 4 on Oct. 30, 2025, one day before Halloween. It is likely that even fans of The Witcher were more interested in Halloween-themed programming at that time, which may have impacted its first two days of viewership. Contrast that with Season 1, which debuted on Dec. 20, 2019, and Season 2, which debuted on Dec. 17, 2021, both close to holiday weekends. The Witcher Season 3 moved out of the holiday frame and into the summer, with Season 3 Part 1 airing on Jun. 29, 2023, and Part 2 on Jul. 27, 2023.
Then there is, of course, the gap in between releases. It has been six years since The Witcher debuted on Netflix, and two since Season 3 aired. With the two-window release of Season 3 and the fanfare of Henry Cavill’s final episode, it is easy to imagine many audiences thought The Witcher was over (and many fans declared that to be the case). Whatever the case, as the series heads towards its Season 5 conclusion, it may not be the grand finale Netflix envisioned when they began this journey.
- Release Date
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December 20, 2019
- Network
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Netflix
- Showrunner
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Lauren Schmidt Hissrich
- Directors
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Stephen Surjik, Charlotte Brändström, Edward Bazalgette, Loni Peristere, Louise Hooper, Bola Ogun, Alex Garcia Lopez, Gandja Monteiro, Sarah O’Gorman
- Writers
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Haily Hall, Clare Higgins, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Jenny Klein, Tania Lotia
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Anya Chalotra
Yennefer of Vengerberg
