Netflix’sThe Witcherseries has been met with general praise for its accuracy and care for the characters and the fantasy world at large. And that love shines through in part because of showrunner Lauren S. Hissrich’s love for the original novels, which was reflected ina recent tweetcommending the direction the original works have taken as of late:

In the same Twitter thread, however, fans expressed displeasure concerning certain changes and cut plot points in the first season. One such critique was addressed by Hissrich herself in a brief and extremely informative thread about why certain decisions are made when it comes to choosing how to adaption material as extensive as the writtenWitcheruniverse:

Not only does Hissrich address valid criticism with sensitivity and grace, but she also explains why those choices needed to be made in while acknowledging that fans may still not agree with said changes. These kinds of exchanges serve as a great reminder that the people who create our beloved media are often just as passionate and devoted to their craft as fans are to the property itself.

Henry Cavil, the actor who plays as main protagonist Geralt, is another example of someone who lovesThe Witcherand strives to deliver the best possible performance.In a recent interviewhe explained that in terms of his involvement with the show, it was important for him to stay as “true to the lore as possible” for the role of Geralt and that “it was about bringing my love for the character to the show, as a fan.” He specifically had wanted the show to incorporate more of Geralt’s signs in order to highlight his abilities as a witcher and that “the audience must know he can do these things.”

It seems the series’s ;aunch has hada positive affecton the games as video game industry analyst Benji-Sales reported that on December 23th, CD Projekt RED’sThe Witcher 3: Wild HuntÂhad hit a total concurrent player countof over 50,000players on Steam. According toÂSteam Charts, the game is shown to have hit over 90,000 concurrent players when it launched back in May 2015. Since then the last noticeable spike in players was May and June 2016 when thefinal DLC,ÂBlood and Wine, launched.

The charts have remained in the 20,000-30,000 area after that surge until December 22th, when the peak started growing. By December 26th there were over 70,000 concurrent players jumping on the Steam version of the game. The player count across all available platforms is also anticipated to be much higher.

Be sure to check out our own review for the Netflix seriesThe Witcherhere.