WitcherCon: Everything You Need To Know About The Event

On July 9, 2021, CD PROJEKT RED and Netflix are presenting the first ever WitcherCon, a virtual event celebrating and showcasing the expansive "The Witcher" franchise. For fans of both the video games, the books, and "The Witcher" TV series, this is a fantastic gathering of all the creative minds behind the stories and characters you love. "The Witcher" originally began as a series of short stories by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski, with the first published in Fantastyka magazine in 1986 (Remix). The story gained a lot of fans who started demanding more, leading Sapkowski to write 14 more short stories before transitioning to full-length books. While the book series had an intense fanbase in Central and Eastern Europe from the start, the franchise's influence spread as Sapkowski's works were translated into 37 various international languages, as of 2019 (TV Insider). 

Now in 2021, "The Witcher" has come a long way. To this day, there have been multiple comic book series adaptations, board games, card games, and of course, digital video games, which really helped the franchise gain popularity within the American and Western European population. Most recently, there's also the Netflix live-action adaptation, with Season 1 premiering on December 20, 2019, as well as an upcoming anime film and so much more. "The Witcher" franchise keeps getting bigger and bigger, and it doesn't look like it will be stopping anytime soon. 

Thanks to the huge community of creators and fans who truly love "The Witcher" and its rich stories, WitcherCon is here. So ready yourselves for some exclusive news, behind-the-scenes footage, deep dives into franchise lore, and more at the new virtual event. Here's everything you need to know about WitcherCon.

WitcherCon will be hosted by Julia Hardy, a British television presenter who focuses on gaming, ESports, music, and similar areas of interest. The event will feature a full schedule of interactive panels with people involved in the live-action series, the video games, the comics and board games, and even Geralt of Rivia himself, Henry Cavill. The panels are styled to fully embrace the mystical nature of the world of "The Witcher," similar to last year's "Witchmas," which gave the fans control over what details about the Netflix series would be revealed as "gifts."

The first major panel is called The Witcher Season 2: Deck of Destiny, and it will feature all of the main people involved in the hit Netflix series, including show creator Lauren Schmidt Hissrich and cast members Anya Chalotra, Freya Allan, Mimî M Khayisa, and Paul Bullion. Don't worry that Cavill's name isn't included in that list, as he has a panel all to himself called Tales from the White Wolf, which will finish out WitcherCon. In The Witcher Season 2: Deck of Destiny, the actors and creator will allow a deck of fan questions to dictate the direction the conversation goes, but Netflix warns to "prepare for surprise reveals, backstage insights, and a dash of chaos as our panelists take us through their journey of filming Season 2."

The developers of the video games will have their own panel, CD PROJEKT RED's Memories from the Path: Stories Behind The Witcher Games, while WitcherCon will also have a trivia panel, as well as one focusing on the upcoming board game and comic book series.

Netflix and CD PROJEKT RED seem to be really highlighting is the fact that there will be many "surprises" in store for those who tune in. It has been reported that Season 2 of "The Witcher" will arrive on Netflix sometime in the second half of 2021, according to a shareholder letter shared by Netflix Life, which makes sense given they've already released a couple of teasers. The upcoming anime film, "The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf," is also expected sometime this year, making the first ever "The Witcher" convention the perfect time to release a full trailer or more exclusive sneak peeks to fans. 

Along with that, there will be new reveals about the comic books and new board game, titled "The Witcher: Old World." While it should be noted that CD PROJEKT RED made it clear that there will be no new video game announced at the event, the various panels promise to reveal a lot of great lore and provide an inside look at the process of building "The Witcher" show and video games. On top of all of that, expect some new merchandise too. Truly, who knows what else WitcherCon could have up its sleeve, as there's bound to be one or two surprises not even hinted at in promotions for the event.

WitcherCon has made it extremely easy to tune in for the upcoming event. Taking place on July 9, 2021, the event will stream twice on Netflix, as well as CD PROJEKT RED's YouTube and Twitch channels. The first stream will take place at 7:00 p.m. CEST (Central European Summer Time), which is 1:00 p.m. EST and 10:00 a.m. PST. The second stream will occur eight hours later at 9:00 p.m. EST and 6:00 p.m. PST (3:00 a.m. CEST). 

As of right now, it's unclear how long WitcherCon will be, and the people putting on the event honestly might not either. With any luck, considering this is an event exclusive to "The Witcher" franchise, the panels won't be rushed along and there will be plenty of time to really go deep into everything being discussed. Looking at similar events like Comic Con, the panels are usually given an hour time slot, so with five panels (that we know of) at WitcherCon, the event will likely be at least five hours long, if not longer. 

Mark July 9, 2021 in your calendars now, and get ready for a lot of fun and surprises during the first ever WitcherCon.