The Netflix boost is a phenomenon so predictable that it should qualify as legitimate economic theory. It follows a simple pattern: Netflix releases a videogame adaptation, and the people who watch it want an excuse to linger in that world, causing related game sales to spike shortly afterwards.
We saw it when Henry Cavill’s Geralt performance drove a 554% increase in people tossing coins to their Witchers. It drove increases in daily concurrent player counts for Cyberpunk 2077 after the airing of the anime adaptation. And it’s not limited to Netflix, either—the Fallout show on Amazon caused a fourfold increase in daily active Fallout players.
Now, Netflix is working its spell once more: Its Devil May Cry animated adaptation released last week on April 3, and now the Devil May Cry Franchise Pack is—at time of writing—the 9th best selling Steam listing in the US, while Devil May Cry 5 is the 12th best selling Steam game worldwide.
Of course, the heavy discounts don’t hurt here. The Franchise Pack, which includes Devil May Cry 1 through 5 (but not 2013’s DmC reboot, though that’s on sale too if you want it), is currently enjoying a 71% discount, getting you all of Dante’s endeavors for $20.
The interest isn’t just limited to sales. According to SteamDB, there were more than 13,000 people playing Devil May Cry 5 at once yesterday—its second highest player count since its 2019 release. Concurrent player counts for singleplayer games are only so useful of a metric, but it’s clear there’s plenty of people who are fiending for a demon hunting fix.
I’m tempted to grab the bundle myself. Devil May Cry is one of the bigger gaps in my gaming history, and considering the enthusiasm of our Devil May Cry 5 review—and how much Capcom action I’ve been enjoying in Monster Hunter lately—it almost feels like a professional obligation at this point.
Plus I hear Dante can use his motorcycle as a weapon. That sounds alright.
