The bookworm of Blaviken: an intermedial analysis of books in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

This article offers an intermedial analysis of how books are represented in The Witcher 3, building on the media theories of Lars Elleström and W. J. T. Mitchell. The analysis shows how the game pits books against images and exposes latent tensions in the representational conventions of games. The game reflects an intermedial excess that speaks to a more profound crisis in the discursive construction of the computer games medium. Building on the analysis, the article turns to discuss how the medium of computer games is qualified through both its likenesses and differences to other narrative media, most notably literature and cinema. Compared to these media, computer games entice their players with promises of immersion and control, while ultimately failing to fulfil both. The intermedial excess of The Witcher 3 can be understood as a playful commentary on the promises and limits to the representational capacities of computer games.