D&D General Some Interesting Stats About D&D Players!

The full cover spread for Phandelver and Below, by Antonio José Manzanedo​

GeekWire has reported on the recent D&D press event (which I've covered elsewhere). Along with all the upcoming product information we've all been devouring over the last day or two, there were some interesting tidbits regarding D&D player demographics.

• 60% of D&D players are male, 39% are female, and 1% identify otherwise
• 60% are “hybrid” players, who switch between playing the game physically or online
• 58% play D&D on a weekly basis
• 48% identify as millennials, 19% from Generation X and 33% from Generation Z
• The majority of current D&D players started with 5th Edition

 

[Micah Sweet]

age inappropriate to me is mostly about someone being too young for something, being too old for something is at best a convention.

I have no problem with me liking something the majority of people my age do not, and vice versa. Never bothered me the slightest, never will.

If you want to, consider yourself a trendsetter in this instance

Neither do I. I further explained in my next post what I mean, and please note I am not speaking personally, but rather providing a possible answer to @Hussar 's query about why people might be resistant to the survey results as reported.

 

[mamba]

They absolutely should. But those demographics strongly suggest older players are "out of the loop", so to speak. Given that is very likely a majority on this site, it follows that this study could make many posters here feel ignored and irrelevant, resulting in push-back.

judging by some comments here, some do, but that is more a ‘I don’t like the direction the game is taking’.

I am not sure that is age related all that much, it certainly is not that all old ones reject it and all new players embrace it

 

[Micah Sweet]

judging by some comments here, some do, but that is more a ‘I don’t like the direction the game is taking’.

I am not sure that is age related all that much, it certainly is not that all old ones reject it and all new players embrace it

Sure. There's no "all" here. I've been playing since 1983, and I certainly didn't reject 5e when it was released (however I feel about WotC now).

So you disagree with my speculation. Fair enough, as that's all it was.

 

[Minigiant]

I just don't understand this resistance to the notion that D&D is largely a 18-35 y.o.'s hobby. Why does this seem to bother people so much?

Well it's more 15-45 y.o. but it's a matter of people wanting to be able to hate the young people's stuff while being upset that companies stop catering to them as they age.

I mean I'm Brooklyn Born and Raised but I'm not mad the rap, punk, and metal of today doesn't cater to me anymore as I approach 40.

 

[mamba]

So you disagree with my speculation. Fair enough, as that's all it was.

I am not even sure I disagree in the sense that I believe that there is no one like that, there very well might be. It’s more that I disagree with those thinking that way

 

[Charlaquin]

Which seems odd, in that if the biggest cohort of players in - let's say 1983, during the 1e heyday - was in the 15-30 age range at that time, those same people would be in the 55-70 range now. Yet that age range doesn't even register on today's survey(s).

So where'd they all go?

I mean, some of them presumably just moved on from D&D, but most of them are probably still there. It’s just that their numbers haven’t significantly increased, whereas the game has reached more and more young people every year.

In general, if over the years the peak age range among the player base is always in that 15-30 area, that just tells me they've consistently done a good job of marketing to teens and young adults and a consistently poor job of keeping them in for the long haul.

Were I WotC, I'd see an opportunity there.

That they’ve done well at marketing to teens and young adults is an understatement. That they’ve failed to keep them long-term is not evident from the data.

Let me demonstrate: let’s say there are 100 15-30 year olds playing, and that 100% of them are retained until they age into the 55-70 demographic. Meanwhile, the game attracts 1,000,000 more 15-30 year olds. Even though the total number of those original 100 didn’t change, its proportion of the total shrunk significantly. I think people who reject this data are failing to realize just how explosively D&D has grown since the release of 5e.

 

[bedir than]

They absolutely should. But those demographics strongly suggest older players are "out of the loop", so to speak. Given that is very likely a majority on this site, it follows that this study could make many posters here feel ignored and irrelevant, resulting in push-back.

Morrus publishes the site demographics every year. In zero of those years has the 60+ (Baby Boomers and older) been the majority

 

[Micah Sweet]

I mean, some of them presumably just moved on from D&D, but most of them are probably still there. It’s just that their numbers haven’t significantly increased, whereas the game has reached more and more young people every year.

That they’ve done well at marketing to teens and young adults is an understatement. That they’ve failed to keep them long-term is not evident from the data.

Let me demonstrate: let’s say there are 100 15-30 year olds playing, and that 100% of them are retained until they age into the 55-70 demographic. Meanwhile, the game attracts 1,000,000 more 15-30 year olds. Even though the total number of those original 100 didn’t change, its proportion of the total shrunk significantly. I think people who reject this data are failing to realize just how explosively D&D has grown since the release of 5e.

Sure, can't fault your math. But those 100 aren't just a statistically insignificant demographic. They are 100 real people who love the game and may feel that they are being implicitly told that they don't matter anymore, without even a thank you for staying and keeping the game alive during the lean years when the company that no longer cares about them needed them. People's feeling affect their behavior.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Morrus publishes the site demographics every year. In zero of those years has the 60+ (Baby Boomers and older) been the majority

What about the Gen X-ers? I'll bet they and Boomers together represent a lot more than 19% of the people on this site.

 

[bedir than]

What about the Gen X-ers? I'll bet they and Boomers together represent a lot more than 19% of the people on this site.

And still not a majority.

Site search found the 2021 data fastest for me.

https://www.enworld.org/threads/another-year-of-en-world-demographics.680725/#post-8306884