D&D 5E 5E Lifetime Sales in North American Big Box Stores Revealed

[mamba]

Even if it's 6 millions which is the higher number mentionned, that would mean the 50 millions D&D players are sharing a PHB for a 8 to 9 players.

there are no 50M players, that is lifetime across all editions.

 

[Nikosandros]

A lot of the people playing are teenagers, and...might be using less than appropriate means to acquire material to play in practice.

Some things don't really change... I remember several of my friends back then borrowing my AD&D books and photocopying them.

 

[Parmandur]

I've also read the claim that the newest releases are selling less well, but I haven't waded into the 2-hours+ video and that's why I made my earlier post. I was hoping someone had watched it and could corroborate or confute.

It kind of ambiguous: everything from 2022 and 2023 is still selling what other publishers would kill for (Keys from the Golden Vault has sold like 19,000 copies not including FLGS sales, compared to the ~13,000 backers for Shadowdark or ~10,000 for Talea of the Valiant; Spelljammer has only sold ~84,000 copies aside from FLGS sales, bit that's approaching double the Kickstarter backers for Avatar, and outsold the original run of 2E Spelljammer).

The ready availability of "old" 5E material like Curse of Strahd and Tyranny of Dragona helps keep them in the lead: all this stuff is still in print.

 

[darjr]

Also you can get into the game with a free account in DnDBeyond and have your “dm” opt yiu in. I know for a fact it’s a fairly regular practice. H*ck I did it for financially strapped friends.

 

[Parmandur]

Some things don't really change... I remember several of my friends back then borrowing my AD&D books and photocopying them.

Thing ia,while WotC certainly won't like that it happens, their model at this point is to encourage people playing. Some of these co tinued PHB sales might be from kids who have played for a few years referencing shady resources who wa t to go clean now that they got some birthday money or what not.

 

[darjr]

The PHB recently broke top ten in Amazon US. Granted at a deep discount and during prime. But I’m shocked it did so even with all that.

In fact I’m a little concerned that the 2014 PHB has become a sort of loss leader for WotC and replacing it may hurt that.

But I’ve been assured by someone external to WotC that the 2024 PHB will probably go into a decent discount shortly after release anyway. Im not so sure.

 

[Parmandur]

Also you can get into the game with a free account in DnDBeyond and have your “dm” opt yiu in. I know for a fact it’s a fairly regular practice. H*ck I did it for financially strapped friends.

With the "monetization" of D&D being a lifestyle brand...it is in their interest to let people play and get engaged over time.

 

[Parmandur]

The PHB recently broke top ten in Amazon US. Granted at a deep discount and during prime. But I’m shocked it did so even with all that.

In fact I’m a little concerned that the 2014 PHB has become a sort of loss leader for WotC and replace it may hurt that.

Could be Amazon is quietly clearing out stock as it goes out of print.

 

[darjr]

Could be Amazon is quietly clearing out stock as it goes out of print.

See my edit

 

[Zardnaar]

The PHB recently broke top ten in Amazon US. Granted at a deep discount and during prime. But I’m shocked it did so even with all that.

In fact I’m a little concerned that the 2014 PHB has become a sort of loss leader for WotC and replacing it may hurt that.

But I’ve been assured by someone external to WotC that the 2024 PHB will probably go into a decent discount shortly after release anyway. Im not so sure.

Yup price hikes plus 5E being so popular might have a repeat of 1E to 2E.

And see how their digital stuff works out. $150 million is only 1 years rpg market approx but several years profit.