D&D 3E/3.5 Ben Riggs shares Sunless Citadel sales numbers

[FitzTheRuke]

I can tell you WHY there doesn't appear to be much of a Sales bump in December: These are WotC's numbers, so it's sales TO stores, not sales AT stores. We generally have to stock up in late November (and maybe a bit in early December) but we can't generally get too much product in the 2nd half of December, because a lot of the distributors are closed for the holidays. Then we sell all our product during that time, and we can't get replacements until January.

Which sucks somewhat, because we wind up paying a LOT to fill our shelves in January, when we have a BIG drop-off in sales with which to pay for it. Obviously, the sales in December actually cover the task of paying for it, but it always makes December's sales-to-expenses look great, and January's look terrible.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

As an aside, I loathed Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury when they came out, and always made up my own adventures instead. I've grown somewhat fond of older adventures these days, and I think they're okay now. I've run Forge of Fury several times over the years.

 

[Reynard]

These are specifically 2001 numbers. I expect Sunless Citadel and Forge of Fury had most of their sales in 2000.

The they aren't very useful numbers. I'm not sure what the point of releasing these piecemeal bits of information is, other than to market the paperback of his book.

 

[Staffan]

The they aren't very useful numbers. I'm not sure what the point of releasing these piecemeal bits of information is, other than to market the paperback of his book.

You're not wrong. But in these threads, it's been a consistent theme that he's provided 2001 numbers and said "If anyone has the 2000 numbers, that would be nice."

 

[Parmandur]

You're not wrong. But in these threads, it's been a consistent theme that he's provided 2001 numbers and said "If anyone has the 2000 numbers, that would be nice."

Yeah, he's working ona WotC era book, and I think he is fishing cor more sources.

 

[darjr]

Since this is still Sunless Citadel related I’ll post here and update the OP

It is with some hesitation that I offer this chart comparing Dark Sun adventure sales in 1992 to Sunless Citadel AP sales in 2001. I have chosen those years because they are the first full year of release for the respective brands, and bluntly, they are years I have sales data for.

This comparison might be apples and oranges

This comparison might be too little data, over too short a period of time.

But! I do think it has some use. Dark Sun had five adventures for sale by the end of 1992. Sunless Citadel had six. But the SC AP sold 43% better than Dark Sun.

If you're looking for data to prove 3rd edition turned D&D around, this might be a piece of it.

Next, I'll release sales data for other adventures up for sale in 2001, such as Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

Have you read my book? Link below.

Raw sales data also below.

-Ben

Raw dsta

 

[Parmandur]

Since this is still Sunless Citadel related I’ll post here and update the OP

It is with some hesitation that I offer this chart comparing Dark Sun adventure sales in 1992 to Sunless Citadel AP sales in 2001. I have chosen those years because they are the first full year of release for the respective brands, and bluntly, they are years I have sales data for.

This comparison might be apples and oranges

This comparison might be too little data, over too short a period of time.

But! I do think it has some use. Dark Sun had five adventures for sale by the end of 1992. Sunless Citadel had six. But the SC AP sold 43% better than Dark Sun.

If you're looking for data to prove 3rd edition turned D&D around, this might be a piece of it.

Next, I'll release sales data for other adventures up for sale in 2001, such as Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil.

Have you read my book? Link below.

Raw sales data also below.

-Ben

View attachment 334848

Raw dsta
View attachment 334849

Hmmmm, too appeals to oranges IMO. Dark Sun had ludicrous levels of competition from other TSR products, and totalling the 3E AP together elides over how steep the drop off seems to have been from module to module.

 

[MockingBird]

Now I kinda wish Tales from the Yawning Portal had more than the two 3.0 adventures we got. Sunless Citadel was a blast to run and play.

 

[darjr]

More sales data. All 3rd ed adventures for 2001.

Behold! Total D&D 3rd ed adventure sales for 2001, by both month and in total!
In 2001, Wizards of the Coast sold 201,917 3rd edition D&D adventures.
The best selling adventure of the year was Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil with 41,713 units sold, and the worst seller was Into the Dragon’s Lair with 5,529 copies moved.
To me, this data again suggests the strength of D&D after the slow bleed of the late 1990s.
Next week, I will start diving into the 3rd edition splatbooks, such as Sword & Fist and Defenders of the Faith.
Interested in all this data? Check out my book, now in paperback! Link below.
Also, as always, raw data is below.

raw data

\

And a link to the facebook post. As always the comments are interesting.

 

[Parmandur]

More sales data. All 3rd ed adventures for 2001.

Behold! Total D&D 3rd ed adventure sales for 2001, by both month and in total!
In 2001, Wizards of the Coast sold 201,917 3rd edition D&D adventures.
The best selling adventure of the year was Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil with 41,713 units sold, and the worst seller was Into the Dragon’s Lair with 5,529 copies moved.
To me, this data again suggests the strength of D&D after the slow bleed of the late 1990s.
Next week, I will start diving into the 3rd edition splatbooks, such as Sword & Fist and Defenders of the Faith.
Interested in all this data? Check out my book, now in paperback! Link below.
Also, as always, raw data is below.

View attachment 335539
View attachment 335540

raw data
View attachment 335541\

And a link to the facebook post. As always the comments are interesting.

Riggs seems to think these are good numbers, but...they seem kind of bad to me? And adoring a trend of decline?