Dungeons & Dragons has 15 Million Players in NA Alone; Storyline Is "The Da Vinci Code meets Gangs o

Interesting. The following tidbit has me excited about the new storyline:

“The Stream of Many Eyes” ... story — which will be revealed on June 1 — was described by one D&D staffer as 'The Da Vinci Code meets Gangs of New York.'”

 

[steeldragons]

Ohhhhh. "North America"...Thank gods. That was driving me crazy.

 

[dave2008]

12 to 15 million is also 25% growth not 44% in the OPs post lol. Wife watches some zombie show (I Zombie?)and they were playing D&D in that which I thought was funny.

12-15 million players is 25% growth in the number of players, but the sales grew by 44%. Probably related, but not the same thing.

 

[Parmandur]

Jesus wept.

How have you forgotten the dozen Amazon threads that have continually been on the forums the past few years? The ICv2 reports? The shareholder reports from the Hasbro CEO?
You could assume that sales were plateuing... and you would be wrong.
The PHB did very well in 2014, and 2015. It did *better* in 2016 and now has done 44% better than that.

But, hey, don't believe me. Check out this growth on the Amazon chart:
View attachment 97176

You'll notice the steady growth in an upward spike that looks nothing like a plateau.

Meanwhile, the other books have steady sales and Xanathar's Guide was the fastest selling D&D book ever.


No. But from the article we know:
"As a result, 2017 was “the biggest” in D&D’s 44-year history, Stewart said."

We don't need to know what the previous year's sales were. We don't even need to know what they previous 44 years were.


Amazon's sales cut into their profits, not WotC's. They make the same amount if the PHB sells at 100%, 75%, or 50%.


Since when did "D&D is doing great" become the pessimistic response?


Something I love... something that has defined half my life... something that has introduced me to all my closest friends... something that gave me my first paid writing and editing credits—something that is my Asperger's obsession—is doing well and more people than ever are enjoying it as well. This makes me happy.
Why is that a problem?

Why should I feel bad that I'm excited the game is doing well and is healthy? Why should I feel ashamed that it is no longer in danger of being cancelled or withering away? That D&D is not some greying hobby like model trains that will eventually fade away. That it might finally break out of the shadow of shame and propaganda cast in the 1980s.

No.
The question isn't any of the above.
The question is: why are you NOT more excited? Why doesn't this thrill you?
We live in exciting times.

I agree heartily with most of this, except I've seen plenty of young people into model trains (not my scene, but a vital hobby).

 

[Tony Vargas]

. There are more players than ever, more content available than ever, and more places to buy that content than ever.

2e, 3.x, PF, even 4e with its 2yr run, GURPS, oWoD, and, I suspect, plenty of other near-forgotten games, each had more content than 5e is likely to accumulate at it's stately pace of release - unless it really is D&D LAST and D&D goes another 44 years without a rev roll...

That is, I think, part of the way it threaded the needle: it doesn't appear intimidating, sitting on the shelf.

 

[Parmandur]

This bothers me a bit. For me the only reason I care if D&D is popular is

1: ease of finding players
2: more material being published (ie the game not "dying")

Too much emphasis on branding vs *content* would be troubling.

The ingenious trick they managed to be pulling up beyond theird wildest hopes, is making a sustainable product for the hobby that doesn't require rapid product inflation.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Well, we don't know the ratio because they have been mum on book sale numbers, but I am beginning to suspect that they have been modest and they have sold more than we might have suspected.

Someone let slip the 750k - actually, I think it was more like 'approaching 800k since release towards the end of 2017,' but 750k just went into 15 mil evenly, and stuck in my head because its what TSR was moving annually at the hieght of the fad. (No free pdfs in 1986!)

 

[Vicente]

3.x, PF, even 4e with its 2yr run, GURPS, oWoD, and, I suspect, plenty of other near-forgotten games, each had more content than 5e is likely to accumulate at it's stately pace if release - unless it really is D&D LAST and D&D goes another 44 years without a rev roll...

That is, I think, part of the way it threaded the needle: it doesn't appear intimidating, sitting on the shelf.

This is about the DnD brand, not about DnD 5e exclusively. There is a decent amount of DnD 5e official content, which you can buy physically nearly in any reasonable point of sale, and online in several different digital tools. Also, there is a huge amount of DnD content in DriveThru (tons of 5e adventures to support their storylines and AL, lot of custom DnD 5e content, plus a huge amount of DnD any edition in PDF and print on demand). And then there are miniatures and boardgames.

Wizards may not be producing a lot of DnD 5e official books, but there is a huge amount of DnD Branded things to buy in a lot of places.

 

[Ratskinner]

If my (teenaged and early 20's) kids and their friends are any indication....I have absolutely no reason to doubt these numbers.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Are they still counting computer game D&D players to inflate their numbers? Does the Treasure of Tarmin game for Mattel Aquarius count? If not, I haven't played D&D in a couple of years.

Yes, because:

This is about the DnD brand, not about DnD 5e exclusively. .

In that case, sure, content has been accumulating for 44 years.

 

[Advilaar]

It is amazing what model looking, witty voice actors using your product will get you. Even if the reality of most games is far from that.

Well done to WotC recovering from the well intentioned, but ultimately not good outcome of 4e.

DnD LIVES!!!