ICv2 Reports Disappointing Year For Hobby Games Channel: TTRPGs Down, D&D Declines 30%

According to ICv2, 2023 was a tough year for hobby game sales. The US and Canada market increased by just 1%, which was less than the rate of inflation, growing from $2.86 billion in 2022 to $2.89 billion in 2023.

The hobby game sales channel is defined as specialist game and card stores--it doesn't include Amazon, direct sales, etc. It does include Kickstarter.

Top Hobby Channel TTRPGs (2023)

1. Dungeons & Dragons (WotC)
2. Pathfinder (Paizo)
3. Cyberpunk Red (R. Talsorian)
4. World of Darkness (Renegade Game Studios)
5. Starfinder (Paizo)
6. Warhammer 40K (Cubicle 7)
7. Marvel Multiverse Roleplaying (Marvel)
8. Kobold 5E Books (Kobold Press)
9. Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium)
10. Pirate Borg (Free League)

The only two categories to grow in 2023 were collectibles and miniatures. All other categories--board games, card games, and roleplaying games--were down. ICv2 reports a 30% hobby store sales decline for Dungeons & Dragons specifically, citing the impending new edition and lackluster movie performance, and the tail end of a pandemic-fuelled high; they also report that while the OGL crisis of last year impacted some lifestyle gamers, newer players as a whole were oblivious to the situation. The other important element ICv2 mentioned was D&D's increasing move to digital, which impacted retail sales.

Older D&D players, says ICv2, are also migrating to other games, with Pathfinder as one of the major beneficiaries.

The last 6 years has seen much larger growth rates--partly fuelled by the pandemic--ranging from 10% to 30%. 2022 saw a 7% growth over 2021. Despite the small increase, 2023 represents the 15th year of growth for the overall market. ICv2 does predict a market decline in 2024, though.

ICv2 conducts periodical surveys and speaks to publishers, distributors, and retailers, along with publicly available company information and Kickstarter data.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I guess this is as good a time as any to ask who will be buying the upcoming announced releases.

6e?
Infinite Staircase?
Eve of Ruin?

I just bought Dark Tower and will be picking up Goodmans Caverns of Thracia. I’m still seeing upcoming sales in the hobby. I’ll be buying the new D&D material as well as RQ releases.

Realistically, I'm probably going to buy the 2024 core books. The rest of the 2024 slate is not for me. (I am waffling on Book of Many Things. The book is very appealing, but the price is still just a bit too high for me to pull the trigger. People who find my monetary concerns offensive, as has happened in the past, should feel free to Venmo me the money.)

I will be saving up my pennies for Dark Tower and I am increasingly likely to grab the Tales of the Valiant Monster Vault and whatever the players book is called.

Otherwise, the only thing I see on the horizon, barring fun surprises on Kickstarter, is Pirate Borg's Dark Caribbean sourcebook and Shadowdark's SoloDark book and upcoming issues of Cursed Scroll. I also really loved Knock #4, so I will be going back and picking the rest of those up as well.

 

[TerraDave]

This is about a sudden drop in sales, not long term trends. Speaking of which.

Even a quick glance at Amazon shows sales rankings are down pretty much across the board, even with deep discounts . This consistent with a drop in demand.

Which is what happens before a new edition comes out.

 

[Nikosandros]

That would be deflation.

Indeed. A decrease in inflation does not mean that prices go down. It means that prices still go up, but slower than before.

 

[MGibster]

Realistically, I'm probably going to buy the 2024 core books. The rest of the 2024 slate is not for me. (I am waffling on Book of Many Things. The book is very appealing, but the price is still just a bit too high for me to pull the trigger. People who find my monetary concerns offensive, as has happened in the past, should feel free to Venmo me the money.)

A few months ago I was in the supermarket planning on purchasing a box of Triscuits until I saw that it was just north of $5. I don't mean to brag here, but $5 is a trivial amount of money that I wouldn't miss in the slightest, yet I balked at the idea of spending that much on a small box of crackers. You get to decide whether the price being charged is worth it for you.

 

[Wolfpack48]

A few months ago I was in the supermarket planning on purchasing a box of Triscuits until I saw that it was just north of $5. I don't mean to brag here, but $5 is a trivial amount of money that I wouldn't miss in the slightest, yet I balked at the idea of spending that much on a small box of crackers. You get to decide whether the price being charged is worth it for you.

A McDonalds meal is like $9 these days. $20 for a movie ticket.

 

[darjr]

This is about a sudden drop in sales, not long term trends. Speaking of which.

Even a quick glance at Amazon shows sales rankings are down pretty much across the board, even with deep discounts . This consistent with a drop in demand.

Which is what happens before a new edition comes out.

Yea, I think this could be the case. As good as they are, especially considering it's ten years old compared to other editions, it's incredible, but definitely down.

 

[Scribe]

A few months ago I was in the supermarket planning on purchasing a box of Triscuits until I saw that it was just north of $5. I don't mean to brag here, but $5 is a trivial amount of money that I wouldn't miss in the slightest, yet I balked at the idea of spending that much on a small box of crackers. You get to decide whether the price being charged is worth it for you.

This is pretty much me. I've been blessed/lucky, I work hard, and I live cheap. The only thing I have never tried to cut costs on, is food. We are what we eat, so its more a 'be healthy' than "I'm a hipster and I eat only the finest of grass fed chicken" but in the last 2 years, when I have not cared about food prices for the last...15 years, I started going 'wait...wtf is this' at pretty much everything.

Food costs are out of control.

 

[JEB]

I guess this is as good a time as any to ask who will be buying the upcoming announced releases.

6e?

Not planning to at this time, but I might change my mind if the 2025 Monster Manual is amazing, and makes me interested enough in the other two core books. (To be clear, it has to be comparable to the best Monster Manuals ever.)

Infinite Staircase?
Eve of Ruin?

Depends on reviews. If reviews are good (and if most veteran fans don't find them objectionable - Wizards has actually cleared this bar with some more recent books) those may well be some of the last D&D books I buy.

I am waffling on Book of Many Things. The book is very appealing, but the price is still just a bit too high for me to pull the trigger.

Same. (Considered trying to buy secondhand, but I feel like that ups the odds of getting one of the defective sets.)

 

[Jd Smith1]

Other than my annual Roll20 subscription, I expect 2024's RPG expenditures to be less that $100, and the bulk of that will go to Greg Bruni tokens and Oones maps.

Its certainly not a shortage of funds, but rather a lack of need. Between my library of pdfs, and the seething mass of free stuff on the Net, I have very little need for new material.

Of course, I don't play D&D, which helps.

 

[zakael19]

You are a perfect person for me to ask, then:

You've obviously made the jump without any such products, but what impact, if any, would a BG3-themed starter box, BG3 dice sets for each character or a BG3 book that collected locations, magic items, etc. from the game for use in 5E have impacted your group? Would it have helped them jump over easier? Would they have wanted to have visited Moonrise Towers, etc., in 5E? Would it have just been fun things to pick up, but not important to the actual game?

No idea! I think most of them were interested in trying something different, primarily something in the CR world.

Edit: a bunch of them have been dropping money on dice from Temu and elsewhere, one bought a CR tie in set, there's been a big mix of digital content and a couple of physical books (but mainly Beyond stuff).