ICv2 Reports On RPGs Growth This Year

ICv2 has published its latest quarterly hobby channel game rankings for Spring 2022. The Top 5 contains D&D twice (once from WotC, and once from third parties Goodman Games and Darrington Press/Critical Role), along with two licensed Hasbro (owner of WotC) properties, plus Pathfinder.

"RPGs are the story of the year so far," a hobby distributor told ICv2. "D&D’s king by leaps and bounds, don’t get me wrong, but the number of RPGs that were [significant contributors to] sales was 40 different brands."

The chart is based on interviews with retailers, distributors, and manufacturers. As always you can see the compiled chart going back to 2004 here.

RPGs the 'Story of the Year'

Explosive Growth in Players, Sales

icv2.com

 

[Xohar17]

Man, even when Pathfinder is #2 stores don't want to carry it. Maybe it's just the few FLGS in my area, but even during the days of Pathfinder dominance there was some kind of antipathy they held toward it. Perhaps the ICv2 numbers are inflated by Paizo's online sales/PDFs which don't translate to store sales, I don't really know.

I'm also interested to see how RPGs compare to TCGs and Wargames. Personally I hate it when a FLGS pivots to be TCG-centric, it feels like they're pressuring me to gamble on card packs, overpay for a card I actually want, or leave. If TCGs are diminishing in relevance that's good news for my store experience, the less I'm expected to participate in them the better.

As far as i know most flgs are tcg first and second, everything else third.

 

[Staffan]

I think a lot of people were let go or left D&D WotC after 4e.

And during

Yeah, I remember nigh-annual announcements of people being laid off. Usually shortly before Christmas, too. But that wasn't just under 4e, that's been a long-running tradition.

I’m not sure the 5e OGL was a done deal before or at the roll out of 5e. Yes it was decided it was the way forward at some point but I think the DMSGUILD was a defacto requirement before it could be released. Though I’m not sure it was announced at the same time.

Without looking things up, I'm about 90% certain they were. As I recall, they were presented at the same time as different alternatives for people wanting to make their own D&D stuff, along the lines of "DM's Guild lets you do A, B, and C, while the OGL lets you do X, Y, and Z."

 

[JThursby]

As far as i know most flgs are tcg first and second, everything else third.

Stores of that old school model have lost my business. The store I run games at is much newer and model themselves on having active communities for D&D and Wargames (not just Warhammer, I see way more Star Wars and Battletech being played anecdotally). Given the explosive rise of RPGs in general this seems to be actually viable rather than wishful thinking on the store's part.

 

[darjr]

Stores of that old school model have lost my business. The store I run games at is much newer and model themselves on having active communities for D&D and Wargames (not just Warhammer, I see way more Star Wars and Battletech being played anecdotally). Given the explosive rise of RPGs in general this seems to be actually viable rather than wishful thinking on the store's part.

Before Covid one store here (the FLGS I mostly run for) never started their Friday Night Magic at their second store to fit in more tables of D&D.

 

[Morrus]

Stores of that old school model have lost my business.

They don’t care. You aren’t who makes their money.

 

[Parmandur]

Man, even when Pathfinder is #2 stores don't want to carry it. Maybe it's just the few FLGS in my area, but even during the days of Pathfinder dominance there was some kind of antipathy they held toward it. Perhaps the ICv2 numbers are inflated by Paizo's online sales/PDFs which don't translate to store sales, I don't really know.

I'm also interested to see how RPGs compare to TCGs and Wargames. Personally I hate it when a FLGS pivots to be TCG-centric, it feels like they're pressuring me to gamble on card packs, overpay for a card I actually want, or leave. If TCGs are diminishing in relevance that's good news for my store experience, the less I'm expected to participate in them the better.

This is all physical store, based on surveys from the stores sent to the trade organization
TCG is still way bigger than RPGs: Magic is way bigger than it ever used to be.

 

[Retreater]

Man, even when Pathfinder is #2 stores don't want to carry it. Maybe it's just the few FLGS in my area, but even during the days of Pathfinder dominance there was some kind of antipathy they held toward it. Perhaps the ICv2 numbers are inflated by Paizo's online sales/PDFs which don't translate to store sales, I don't really know.

I'm also interested to see how RPGs compare to TCGs and Wargames. Personally I hate it when a FLGS pivots to be TCG-centric, it feels like they're pressuring me to gamble on card packs, overpay for a card I actually want, or leave. If TCGs are diminishing in relevance that's good news for my store experience, the less I'm expected to participate in them the better.

My game store has nearly every PF2 product in stock, with almost as much shelf space as 5e. The only problem is - they're not moving it. They date the price tags for all items, and it's not uncommon to find PF2 Core books with dates going back to 2019 (meaning they haven't moved them since the release of the system).
I'm curious to go through the 5e stuff and check dates. The selection is very full, with some limited edition covers too. (Likely ones that are being sought out in the collectors' market.) I have a feeling no RPGs are selling well for them ... which is one of the reasons I'm trying to start some in-person games there. You can walk by the shelf and see 5 copies of Van Richten's Guide sitting there.

 

[Xohar17]

They don’t care. You aren’t who makes their money.

Yeah, as far as I know, (which is what my lfgs store owner tells me) tcgs have much much much higer profit margins than selling or running ttrpg, its not even a drop in a glass of water of their total earnings. They only sell it as a cool sidething. Even tabletop games bring much higher reveneau to the store. However, i must clarify that I dont live in the states, and is much easier to get for example mtg cards in my language than dnd books.

 

[Shardstone]

So, that's 3 Hasbro properties and 2 slots for OGL takes on Hasbronpropert. Dang.

Nuts what a multi-million production and advertising budget can do, eh?

EDIT: naughty word, even just 100K for advertising alone is such a boon for indie publishers hahahaha that'd be a game changer for virtually all of us.

 

[Shardstone]

"Supposed to" is a weird way to say that. D&D, as the main entry point into the hobby, inevitably brings players to other games. Rising tides. Boats. That sort of thing. But I don't think that is a design goal of the game, and it certainly wouldn't be a particularly smart one if it were.

Rising tides has been proven to actually not be a true thing in the bigger economy. Turns out Reagan's "Rising Tides" actually just made things a lot worse for the American economy and was a categorical lie. So, while it is cool that I can actually get projects funded on Kickstarter due to 5E popularity, its like, if you combine every indie Kickstarter in the last year and put the amount that Kickstarter earned against 5E, you literally still wouldn't have more then a 4th of 5E's capital.

In this case, its more like there's such a massive storm of customers and profits around 5E that the rest of us have juuuuuuust enough rain water to not die of thirst. Or well, at least before Covid destroyed shipping and handling!