With the latest mainstream article* (this time the New York Times for the third time!) from a major news outlet covering the resurgence of D&D, I thought I'd take a quick look at similar articles which have appeared on the radar of major newspapers and broadcasters recently, including The Guardian, the BBC, the Washington Post, and more!
*Note, this article was written in Nov 2019, but I intend to update the list below as more such articles appear. Last updated Sep 2022.
Image from NYT, depicting live-streamed D&D show "Rivals of Waterdeep"
Just yesterday, the Washington Examiner joined in. Forbes also covers the game fairly regularly. It's pretty amazing that this hobby is now appearing in mainstream media on a regular basis. There's a major mainstream article every couple of months now, it seems. The articles are usually very similar -- the surprising revelation of the "rise" or "resurgence" of D&D, and reports that D&D is now 'out of the basement', a few words from somebody at WotC about how the current year is the best year yet, and perhaps an interview with a gamer or two explaining why they think D&D is resurgent now, as well as quotes from a celebrity gamer.
The New York Times was surprised about the popularity of D&D twice this year - this week on D&D's resurgence, and back in April on "why the cool kids are playing Dungeons & Dragons". The Times looks at the strangeness of D&D becoming cool, while the Washington Post wonders how D&D became more popular than ever. IGN explains the recent surge in popularity, and the Guardian tells us we're no longer nerds because D&D is cool now (update: and then again in November 2019, July 2019, May 202, and then in September 2022). The BBC covers the phenomenon, as does Australia's ABC.
It'll be fun to see what comes next, if D&D's resurgence becomes no longer 'news' but accepted fact, and the outlets get to report on more focused aspects of the hobby -- hopefully the coverage won't die down. It's come some way since 2004 when the BBC asked "What happened to Dungeons & Dragons?" They've certainly got to stop being surprised at the resurgence soon! (*edit -- as of July 2022, nope, they're still surprised!)
UPDATE -- January 2023, during the height of "OGL-gate", D&D has featured heavily. I have made a separate OGL-gate list here.
I'm sure there are more! Those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.
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*Note, this article was written in Nov 2019, but I intend to update the list below as more such articles appear. Last updated Sep 2022.
Image from NYT, depicting live-streamed D&D show "Rivals of Waterdeep"
Just yesterday, the Washington Examiner joined in. Forbes also covers the game fairly regularly. It's pretty amazing that this hobby is now appearing in mainstream media on a regular basis. There's a major mainstream article every couple of months now, it seems. The articles are usually very similar -- the surprising revelation of the "rise" or "resurgence" of D&D, and reports that D&D is now 'out of the basement', a few words from somebody at WotC about how the current year is the best year yet, and perhaps an interview with a gamer or two explaining why they think D&D is resurgent now, as well as quotes from a celebrity gamer.
The New York Times was surprised about the popularity of D&D twice this year - this week on D&D's resurgence, and back in April on "why the cool kids are playing Dungeons & Dragons". The Times looks at the strangeness of D&D becoming cool, while the Washington Post wonders how D&D became more popular than ever. IGN explains the recent surge in popularity, and the Guardian tells us we're no longer nerds because D&D is cool now (update: and then again in November 2019, July 2019, May 202, and then in September 2022). The BBC covers the phenomenon, as does Australia's ABC.
It'll be fun to see what comes next, if D&D's resurgence becomes no longer 'news' but accepted fact, and the outlets get to report on more focused aspects of the hobby -- hopefully the coverage won't die down. It's come some way since 2004 when the BBC asked "What happened to Dungeons & Dragons?" They've certainly got to stop being surprised at the resurgence soon! (*edit -- as of July 2022, nope, they're still surprised!)
UPDATE -- January 2023, during the height of "OGL-gate", D&D has featured heavily. I have made a separate OGL-gate list here.
- The Guardian: From satanic panic to billion-dollar business: how Dungeons & Dragons conquered the world (Sep 29, 2022)
- The Telegraph: How Dungeons and Dragons became cool (July 1st, 2022)
- The New York Times: Who’s Playing Dungeons & Dragons These Days? The Usual Fans, and Then Some (May 21st, 2022)
- BBC: Covid-19: 'Dungeons and Dragons got us through lockdown' (July 3rd, 2021)
- LA Times. Turning to Dungeons & Dragons to escape a real-life monster — COVID-19 (Jan 13th, 2021)
- The Metro. Why now is a great time to start playing Dungeons & Dragons (Nov 4, 2020).
- LA Times. D&D nerds (like me) are donning virtual armor and venturing online amid pandemic (Oct 9, 2020).
- The Washington Post: Amid a pandemic and a racial reckoning, ‘D&D’ finds itself at an inflection point (July 24, 2020)
- The Guardian: Dungeons & Dragons in lockdown: as my universe contracts, this game expands whole worlds (May 19, 2020)
- Variety: Inside Joe Manganiello’s Epic Dungeons & Dragons Campaign (May 6th, 2020)
- CNBC: How Critical Role helped start a Dungeons & Dragons renaissance (March 14th, 2020)
- USA Today: Dungeons & Dragons had fallen on 'troubled times.' The role-playing game's fifth edition changed everything (Jan 14th 2020)
- New York Times: In a Chaotic World, Dungeons & Dragons Is Resurgent (Nov 13, 2019)
- CBR: How Dungeons & Dragons Quietly Took Over Pop Culture (Aug 25, 2019)
- New York Times: Why the Cool Kids are playing Dungeons &/ Dragons (April 6, 2019)
- The Times: Dungeons & Dragons cool? Stranger things have happened (July 12, 2019)
- BBC: Dungeons & Dragons: The revival of a 'geeky' pastime (May 26, 2018)
- The Guardian: No more nerds: how Dungeons & Dragons finally became cool (July 13, 2019)
- ABD News: Dungeons & Dragons resurrected from basement into mainstream (July 5, 2019)
- IGN: Dungeons & Dragons Creators and Celebrity Players Explain Its Recent Surge in Popularity (October 2, 2019)
- Washington Post: How Dungeons & Dragons somehow became more popular than ever (April 18, 2019)
- The Guardian: 'It's cool now': why Dungeons & Dragons is casting its spell again (Nov 29, 2019)
- The Star: When did Dungeons & Dragons suddenly become cool? (Jan 5, 2018)
- The New Yorker: The Uncanny Resurrection of Dungeons & Dragons (Oct 24, 2017)
- WIRED: The Media Still Owes Dungeons & Dragons an Apology (yes, they were saying this back in 2015!)
- Vice: How Dungeons & Dragons Went Mainstream (Sep 3, 2015)
I'm sure there are more! Those are just the ones I remember off the top of my head.
The Fumble: Major Newspaper Surprised By How Often It's Been Surprised By Renewed Popularity of RPGs
As part of its 2019 retrospective series, the Peoria Times-Mail-Picayune recently featured a surprising article expressing surprise at how often it's been surprised over the past year by the surprising resurgence in popularity of tabletop role-playing games. "One of the biggest stories of the...
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