D&D General Some Interesting Stats About D&D Players!

The full cover spread for Phandelver and Below, by Antonio José Manzanedo​

GeekWire has reported on the recent D&D press event (which I've covered elsewhere). Along with all the upcoming product information we've all been devouring over the last day or two, there were some interesting tidbits regarding D&D player demographics.

• 60% of D&D players are male, 39% are female, and 1% identify otherwise
• 60% are “hybrid” players, who switch between playing the game physically or online
• 58% play D&D on a weekly basis
• 48% identify as millennials, 19% from Generation X and 33% from Generation Z
• The majority of current D&D players started with 5th Edition

 

[Charlaquin]

pbft, no you're not. you're just a government psyop, like birds and the finnish.

 

[Jolly Ruby]

39% women? Where are they?

Most women and non-binary D&D players I know, including me, had bad experiences at gaming stores and events. Don't get me wrong, the bad experiences I had didn't push me away from the hobby or the gaming stores, but it took some tries until I find what places are welcoming and what are inhospitable. But most people don't give it a second chance: if the first experience is bad you don't have a reason to think the second one will be better.

Rule of thumb: if you want to find where the other 40% are playing, look for the stores and events run by women.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

There's been at least one LGBTQ+ person at (nearly) all my game tables since 1989 (though I didn't always know it!)

That's probably true for most people.

 

[John R Davis]

I’m really surprised that the non-binary category isn’t larger. IME D&D is crack for all manner of Queer IDs, which may just be a result of being in both communities.

Man, femmes and non-binary AFABs are all over this hobby. I’m surprised the numbers are even still putting dudes in such a strong lead.

Especially AFAB people. I have a game store that is co-owned by a woman, and it’s still mostly dudes in there even though I personally know at least 30 women and NBs who play tabletop games. They don’t want to be around the worst of the guys, and most of the “normal” guys don’t shut down creep behavior from their friends.

The 1% non binary seems about right, but a fair chunk of the 99% will identify as binary but also be "queer", if that's the term we are using. There is a massive crossover in my education places D&D group and Queer groups

 

[doctorbadwolf]

My experience suggests a rather astonishing array of people under 40 are playing D&D!

Lol at least that matches the numbers wizards has!

The 1% non binary seems about right, but a fair chunk of the 99% will identify as binary but also be "queer", if that's the term we are using. There is a massive crossover in my education places D&D group and Queer groups

Yeah, I think that a lot of the youngest millennials and all of gen z’s age range are kindof adopting an “I identify as a problem” or “Is this a gender?” attitude toward gender, and I don’t know what my various enby friends are putting down on paper.

 

[Charlaquin]

Most women and non-binary D&D players I know, including me, had bad experiences at gaming stores and events. Don't get me wrong, the bad experiences I had didn't push me away from the hobby or the gaming stores, but it took some tries until I find what places are welcoming and what are inhospitable. But most people don't give it a second chance: if the first experience is bad you don't have a reason to think the second one will be better.

Rule of thumb: if you want to find where the other 40% are playing, look for the stores and events run by women.

Yup, we mostly play at home, with other women and nonbinary folks.

 

[Charlaquin]

I’m really surprised that the non-binary category isn’t larger. IME D&D is crack for all manner of Queer IDs, which may just be a result of being in both communities.

Well, it’s 1% who identify as other than male or female, which rules out a lot of trans respondents who do identify along the binary. Also, 1% is twice our portion of the global population. Of course, that number is higher in more developed countries, but still, a full percent of the D&D playerbase means there’s more of us playing D&D than there are boomers playing it, if this data is right.

 

[Charlaquin]

Millennial is just internet slang for "kids these days." Boomer is just "old person."

And Zoomer is “terminally online person.”

 

[Lanefan]

In fact, thinking about this today, I realized that I have never played an RPG with anyone born before 1984. In over 20 years of playing.

I've played RPGs with maybe 70 people over the years and of those maybe 10 were born after 1984. (and some of the 10 were children of the other 60)

 

[Lanefan]

No, there is no "this survey." Thisnis a report on what theybhabe gleaned from their professional market research...which is controlled for selection bias.

Let's hope they've improved since 1999 then, when they were baking selection bias right in.