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

 

[Vaalingrade]

It is literally impossible that a 50 year old game that experienced a pop culture renaissance less than a decade ago could possibly have more young players. D&D is a game for immortal 50-somethings.

 

[nevin]

The evidence is a trade secret, so yeah, they won't release it.

This is nearly all companies. Even the ones that are required too hire people to tweak the data so they won't be breaking the law when they fib to you.

 

[Dire Bare]

I do agree that the player base from 5e of current players(including older editions and retroclones and pathfinder) is probably the largest, but thats based on feeling and my own experience, not evidence.

WOTC likes to make blanket statements about the dnd marketplace, players in general, or the popularity/growth of dnd that are not based on any viable evidence. They don't have any evidence to back up these claims, and if they do they're not releasing the data so there is no way to verify their statements.

Companies rarely release the raw data of their marketing research. It's not a lack of evidence, its that they are not sharing the evidence. And why should they? To convince rando grumpy fans on the internet upset they are aging out of the marketplace?

This thread is full of, "I don't like the data, so the data must be flawed".

 

[nevin]

Companies rarely release the raw data of their marketing research. It's not a lack of evidence, its that they are not sharing the evidence. And why should they? To convince rando grumpy fans on the internet upset they are aging out of the marketplace?

This thread is full of, "I don't like the data, so the data must be flawed".

no this thread is full of I don't trust data because everyone with data lies to me..........

 

[Vaalingrade]

And that way lies thinking the sun isn't real and Rome didn't exist.

See? We have more in common with those darn kids on TikTok than we thought!

 

[UngainlyTitan]

And that way lies thinking the sun isn't real and Rome didn't exist.

See? We have more in common with those darn kids on TikTok than we thought!

The sun is not real? What about that shiney ball of light in the sky. I mean, I live in Ireland and even there we occasionally see it.

 

[nevin]

And that way lies thinking the sun isn't real and Rome didn't exist.

See? We have more in common with those darn kids on TikTok than we thought!

but with the lies that way of thinking is guaranteed to fill populists heads and blow everything up. And yet the cycle continues because people lie for short term gain. You can blame the masses that are lied too but that's magical thinking too.

 

[ad_hoc]

39% women? Where are they? I go to several cons per year and organize events etc. I'd say after critical role became a big hit we're up to maybe 20 from 10 or less. But almost 40%. I'm very sceptical that this is truly representative of the numbers of actual players.

I'd love if they were right though and even if they aren't that's the direction we're moving in which is a good thing as long as we don't make it inhospitable for little autistic and socially awkward boys like me when I started a very long time ago in the process.

Cons have historically not been safe or comfortable places for women to be.

Cons represent a tiny amount of the player base and they attract a certain kind of person so it doesn't make sense to extrapolate from them.

I'm sure they are playing in environments they feel comfortable being in.

The vast majority of players just play at home and don't post on message boards. I'm sure they would be considered 'casual' gamers by those who spend a lot of time in spaces about the hobby and thinking about the game.

Most people just engage in the game while they are playing it.

That is why stats like these look so different than the ecosystems dedicated gamers are in.

I've got a bunch of trans friends but that doesn't mean that there are more than 1% of open trans people in the society I live in.

 

[Vaalingrade]

The sun is not real? What about that shiney ball of light in the sky. I mean, I live in Ireland and even there we occasionally see it.

The explanation of that would make the idea that newer gamers can't be such a majority after the constant self-congratulations about how many people now play D&D look like a reasonable stance.

It involves not understanding the speed of light, not understanding the concept of perspective, how absolutely huge the sun is, and my favorite: that lens flare is a thing because they've got 'photographic evidence' that the sun is inconsistent sizes, meaning it's all a trick.

 

[mamba]

So for for wotc to report on total number of players worldwide, or people who have ever played the game, or which edition most people started with, it's not something really based on reality because they have no idea.

I believe they can get pretty good approximations however, unless you believe that there is no correlation between say, how many PHBs of an edition were sold and how many players that edition had