D&D (2024) 2024 Player’s Handbook is ‘Fastest Selling D&D Book Ever’

It’s only officially been out for a week, but according to Wizards of the Coast, the new Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook has already surpassed Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything to become the fastest selling D&D book ever—in the entire 50-year history of the game. It has sold three times as many copies as the 2014 version of the books did at launch.

Not only that, the 2024 Player’s Handbook was the biggest print run in D&D’s history.

In a press release today, WotC claims more than 85 million D&D fans worldwide, and says that D&D Beyond, the game’s official online platform, has over 18 million users.

 

[Parmandur]

Seems plausible.

 

[aco175]

Good for them. I have not picked my copy yet, I'm thinking Christmas with the DMG out by then.

 

[Oofta]

Considering how many people were playing the 2014 version, it's not really a surprise.

 

[Parmandur]

Considering how many people were playing the 2014 version, it's not really a surprise.

Yeah, given how many PHBs have sold in the past decade, it's not even a crazy turnover for three times as many people to buy in the first weeks as did a decade ago.

 

[Zaukrie]

Cool. I want a healthy hobby. Now get that VTT beta launched!

 

[DarkCrisis]

As soon as I hit "Buy" it was available for me to look at. Yeah, it was pretty fast.

 

[SteveC]

I don't think this is too surprising: there were a lot of people added to the D&D roster in the last 10 years, so we could expect it. I am happy to hear it even as grumpy as I can be sometimes. I still love my hobby.

 

[darjr]

Congrats! That’s awesome!

Now for a caveat, as far as we know the 2014 PHB had to go back to the printers to keep up and it looks like Amazon ran out of stock at least once.

Still, those sales numbers were shocking for the time and there is many many more players now.

 

[Hatmatter]

View attachment 380677

It’s only officially been out for a week, but according to Wizards of the Coast, the new Dungeons & Dragons Player’s Handbook has already surpassed Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything to become the fastest selling D&D book ever—in the entire 50-year history of the game. It has sold three times as many copies as the 2014 version of the books did at launch.

Not only that, the 2024 Player’s Handbook was the biggest print run in D&D’s history.

In a press release today, WotC claims more than 85 million D&D fans worldwide, and says that D&D Beyond, the game’s official online platform, has over 13 million users.

View attachment 380678

As a long-time admirer of how role-playing games, with Dungeons & Dragons at the fore, have enabled the popularization of storytelling with friends -- even at the very time when society encourages people to be passive consumers of mediated forms of entertainment -- I am delighted to hear this. The designers worked very hard to publish a great book and a thoughtful revision of the game.

Fifty years ago Gygax and Arneson, building on the work of Dave Wesely and others, managed to create a game system that helped facilitate the kind of storytelling that people had been doing around campfires, hearths, and even on stages for centuries. They helped bring into adulthood the kind of imaginative play that had been the purview for children.

In doing so, they let homo ludens -- humans in play -- shine.

Congratulations to all of those who worked hard on this book as well as the other two core rulebooks that are about to appear in print. And congratulations to all of those who have been able to enjoy this art form and game play during the past half century.