D&D 3E/3.5 4E vs 3E Sales Figures: The Facts

[Wisdom Penalty]

Interesting numbers here:

http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/12654.html

Basically, it looks like the print run for 4e was half again as much as 3.5E and it's already sold out. Back to the printers you go! Not sure how it would compare to 3E's first print run, to be honest.

Edit: The sales and print run of 4E are greater than 3E, too.

Couple this with the numbers thrown around in that Forbes magazine interview, and we finally start to see some stats behind all the hyperbole on the boards.

I know...most probably aren't interested, but I thought it's kinda neat.

Wis

(Mods: Sorry if I'm in the wrong forum with this, or if it's already been posted somewhere else. Feel free, of course, to delete or move this post.)

 

[Nifft]

Interesting, thanks! -- N

 

[Rechan]

I wonder why the sales are more.

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

Also, Mearls in his journal notes as far as print runs:

3E < 3.5E < 4E

Regardless of what edition you like, these numbers seem to cast a very positive light on the size and growth of the hobby we share.

Wis

 

[Aus_Snow]

(fails Will save)

Spoiler

3.5 was a revision, not an edition. 4e vs. 3.0, now you're talking.

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

(fails Will save)

Spoiler

3.5 was a revision, not an edition. 4e vs. 3.0, now you're talking.

Right. That was one of the first things I noticed about the announcement. Credit my cynical nature, I guess. But, again, looks like 4e trumps the revision and the edition. Quite soundly, by all accounts, and only with tallying up pre-orders.

Again, this is a good time to be a gamer.

With any luck, the growing popularity will cause the D&D cartoon to return!

One can only hope...

Wis

 

[Rechan]

Wait a minute.

Was Amazon as big a force in 2000 when 3e came out?

The super sales of all the preorders might simply be that Amazon/buy/etc are just the more recognized, cheaper source (partially because the price has gone up so high that turning to cheaper online retail is necessary).

 

[Wisdom Penalty]

I'm sure we're better at supplying demand than we were in 2000, and Al Gore's internet has a lot to do with that. I don't think, however, that we're talking about pre-orders here (at least not exclusively). We're talking about number of units sold. And that's been a standard metric since the days cavemen first sold clubs.

 

[crazy_cat]

We're talking about number of units sold. And that's been a standard metric since the days cavemen first sold clubs.

Aren't we talking, at the moment, about pre-sales here to the trade rather than actual sales to consumers? There is the possibility of returns from retailers - I seem to remember that some companies have been burned on that before.

In fact, didn't some cavemen get seriously burned and end up with a cave full of basically worthless bits of wood and stones when they released Clubs 2.5 (that was the version with a big rock tied to the end) just as the neolithic hunting market upgraded en-masse to Spears and Bow and Arrows?

All this said I think 4e is going to sell in big numbers, to end users, and will be a big hit with gamers. Whether it is as big a hit as Hasbro would like remains to be seen.

 

[Kzach]

In fact, didn't some cavemen get seriously burned and end up with a cave full of basically worthless bits of wood and stones when they released Clubs 2.5 (that was the version with a big rock tied to the end) just as the neolithic hunting market upgraded en-masse to Spears and Bow and Arrows?

No, sales of Clubs 2.5 were dismal because they weren't field tested against Woman 1.0. Many deaths resulted because everyone was used to Clubs 2.0 not being as lethal when used to knock out Woman 1.0 and drag them back to your lair.

On another note, where are you reading that 4e sales have oustripped 3.0 sales? I don't see that on the site you linked.