D&D General All Basic, B/X and BECMI and Rules Cyclopedia set sales, from Ben Riggs.

[overgeeked]

I wonder if thst played a part in the 1984 collapse: an edition change that split the fanbase?

It certainly might have been a factor, but I doubt sales would have fallen off a cliff like they did if that's all it was. The decline is too sudden and too drastic. The combined figures would have stayed strong as the split fanbase would have kept buying but the sales numbers are combined. There were big stories in the Satanic Panic in '84. Another thing to look at is the economy and other games or entertainment options coming along in '84.

For example, video games. In 1983:

"In the United States, home video game sales are worth $2 billion (equivalent to $5.44 billion adjusted for inflation)."

But in 1984:

"In the United States, home video game sales fall to $800 million ($2.1 billion adjusted for inflation)."

 

[Parmandur]

It certainly might have been a factor, but I doubt sales would have fallen off a cliff like they did if that's all it was. The decline is too sudden and too drastic. The combined figures would have stayed strong as the split fanbase would have kept buying but the sales numbers are combined. There were big stories in the Satanic Panic in '84. Another thing to look at is the economy and other games or entertainment options coming along in '84.

For example, video games. In 1983:

"In the United States, home video game sales are worth $2 billion (equivalent to $5.44 billion adjusted for inflation)."

But in 1984:

"In the United States, home video game sales fall to $800 million ($2.1 billion adjusted for inflation)."

The 1983 video game collapse was pretty dramatic, that's for sure.

 

[CleverNickName]

Woah.
I knew the numbers would be high, but...woah. Over half a million units per year, for four years running? That's impressive.

 

[Shardstone]

This makes me think that 5th Edition outsold basic more than 2 years ago.

 

[CleverNickName]

This makes me think that 5th Edition outsold basic more than 2 years ago.

I think that's a safe assumption. 5th Edition might have even outsold 3rd Edition by now, and 3E was a JUGGERNAUT.

 

[overgeeked]

The 1983 video game collapse was pretty dramatic, that's for sure.

Same with D&D, apparently. I wonder what happened in 83-84 to cause that.

 

[Parmandur]

I think that's a safe assumption. 5th Edition might have even outsold 3rd Edition by now, and 3E was a JUGGERNAUT.

We already know that 5E outsold 3E like 5-6 years ago.

 

[Parmandur]

Same with D&D, apparently. I wonder what happened in 83-84 to cause that.

Correlation is not causation, to be fair: the video game collapse is widely believed to have been caused by consumers losing confidence in Atari after a string of highly priced yet terrible games. Pac-Man for the Atari 2600, which sucked, cost about $100 when adjusted for inflation.

 

[darjr]

Ben has posted the Expert Set numbers and I’ve updated the OP

 

[darjr]

And Moldvay crushes it.