D&D 5E Alphastream - Why No RPG Company Truly Competes with Wizards of the Coast

[darjr]

According to their staff as recently as 2020, sales of core books – and even supplements – were increasing over time instead of declining. And, new supplements were usually selling better than older supplements. According to staff in 2017, the 5E PHB had sold over 800,000 copies. That number is now well over a million, in all likelihood.

This success was a surprise to WotC, who had planned 5E’s revenue to come primarily from non-book sources.

Why No RPG Company Truly Competes with Wizards of the Coast | Alphastream

Think Dungeons & Dragons has RPG competitors? Let's find out why that isn't true.

alphastream.org

 

[BookTenTiger]

Interesting read! It's fascinating how D&D has outgrown WotC's expectations.

 

[Oofta]

Interesting info on just how successful D&D and 5E in particular is. Kind of a teaser though ... wait until next article to see why they think it's so successful!

 

[Shardstone]

Interesting info on just how successful D&D and 5E in particular is. Kind of a teaser though ... wait until next article to see why they think it's so successful!

Ya that pissed me off haha

 

[Plaguescarred]

It's such an impressive brand D&D is a juggernault in the RPG industry! And the pandemic even made is more successful. I'm happy to see a movie, TV shows etc in the making and if they can be a blockbuster, i assume it will grow even more.

 

[Lyxen]

It's such an impressive brand D&D is a juggernault in the RPG industry! And the pandemic even made is more successful. I'm happy to see a movie, TV shows etc in the making and if they can be a blockbuster, i assume it will grow even more.

True, I'm honestly even happier to see how mainstream it has gone, to the point of strongly influencing other major parts of the entertainment industry.

 

[Umbran]

It's such an impressive brand D&D is a juggernault in the RPG industry! And the pandemic even made is more successful.

Yeah, but using the pandemic years in overall analysis is a sketchy proposition, because public behaviors differed so much from normal. While it would be awesome if that strength held afterwards, it would probably be wise to consider recent gains to be a short-term phenomenon, until proven otherwise.

 

[Morrus]

We hear how wildly successful D&D is every 17 seconds or so. I'm surprised that anybody credible is claiming otherwise.

 

[LordEntrails]

The only thing I found new or interesting was this;

Tim Kask and Jim Ward, former TSR employees, say that the 1983 Mentzer “Red Box” Basic Set was selling roughly 100k copies per quarter… but that the German and Japanese editions of the Red Box also matched those sales numbers for several years… and there were 8 or 9 language editions being sold!

Didn't know that about the early Red Box sales.

 

[Mannahnin]

The only thing I found new or interesting was this;

Didn't know that about the early Red Box sales.

Yeah, the Mentzer BECM sets were the first big widely-available release in a lot of countries. They sold big internationally, in addition to doing well domestically.