D&D 5E Are D&D sales declining? Teos Abadia takes a look.

[Umbran]

I do wonder if it’s a post pandemic dip. It’ll be interesting to see what happens through 2024 and beyond.

Anything that sells at a high rate will eventually start to saturate the market.

 

[Echohawk]

Anything that sells at a high rate will eventually start to saturate the market.

Silcia gel pouches won't

 

[Umbran]

Silcia gel pouches won't

It is my thought that those are not "products" that are "sold". Those are the waste products from the brownies and other crafting-fae inhabiting factories around the world. Basically, they are little packets of brownie poop.

Really, do not eat them.

 

[ad_hoc]

I think it is more likely that sales at physical book stores are declining in general than that D&D sales are declining specifically.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

How would we know. Per the article @Alphastream concludes the OGL debacle did not noticably hurt sales. However, I have no idea how we would know if people who left have not come back.

To be fair, @Reynard was asking me specifically about my own customers. I still can't really answer the question, to be true, because I can't say for sure who plays what at home, but there's reason to think that I might be able to answer it.

I think that we can safely assume that the answer is "some of them did" but not in significant numbers. I suspect (and I think someone at Paizo has said something to confirm it) but the OGL fiasco, AFAICT, did more to HELP other publishers than it did to HURT WOTC (during that blip, long-term will be a different thing in the end). But it sure put a lot of egg on their face.

 

[Reynard]

How would we know.

I was asking someone who owns a game store.

I think it would be an interesting point of data in trying to determine if it is even possible to break the 5E stranglehold on the industry.

 

[Parmandur]

That’s a really good point.

I remember the days when the axe would fall every Christmas as WotC. It was just like clockwork.

Now? Maybe I’m out of the loop but I can’t remember the last person who left.

Kate Welch resigned in 2020 because she did not like the direction the company beast taking. She never clarified in what way. That was over 3 years ago now.

 

[Parmandur]

I was asking someone who owns a game store.

I think it would be an interesting point of data in trying to determine if it is even possible to break the 5E stranglehold on the industry.

To this day, Monopoly is still the most widely played board game in the world. Despite any other options.

 

[ersatzphil]

Kate Welch resigned in 2020 because she did not like the direction the company beast taking. She never clarified in what way. That was over 3 years ago now.

A point that may or may not be relevant, but I believe Kate had specifically been working on the ‘how to onboard new players’ problem when she left.

 

[Minigiant]

I think it is more likely that sales at physical book stores are declining in general than that D&D sales are declining specifically.

This.

I think the number of people who are buying the books are dropping and being replaced by people buying other things like individual Feats, monster, and spells packages on DDB.

And with latter products being more niche and less nostalgic, there are even more people not buying physical books and more people buying things specific for their campaigns and characters.