Best Selling Games on DTRPG By Genre

[Morrus]

Geek Native has been compiling these lists. I've noted the top in each, but click through for the top 10s. I'm not sure of some of the categories -- Carbon 2185 is sci-fi, surely, and it has The Masterclass Codex as a Western RPG (it's a D&D supplement). And it doesn't include current editions of D&D or Pathfinder, as neither are sold on DTRPG.

• The best selling western RPGs of 2019 (Strange Adventures Volume One)
• The best selling superhero RPGs of 2019 (Tiny Supers)
• The best selling pulp RPGs of 2019 (Dragon-Blooded: What Fire Has Wrought)
• The best selling modern genre RPGs of 2019 (Shadowrun 6E)
• The best selling horror RPGs of 2019 (Eclipse Phase 2E)
• The best selling family RPGs of 2019 (Hero Kids – Fantasy Expansion – Hero Advancement Cards)
• The best selling anime and cartoon RPGs of 2019 (Carbon 2185)
• The best selling sci-fi RPGs of 2019 (Cyberpunk Red Jumpstart Kit)
• The other best selling fantasy RPGs of 2019 (Shadowrun 6E)

These are just sales on DTRPG (so regular print runs and distribution aren't counted) but it's interesting to see.

 

[John Dallman]

I think I'd quarrel with Shadowrun as a "modern genre" RPG. It's definitely set in a future world.

 

[Morrus]

To an extent, I think it's just how publishers have tagged their games. They probably tagged it modern, sci-fi, and fantasy.

 

[Crusadius]

I think drivethru should have a main genre for a game for the purpose of working out "best-selling". (and perhaps other stats) I'm not sure the utility of allowing as many genres as possible to be selected when a game wouldn't be viewed as that genre by purchasers.

As examples:

• Dragon-Blooded as "pulp"? I wouldn't classify the Exalted 3E system as pulp. Wuxia or anime would be closer.
• Shadowrun - seems either sci-fi or modern would fit, but the genres seems to be competing with each other. If Shadowrun is both, then so is Cyberpunk meaning Shadowrun wouldn't be the top seller for Modern genre.

Mainly I'm sad Warhammer 4E didn't outsell Shadowrun as top fantasy - I thought the corebook appeared to be in the best selling items list (or was consistently higher) than Shadowrun (currently is still higher too).

Edit: I see, only games published in 2019. * looks at dice * failed my reading comprehension roll.

 

[Morrus]

I think drivethru should have a main genre for a game for the purpose of working out "best-selling". (and perhaps other stats) I'm not sure the utility of allowing as many genres as possible to be selected when a game wouldn't be viewed as that genre by purchasers.

It’s only goal is to sell games. Permissive tagging over restrictive tagging does that better.

 

[Crusadius]

It’s only goal is to sell games. Permissive tagging over restrictive tagging does that better.

I'm not suggesting not allowing multiple genres, but perhaps having one selected as the main genre. Although I do acknowledge the difficulty with games such as Shadowrun.

 

[Crusadius]

I'm surprised Scion doesn't appear in the Fantasy list. Signs of Sorcery appears both in Fantasy and Modern and I'd consider Scion both a Fantasy and Modern genre game in the same way Signs of Sorcery has been considered by its publisher.