D&D Surges Into Lead In Orr Group Figures

The last two times the Orr Group (makers of the popular Roll20 online gaming tools which cite a user base of close to a million users) produced statistics on which games were being played, Pathfinder held the top spot. Those were in October 2014 and January 2015. However, April 2015 brings us a different picture: it seems like D&D 5th Edition has surged into first place in terms of games played (but not in terms of number of players, a title curiously held by D&D 3.5).

Interestingly, the top 4 spots are all one flavour of D&D or another (including Pathfinder, of course). This matches ICv2's latest hobby game retailer surveys which have D&D regaining the top spot after several years. Paizo's Erik Mona does note, however, that the "post-5th Edition paradigm" has not significantly harmed Pathfinder's sales.

 

[Queer Venger]

One more proof that 5e & the Wizards team has delivered a hit, a very palpable hit ;-)

 

[Hussar]

Couple of interesting points.

If you look at the January report, the player sample size was half of the one for this quarter but the game sample size is not that hugely different, about 50% more this quarter from last. I wonder why.

Also, the number of 5e players has darn near doubled as well. Not a big shock all things considered. It probably takes a bit of time for a system to "catch up" after release. People aren't going to drop ongoing games necessarily. They will finish out the current campaign and then move on later, so, there is always going to be some lag.

As far as Paizo's bottom line is concerned, I imagine that their subscription base is their bread and butter, which likely won't be impacted by all this all that much.

 

[Zot]

I'm a lifetime silver member and a lurker since the early days. I only post s few times s year.

 

[Zot]

Which you should all be thankful for as I can't type.

 

[turkeygiant]

Pathfinders subscriptions are probably going to keep them going for a while. I think the thing they need to be concerned about is making sure they are releasing adventures and content of the same quality as WotC, so far they haven't been threatened by the two Tyranny of Dragons modules which weren't great, but by all accounts Princes of the Apocalypse is fantastic and if the D&D releases continue to be that quality I can see people start to cancel their ongoing pathfinder subscription in favour of picking up the latest D&D modules instead.

 

[Hussar]

I dunno. I get a very strong sense that Pathfinder subscribers are more interested in reading material than gaming material. I'm not sure if the same is true for wotc ap players.

 

[Wicht]

I dunno. I get a very strong sense that Pathfinder subscribers are more interested in reading material than gaming material.

I suspect you are presenting a false dichotomy.

Also the play by post forum over on Paizo is a very happening place. I started a game there a couple weeks ago and it surprised me how many people are using those forums for actual gaming. The PbP area used to be much slower and less "crowded". Someone is playing Pathfinder still. A lot.

 

[Morrus]

What are the percentages next to the numbers supposed to mean? The first clearly means the total percentage D&D games represent in relations to the total number of games being played. But the second percentage, I'm not sure.

First is games, second is players.

 

[Hussar]

I suspect you are presenting a false dichotomy.

Also the play by post forum over on Paizo is a very happening place. I started a game there a couple weeks ago and it surprised me how many people are using those forums for actual gaming. The PbP area used to be much slower and less "crowded". Someone is playing Pathfinder still. A lot.

Oh, without a doubt. But, there's a difference between players and buyers. I mean, heck, on this thread alone, you've got 3e players beating out both Pathfinder and 5e in terms of number of players. I doubt 3e players are buying a heck of a lot of products.

By the same token, this is just my gut feeling, so, it's wild speculation. I'm thinking that a number of Pathfinder buyers are similar to Dungeon and Dragon buyers - those that like reading even if they aren't actually using everything or even a large fraction of what they read. At one point, that would describe me perfectly. I had a several year subscription to Dragon, at various points in time, and I barely used 10% of the material I bought. And probably significantly less. But, I sure miss having a print Dragon mag appear in my mailbox, even if I wasn't using it.

 

[Wicht]

Oh, without a doubt. But, there's a difference between players and buyers. I mean, heck, on this thread alone, you've got 3e players beating out both Pathfinder and 5e in terms of number of players. I doubt 3e players are buying a heck of a lot of products.

By the same token, this is just my gut feeling, so, it's wild speculation. I'm thinking that a number of Pathfinder buyers are similar to Dungeon and Dragon buyers - those that like reading even if they aren't actually using everything or even a large fraction of what they read. At one point, that would describe me perfectly. I had a several year subscription to Dragon, at various points in time, and I barely used 10% of the material I bought. And probably significantly less. But, I sure miss having a print Dragon mag appear in my mailbox, even if I wasn't using it.

I understand what you are saying and are in that boat as well of buying far more than I use. So I agree with you there

But I am also running one PbP game, have one home game going, and am writing up scenarios to run at Origins using Pathfinder.

So I am not sure that the dichotomy between buying and playing is legitimate, meaning it doesn't have to be one or the other - it can be both buying for reading and buying for playing. Actually I think, personally, that the sweet spot with consumers doing both, is where an RPG game company should want to be.