Has Paizo ever talked about releasing their adventures in 5E format?

[Caliburn101]

It would be interesting to see a conversion of Golarion plus all adventure material released for 5th, but it would never happen unless there was a sea-change in the Paizo business model.

However, considering the popularity of the complexity-busting 5th Edition and the less than rave-popular crunchtastic melange that PF2 is shaping up to be, you never know... wild boars with 3 HD and a flight movement of 40ft might just happen...

 

[DammitVictor]

It would seriously damage the value of their own intellectual property. It's like a license to burn money.

 

[Morrus]

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm sure that enters into the thinking. But I would point out that customers usually only purchase one cell phone, but often purchase materials for more than one game system.

I think you'd be surprised by the number of people who only play D&D or only play Pathfinder. Our local RPG club has trouble getting people to try new games.

Extending Golarion and its APs to D&D5e does not require new art or stories, only a system conversion and adjusted layouts. If that were 25% more effort I'd have to think that would be profitable in light that 5e's base is much bigger.

Yes, they'd make a profit selling a thing, and this thing would do quite well. But the act of doing so would erode the value of their own hard-built IP. One assumes they feel the latter's long-term erosion would be greater than the former's short-term profit, and that they've thought about it more than we have.

 

[MockingBird]

I didnt think about it like that. That makes sense to me why they dont or havent made any 5e material. That's why I'm not in the business haha. Oh well.

 

[zztong]

One assumes they feel the latter's long-term erosion would be greater than the former's short-term profit, and that they've thought about it more than we have.

Agreed, and I certainly respect yours and others opinions on the matter. I admit Paizo has the best information and that I'm only an armchair quarterback. I also admit that my opinion is colored by my desires and other opinions of PF1 and PF2.

Paizo and I clearly see their value to be in different places. I see Golarion and their APs as their greatest long-term value and PF2 as a short-term score. As such, I think they're better positioned to sell Golarion across game systems than only selling it to part of the fragmenting Pathfinder audience.

 

[Azgulor]

As a 10+year Paizo customer, PF1 diehard that is now eagerly awaiting PF2, Starfinder player and GM, and PF GM who doesn't run his campaigns in Golarion, my view is the opposite. Pathfinder (& Starfinder) are where it's at, and Golarion and the APs provide an (optional) environment in which to use those rules to tell stories.

 

[Jester David]

I'm always a little surprised Paizo hasn't done something for 5e. Kobold Press, Green Ronin, and even Monte Cook Games have all embraced 5e. (And Mr. Cook was really burned by WotC after he returned.)
D&D isn't just the biggest RPG. It's the biggest three RPGs. Pathfinder was #4 behind base D&D, AL D&D, and Critical Role D&D. Even 3rd Party books by Kobold Press were outselling the Pathfinder Core Rulebook on Amazon. A Paizo published 5e book might easily become their best selling book by a wide margin.

Yeah, it makes sense that Paizo wouldn't want to delay or slow down their releases for Pathfinder 1 or Pathfinder 2 to make a 5e book, but since they'd have to rely on freelancers anyway for the design—and much of the art, planning, and such might already be done—it shouldn't impact their release schedule.
(Really, the last couple years of Pathfinder could really have used a slower release schedule.)

Even if they didn't update a full AP, they could do a monster book. There's an eff-tonne of Paizo-specific monsters and Golarion lore. And all the art and page assets would already be done.
Or they could sell conversion PDFs, which allowed you to play their existing APs, selling them like they did the digital map packs.

I understand that Paizo doesn't want to have their business tied to D&D and another company, like they did during the days of 3e. But there's a big difference between tying a single product line to D&D and leaving the rest of their business independent. Especially when said product line could radically increase their profits, funnelling more money to the APs and Pathfinder fans. If even a fraction of the massive D&D audience bought their APs because of a professional conversion, it could double their sales.

Honestly... it *almost* feels like a pride thing. They're still pissed about what happened during 4e and feel a little stung from losing the #1 spot so they want nothing to do with 5e.

 

[Morrus]

Honestly... it *almost* feels like a pride thing. They're still pissed about what happened during 4e and feel a little stung from losing the #1 spot so they want nothing to do with 5e.

They're grown adults and extremely competent business people.

 

[mrswing]

I think the Apple/Android comparison is relevant but only to a certain level. Apple rules the roost, overpriced though their products are, and so they can easily keep people 'captive' in their ecosystem. Or at least more easily. Paizo had a great run by taking up the 3.5 slack and put out a LOT of material for a new but not revolutionary take on a popular system. Nowadays though, D&D has overtaken them on every level. But WOTC does not put out modules, does not publish regional guides, splat books, loads of monster books - and especially not smaller adventures. By adapting their setting books, monster books and adventures alone, Paizo would tap into a huge market. Region guides would be the easiest to translate. Adventures would need a more thorough reworking because of the many different rules and approaches. But at least there suddenly would be a big influx of modules and adventure paths which could be played as written if a DM so desired - unlike the majority (and maybe even all) WOTC books. I personally think that Paizo would have done better to keep PF 1 and to start using 5e to generate extra income. I really worry that PF2 is going to be their 4th ed.-fiasco.

 

[Jester David]

They're grown adults and extremely competent business people.

They're also human, and humans do silly things.Thirteen years ago, WotC almost killed their business by taking away Dragon magazine. They barely recovered but a year later WotC hit them again by announcing 4e. Then WotC cut them out of the loop by not showing them the game they were working on, leaving the company floundering.
Then Paizo turned the company around and became the biggest name in the industry.
Only to be left in the dust when WotC brought D&D back.

It's hard not to feel bitter when competition that wronged you repeatedly is busy lapping you.

Last year, any Pathfinder 1 releases were doing to be DOA. Who's going to buy a new hardcover during the playtest? But they still had a bunch of staff on payroll. Enough to do four hardcovers a year.
What’s a sound business reason for them NOT to release cheap book of 5e monsters with art recycled from Bestiaries 2 through 6 farmed out to 5e freelancers?
It would have kept the staff they're already paying busy and would likely outsell any of their other books for that quarter.
Or a campaign setting update, given that’s needed to reflect the changes of the last dozen APs. That’s a largely system agnostic product that could be paired with system specific accessories, like a Kobold Press did with it’s latest Midgard book.