How big's the RPG market?

How big is the RPG market? Pretty damn tiny, is the answer. As of 2016/2017 it's about $35m in size, according to ICv2. That's of a Hobby Games market currently worth just over a billion dollars. The RPG segment is a mere 2.9% of the overall Hobby Games market, which includes boardgames, miniatures, hobby card games, and collectible games. Of course, the competition for RPGs isn't just boardgames or card games, it's entertainment; and on that scale, the RPG market is a tiny niche of the Hobby Games market, which is a tiny niche of the global entertainment market. Note that these figures are US and Canada only, and include Kickstarter sales.

UPDATE: the below $1.19B figure has since been revised upwards by ICv2 to $1.4B in 2017, with an RPG segment of $45M.

The hobby games market as a whole is the size of one major movie blockbuster. The global film industry market was 38.3 billion in 2015. Putting that into perspective:

The video game industry is even bigger, at $91B in 2016.

However, the entire hobby games market is growing year on year. Just look at the latest stats: the market has grown from $700M in 2013 to $1.19B in 2016/2017. Of that, RPGs have more than doubled in size, from $15M to $35M. Boardgames have over tripled in size. There is definitely a tabletop boom going on right now, powered by a number of factors ranging from Kickstarter, to the introduction of US West Coast media (shows like Tabletop and outlets like Geek & Sundry have helped to mainstream tabletop gaming), and more.

Data from ICv2 and other sources.

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[Hussar]

Perhaps the bigger takeaway here is just how much TTRPG's have grown since the release of 5e. There were ballpark estimates of the TTRPG market being about 30 million in the 3e years, and a big drop off in the 4e years, particularly when WotC stopped producing new books (one number I heard tossed around was about 15 million). If that's true, then we've tripled in size since the 4e days and still made pretty impressive gains from the 3e heydays. Going from 30-35 million is a pretty darn big jump, and, let's face it, most of that is from 5e.

This is pretty good news, AFAIC. If we can continue to grow about 7% per year, that's incredibly healthy.

 

[Joseph Nardo]

One billion for the global boardgame market?...where did this data come from? CNN?....try this...[FONT=&quot]Board games are returning as a mainstream entertainment among families, kids, and even child-less millennials looking for a new way to socialize with friends.[/FONT][FONT=&quot]The board game boom has not only led to the creation of new games but also to cafes and bars focused on gaming.
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[FONT=&quot]Global sales of games and puzzles have grown from $9.3 billion in 2013 to $9.6 billion in 2016, according to Euromonitor International, with expected year-on-year growth of more than 1 percent this year.[/FONT]

 

[Morrus]

One billion for the global boardgame market?

Not global board game market. US/Canada hobby games market. Hobby games and boardgames are not synonyms. Monopoly is a boardgame but not a hobby game.

...whereCOLOR did this data come from? CNN?

Links to sources are in the article.

Global sales of games and puzzles have grown from $9.3 billion in 2013 to $9.6 billion in 2016, according to Euromonitor International, with expected year-on-year growth of more than 1 percent this year.

We’re not discussing global sales of games and puzzles. We’re discussing the North American hobby game market. Entirely different thing.

 

[Loren the GM]

One billion for the global boardgame market?...where did this data come from? CNN?....try this...[FONT=&amp]Board games are returning as a mainstream entertainment among families, kids, and even child-less millennials looking for a new way to socialize with friends.[/FONT][FONT=&amp]The board game boom has not only led to the creation of new games but also to cafes and bars focused on gaming.
[/FONT]
[FONT=&amp]Global sales of games and puzzles have grown from $9.3 billion in 2013 to $9.6 billion in 2016, according to Euromonitor International, with expected year-on-year growth of more than 1 percent this year.[/FONT]

The article states (as does the graph) that these figures are US and Canada only.

 

[Hussar]

Yeah, I imagine that you can massage the numbers a number of different ways depending on what you include and exclude. I mean, puzzles, I imagine, are a pretty big thing world wide. I know I certainly see them everywhere.

So, yeah, it does pay to pay attention to the fine print.

 

[Mercurius]

Not that this is important, but does anyone else find it amusing that in the last pie chart, video games is colored yellow - so it looks like Pac Man eating the other two segments in that graph?

I noticed that too, and am bummed out that you posted it before I got a chance .

 

[Mercurius]

Interesting data. To me this is an awful hybrid of Idiocracy and Sturgeon's Law writ large: People prefer easy, instant gratification entertainment. Going to the movies or playing a video game (or most video games) requires little to no imagination and creativity.

It also goes back to the idea of D&D as IP that is marketable in different domains. Wasn't Mearls talking big about diversifying D&D into other media forms? I know there's a movie coming out at some point, but it just begs for a Netflix series. What about collectible games? (What are those, anyways, aside from cards, which are a separate category?).

It would be interesting to see these charts made for the European market. I imagine that miniatures would have an even larger share. If we moved to Asia, I'm guessing hobby games would be even more dwarfed by video games and film.

 

[Jhaelen]

Gives some nice perspective, but I'd be really interested in seeing the corresponding pie charts for Europe now.

 

[Hussar]

Interesting data. To me this is an awful hybrid of Idiocracy and Sturgeon's Law writ large: People prefer easy, instant gratification entertainment. Going to the movies or playing a video game (or most video games) requires little to no imagination and creativity.
/snip

I'm not sure I'd blame people too much for that though. Running a game is not easy and it's a HUGE time sink. I can totally understand why someone isn't interested in it. Never minding that trying to organize a group on a regular basis can be a big nightmare as well.

There's a bunch of pretty big hurdles that you need to jump in order to have a good gaming group that routinely produces fun sessions. Really, it's no different than restaurants. Sure, there's all sorts of fantastic restaurants serving wonderful food out there, but, y'know what? McDonalds fits the bill. Never minding that going to a restaurant is essentially just consuming other people's work. It's not like i have to do any work to sit down in a restaurant. But, do I prefer easy, instant gratification just because I haven't learned how to be a sushi chef? Not really. I'm just not interested in learning how to be a sushi chef.

It's easy to pooh pooh going to the movies or playing a video game, but, let's be honest here, both are pretty fun things to do. People aren't wrong for preferring them.

 

[Aldarc]

Not that this is important, but does anyone else find it amusing that in the last pie chart, video games is colored yellow - so it looks like Pac Man eating the other two segments in that graph?

Now what has been seen, can never be unseen.