Is the RPG Industry on Life Support? (Merged w/"Nothing Dies")

[buzz]

I think that your personal experience does not really count...

But yours does?

 

[buzz]

I'd also add one bit of personal, gaming wisdom: People want to buy fun games.

Given this criteria, the industry looks pretty good to this anecdote-provider. There's never been so much cool product that I've wanted to buy as there is now. Never.

 

[eyebeams]

*snip*

 

[rpghost]

Well here is what confuses me about all this... [I'll offer you up some HARD numbers to make my point.]

We did nearly 1.5 million in sales this year from our brick & mortar store, our online store, our ebook store, and our online indie store. Of all that revenue is a part this "industry", as such Wizards of the Coast accounted for about 16.1% of my overall sales (revenue) volume. 30.1% of the brick and mortar sales (it's the only place we sell MTG/CCGs). 16.7% of my online store, 12.2% of ebook sales, and 0% of indie sales (obviously).

So how is it that WOTC claims to be 2/3rds of the this industry? Esp since much of our promotion and customer base is from D&D/D20/OGL friendly locations?

James Mathe
Minion Development Corp.

 

[Algolei]

and on top of that i bought Algolei an account here as revenge.

That reminds me, where'd Nothingland go? Or is my being unable to find them their Christmas gift to themselves?

 

[Algolei]

So how is it that WOTC claims to be 2/3rds of the this industry?

Maybe they mean the WotC industry: "We make 2/3rds of everything we make! The rest, ehh, you gotta make yourself. But if you give it to us we'll put it up on our website as errata!"

 

[johnsemlak]

Well here is what confuses me about all this... [I'll offer you up some HARD numbers to make my point.]

We did nearly 1.5 million in sales this year from our brick & mortar store, our online store, our ebook store, and our online indie store. Of all that revenue is a part this "industry", as such Wizards of the Coast accounted for about 16.1% of my overall sales (revenue) volume. 30.1% of the brick and mortar sales (it's the only place we sell MTG/CCGs). 16.7% of my online store, 12.2% of ebook sales, and 0% of indie sales (obviously).

So how is it that WOTC claims to be 2/3rds of the this industry? Esp since much of our promotion and customer base is from D&D/D20/OGL friendly locations?

James Mathe
Minion Development Corp.

Hmm, those are very interesting statistics.

16.1% is still a reather large portion to be occupied by one company, but admittedly, it's lower than I expected. What companys come next?

 

[MerricB]

Well here is what confuses me about all this... [I'll offer you up some HARD numbers to make my point.]

We did nearly 1.5 million in sales this year from our brick & mortar store, our online store, our ebook store, and our online indie store. Of all that revenue is a part this "industry", as such Wizards of the Coast accounted for about 16.1% of my overall sales (revenue) volume. 30.1% of the brick and mortar sales (it's the only place we sell MTG/CCGs). 16.7% of my online store, 12.2% of ebook sales, and 0% of indie sales (obviously).

So how is it that WOTC claims to be 2/3rds of the this industry? Esp since much of our promotion and customer base is from D&D/D20/OGL friendly locations?

James Mathe
Minion Development Corp.

Because you've misinterpreted the claim. WotC has 2/3rds of the RPG industry, not general gaming.

Magic: the Gathering is not part of the RPG industry.

Cheers!

 

[Turjan]

Because you've misinterpreted the claim. WotC has 2/3rds of the RPG industry, not general gaming.

Magic: the Gathering is not part of the RPG industry.

Did the numbers not even exclude minis? I suppose, miniatures and CCGs make up for a good part of sales in "brick and mortar shops".

Then there are other aspects that distort the statistics. Online RPG shops have to compete with amazon in the WotC market segment. I usually split my buys regarding WotC (and sometimes WW imprints or GR) on one side and other game companies on the other side. This means, for the online RPG shop where I buy, it looks as if I'd never buy any WotC stuff.

 

[buzz]

Well here is what confuses me about all this... [I'll offer you up some HARD numbers to make my point.]

Ooh! Dirty...

We did nearly 1.5 million in sales this year from our brick & mortar store, our online store, our ebook store, and our online indie store. Of all that revenue is a part this "industry", as such Wizards of the Coast accounted for about 16.1% of my overall sales (revenue) volume. 30.1% of the brick and mortar sales (it's the only place we sell MTG/CCGs). 16.7% of my online store, 12.2% of ebook sales, and 0% of indie sales (obviously).

So how is it that WOTC claims to be 2/3rds of the this industry? Esp since much of our promotion and customer base is from D&D/D20/OGL friendly locations?

Like Merric said, 2/3 of RPGs, not all gaming, and 30% in your B&M store and 16% online is pretty impressive, probably far better than any other RPG producer.

Also, at least for your online presence, RPGnow and its bretheren tend to be places that I, at least, go to when I want products by less mainstream companies, or products I can't get via my friend's mail-order service, like PDFs or access to RPGobjects' modern character generator.

BTW, thanks for revealing your sales info. Very informative!