Fanaelialae
Legend
I think that the OSR certainly still brings in new blood.
I doubt it will reach the same popularity as 5e though, and for the why I think we can look at the history of video games.
In the early days, many video games were quite hard. There were serious constraints on what programmers could do with the hardware at the time, so setting the difficulty high padded the game and gave it replay value.
Nowadays, hard games are arguably less mainstream. However, that doesn't mean that hard games are a dying breed. Demon/Dark Souls spawned an entire line of hard games that enjoy significant popularity, though probably less than that of something like Super Mario Bros. There are plenty of other hard games that have dedicated audiences, from Darkest Dungeon to XCom.
I think the OSR is like those hard games. They were popular way back when because game design wasn't very advanced and there wasn't much else. Over times, more player friendly options arose, and the bulk of players gravitated to those play styles. Nonetheless, the OSR has a dedicated core that prefers that style of game.
Will the OSR ever be the most mainstream style? I doubt it. That would be like Dark Souls becoming the number 1 most popular game. Many people find Dark Souls fun, but there are plenty for whom it simply isn't an enjoyable experience. They're looking for something different from their recreation time.
I doubt it will reach the same popularity as 5e though, and for the why I think we can look at the history of video games.
In the early days, many video games were quite hard. There were serious constraints on what programmers could do with the hardware at the time, so setting the difficulty high padded the game and gave it replay value.
Nowadays, hard games are arguably less mainstream. However, that doesn't mean that hard games are a dying breed. Demon/Dark Souls spawned an entire line of hard games that enjoy significant popularity, though probably less than that of something like Super Mario Bros. There are plenty of other hard games that have dedicated audiences, from Darkest Dungeon to XCom.
I think the OSR is like those hard games. They were popular way back when because game design wasn't very advanced and there wasn't much else. Over times, more player friendly options arose, and the bulk of players gravitated to those play styles. Nonetheless, the OSR has a dedicated core that prefers that style of game.
Will the OSR ever be the most mainstream style? I doubt it. That would be like Dark Souls becoming the number 1 most popular game. Many people find Dark Souls fun, but there are plenty for whom it simply isn't an enjoyable experience. They're looking for something different from their recreation time.