Monte Cook Games & Free League Lead The TTRPG Crowdfunding Charts!

Unlike the Million Dollar Kickstarter Club which lists individual TTRPG campaigns which have broken the $1M mark, this list compiles the total raised by crowdfunding by each creator.

Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarter Club

Avatar Legends leads the pack in an exclusive club -- Kickstarters for tabletop roleplaying game products which have broken the $1M barrier! It is currently the most successful TTRPG Kickstarter in history with a funding total of nearly $10M, and over 80,000 backers. 24 TTRPG campaigns have...

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These are all the creators I could find which had a TTRPG Kickstarter or Backerkit and had totalled over $2M in crowdfunding. I've noted the total number of campaigns and also the number which were TTRPG -- so 12 (7) means that they have 12 crowdfunding campaigns, 7 of which were for a TTRPG. This is just Kickstarter and Backerkit; I am aware that several other platforms exist.

I cut it off at $2M as the number of entries grows rapidly below that. As it is there are approaching 600 crowdfunding campaigns represented in the table below.

Somewhat arbitrarily I have highlighted the ones which have 50% or more of their crowdfunders in TTRPGS (as opposed to boardgames and other tabletop games). This creates a TTRPG-specific list as follows:

1. Monte Cook Games
2. Free League
3. Magpie Games
4. Hit Point Press
5. Richard Thomas
6. Kobold Press
7. Matt Colville
8. Exalted Funeral
9. Shane Hensley
10. Goodman Games
11. Ghostfire Gaming
12. DnD Shorts
13. Modiphius
14. Morrus
15. Jim Searcy
16. Loot Tavern
17. MonkeyDM
18. Eldermancy
19. Nord Games
20. Dungeon Dudes
21. Russ Charles
22. Palladium Books

Position	Creator	Total $ (KICKSTARTER)	# Campaigns (#RPG) (KICKSTARTER)	Total $ (BACKERKIT)	# Campaigns ($RPG) (BACKERKIT)	TOTAL $
1	Steamforged Games	$31,780,647	16 (1)			$31,780,647
2	Monte Cook Games	$9,814,568	22 (22)	$3,399,472	4 (4)	$13,214,040
3	Reaper Miniatures	$12,537,425	7 (1)			$12,537,425
4	Free League (+ Fria Ligan)	$11,926,219	27 (23)			$11,926,219
5	Mantic Games	$11,767,381	21 (1)	$629,460	1 (0)	$12,395,841
6	Magpie Games	$10,333,950	3 (2)			$10,333,950
7	Stronghold Games	$9,310,408	11 (1)			$9,310,408
8	Sandy Petersen	$8,170,100	24 (3)			$8,170,100
9	Hit Point Press	$7,618,393	11 (10)			$7,618,393
10	Richard Thomas	$7,559,980	48 (46)			$7,559,980
11	Kobold Press	$6,931,005	24 (24)			$6,931,005
12	A.J. Porfirio	$6,504,064	23 (1)			$6,604,064
13	Dragori Games	$6,022,675	4 (1)			$6,022,675
14	Matt Colville	$5,578,267	3 (3)	$344,651	1 (1)	$5,922,918
15	Exalted Funeral	$5,624,838	12 (12)	$240,520	1 (1)	$5,865,258
16	Cephalofair Games	-	-	$5,053,380	1 (0.5)	$5,053,380
17	Shane Hensley	$4,654,324	29 (29)			$4,654,324
18	Steve Jackson Games	$4,544,505	35 (3)			$4,544,505
19	Legends of Avantris	$4,020,234	1 (1)			$4,020,234
20	1985 Games	$3,904,319	7 (3)	$108,950	1 (0)	$4,013,269
21	Goodman Games	$3,642,988	33 (33)	$133,331	1 (1)	$3,776,319
22	Ghostfire Gaming	$3,615,442	6 (6)	$159,085	1 (1)	$3,774,537
23	DnD Shorts	$3,327,204	1 (1)			$3,327,204
24	Chris Birch (Modiphius)	$3,254,709	9 (6)			$3,254,709
25	Privateer Press	$3,192,760	12 (4)			$3,192,760
26	Morrus	$2,929,561	43 (43)			$2,929,561
27	Jim Searcy	$2,923,720	12 (11)			$2,923,720
28	Loot Tavern	$2,729,246	4 (2)			$2,729,246
29	MonkeyDM	$2,692,698	1 (1)			$2,692,698
30	Horrible Guild	$2,620,565	8 (2)			$2,620,565
31	Eldermancy	$2,496,478	3 (3)			$2,496,478
32	GAME START	$2,495,476	12 (2)			$2,495,476
33	Nord Games	$2,458,241	25 (22)			$2,458,241
34	Everything Epic	$2,340,870	20 (1)			$2,340,870
35	Mike Gnade	$2,340,377	17 (3)			$2,340,377
36	Dungeon Dudes	$2,304,515	2 (2)			$2,304,515
37	Atlas Games	$2,284,136	13 (4)			$2,284,136
38	Russ Charles	$2,251,388	5 (5)			$2,251,388
39	Certifiable Studios	$2,159,498	8 (1)			$2,159,498
40	Palladium Books	$2,084,928	3 (2)			$2,084,928

 

[Reynard]

I wonder what percentage of sales those crowdunding numbers represent. As in, how well does, say, Flee Mortals do after fulfillment and wider release?

 

[darjr]

I wonder what percentage of sales those crowdunding numbers represent. As in, how well does, say, Flee Mortals do after fulfillment and wider release?

Flee Mortals is on Drive Thru so there is one angle of measure. I realize it’s not a complete picture.

 

[Morrus]

I wonder what percentage of sales those crowdunding numbers represent. As in, how well does, say, Flee Mortals do after fulfillment and wider release?

That’s not something we’re ever likely to know. There are so many sales channels these days, and most of them do not publicly share data like that.

 

[Morrus]

Flee Mortals is on Drive Thru so there is one angle of measure. I realize it’s not a complete picture.

I assume they have their own webstore, there’s Amazon, possibly retail distribution… DTRPG is only one piece of a big picture. I can’t speak for anyone else but our biggest channel is our own store.

 

[darjr]

I assume they have their own webstore, there’s Amazon, possibly retail distribution… DTRPG is only one piece of a big picture. I can’t speak for anyone else but our biggest channel is our own store.

Yea absolutely. But it’s one of the few places that give us something to measure with.

I completely grant that it’s not the main selling place of the book. In fact I was rather surprised to find it there myself.

 

[Zehnseiter]

Kickstarter and Backerkit ?
I miss www.gameontabletop.com here.

French Black Book Editions and German Ulisses Spiele do most of their crowdfunding on that platform. A quick count brought me in Ulisses case (if I didn't miscalculate) to over 7,5 Million Euro.

 

[Morrus]

Kickstarter and Backerkit ?

Yes.

I miss www.gameontabletop.com here.

Yes.

 

[EternalDungeonMaster]

I suspect that if Wizards of the Coast crowdfunded their D&D releases the top spot on that that chart would look different.

Still, it's a useful list. It can be easy to get stuck in the D&D echo chamber (especially for a DM like me whose players are quite resistant to non-D&D games), so it's nice to see how other companies are doing.

 

[Morrus]

I suspect that if Wizards of the Coast crowdfunded their D&D releases the top spot on that that chart would look different.

I'm sure.

I suspect that if Wizards of the Coast crowdfunded their D&D releases the top spot on that that chart would look different.

Still, it's a useful list. It can be easy to get stuck in the D&D echo chamber (especially for a DM like me whose players are quite resistant to non-D&D games), so it's nice to see how other companies are doing.

You should read a TTRPG news site! Anybody know of one?