NA Hobby Games Market Increases To $1.55B; D&D Remains On Top

ICv2 has released its latest industry report, including the top 5 roleplaying games for Spring 2018. Unsurprisingly, D&D holds the top spot still (it has for some years now), with Starfinder still outpacing Pathfinder, possibly due to people waiting on Pathfinder 2nd Edition. These are followed by FFG's Star Wars RPG, and their in-house Genesys generic game system (based on the Star Wars system).

1	Dungeons & Dragons (WotC)
2	Starfinder (Paizo)
3	Pathfinder (Paizo)
4	Star Wars (FFG)
5	Genesysy (FFG)

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That's three companies taking the top five spots. I've added those to my compiled year-on-year table which goes back to 2004.

In other news, ICv2 reports that the North American hobby games market has grown again, reaching $1.55 billion, growing 8% since 2016. You can see last year's stats here. Here's how that breaks down:

Collectible Games	$725M
Non-Collectible Miniatures Games	$270M
Board Games	$345M
Card & Dice Games	$150M
Roleplaying Games	$55M
Total	$1 545M

Roleplaying games have increased from $45M to $55M! Note that these figures do include Kickstarter. Here's how that looks year on year:

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US Hobby Game Market 2013-2017 ($ millions); based on figures from ICv2

Category	2013	2015	2016	2017	2018
Collectible games	$450	$550	$625 (+14%)	$750 (+12%)	$725 (-3%)
Miniatures	$125	$125	$175 (+40%)	$205 (+17%)	$270 (+32%)
Boardgames	$75	$125 ($160)	$250 (+56%)	$305 (+22%)	$345 (+13%)
Card & dice games	$35	$55 ($60)	$105 (+75%)	$130 (+24%)	$150 (+15%)
Roleplaying games	$15	$25	$35 (+40%)	$45 (+28%)	$55 (+22%)
Total	$700	$880 ($920)	$1,190 (+29%)	$1,435 (+21%)	$1,545 (+8%)

Interestingly, despite large growth overall, the Collectible Games segment dropped by 3%.

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[Jacob Lewis]

D&D and Pathfinder/Starfinder in the top spots isn't news. I find it more interesting that FFG's narrative dice system is claiming the last two spots. There are other systems out there that could present the alternative to d20 game systems, including other Rpgs from FFG. But seeing similar systems taking both remaining spots says a lot. Kudos to them!

 

[jmucchiello]

Do you mean $1.55 B? Not M?

 

[Gorath99]

The article's title states 1.55M rather than 1.55B. (Well 1.55 G$, if we're using SI prefixes. )

 

[TerraDave]

From $15 million in 2013 to $55 million in 2018. Of all the stats thrown around here by some people (like me) that is the most amazing. I

Obviously a lot of that growth is 5e. But I do wonder how much is trickling down to other games? Morrus noted that this does not included kickstarter, it also doesn't include the specialized online sellers like Noble Knight. At the very least some people brought in through 5e should start to try other games.

 

[JacktheRabbit]

How much does KS really matter? I would love to see what the numbers on it are. How many KS actually get released out of all that are funded, of those released how many have any releases beyond what was mentioned in the initial KS, and finally how many still exist 1 year after release, can you still get the books and is anything being released for it.

I get the feeling that each one of those numbers is a very small percentage of the previous number and that the final number is close enough that it might as well be zero.

 

[Morrus]

From $15 million in 2013 to $55 million in 2018. Of all the stats thrown around here by some people (like me) that is the most amazing. I

Obviously a lot of that growth is 5e. But I do wonder how much is trickling down to other games? Morrus noted that this does not included kickstarter, it also doesn't include the specialized online sellers like Noble Knight. At the very least some people brought in through 5e should start to try other games.

No, I noted it *does* include Kickstarter.

Kickstarter is massive. Bear in mind there are plenty of half-million-dollar RPG Kickstarters, and even a couple of $1-2M RPG Kickstarters. It’s a substantial part of that $55M. Bizarrely, Kickstarter might be one of the largest RPG companies in the world!

 

[Morrus]

D&D and Pathfinder/Starfinder in the top spots isn't news. I find it more interesting that FFG's narrative dice system is claiming the last two spots. There are other systems out there that could present the alternative to d20 game systems, including other Rpgs from FFG. But seeing similar systems taking both remaining spots says a lot. Kudos to them!

They’re the three largest RPG companies in the world. It’s been WotC - Paizo - FFG on theae charts for years. It’s the last spot that usually changes every quarter.

 

[Jester David]

Sounds like MtG is having a bad year

 

[TerraDave]

No, I noted it *does* include Kickstarter.

Kickstarter is massive. Bear in mind there are plenty of half-million-dollar RPG Kickstarters, and even a couple of $1-2M RPG Kickstarters. It’s a substantial part of that $55M. Bizarrely, Kickstarter might be one of the largest RPG companies in the world!

And so it does! Oops.

Its massive, though especially for other hobby games. I wonder what it would have been for RPGs in 2017?

 

[Morrus]

How much does KS really matter? I would love to see what the numbers on it are. How many KS actually get released out of all that are funded, of those released how many have any releases beyond what was mentioned in the initial KS, and finally how many still exist 1 year after release, can you still get the books and is anything being released for it.

I get the feeling that each one of those numbers is a very small percentage of the previous number and that the final number is close enough that it might as well be zero.

Kickstarter are worth millions. There are plenty of $250K+ RPG Kickstarters every year (Matt Colville was responsible for $2M of that total alone with just one Kickstarter, and 7th Sea did over $1M!), and many $1M+ boardgame Kickstarters. Kickstarter is a big part of that figure.

As to whether it "matters", that's something only you can answer. ICv2 is just providing the numbers here!

 

[Jacob Lewis]

They’re the three largest RPG companies in the world. It’s been WotC - Paizo - FFG on theae charts for years. It’s the last spot that usually changes every quarter.

True, but I was trying to imply that the last two spots were taken by the same (or similar) non-d20 system. FFG has other RPG systems that do not use the same mechanics as Star Wars and Genesys. Genesys is the newcomer and has only one support book released so far. I'm just surprised it has topped other systems that seem to be popular and with a lot more support material available. Just an observation, though curious to see how this evolves in time.

 

[Morrus]

True, but I was trying to imply that the last two spots were taken by the same (or similar) non-d20 system. FFG has other RPG systems that do not use the same mechanics as Star Wars and Genesys. Genesys is the newcomer and has only one support book released so far. I'm just surprised it has topped other systems that seem to be popular and with a lot more support material available. Just an observation, though curious to see how this evolves in time.

That last spot was Star Trek last time. It changes most quarters with new hotness, with D&D/Pathfinder/Star Wars above it. One of the big Gen Con releases will grab it next time. My bet is WFRP4.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

It will be interesting to see what happens to these numbers at the end of the year after the expected big sales figures for WFRP 4E and Vampire 5E get added in.

 

[Azgulor]

"with Starfinder still outpacing Pathfinder, possibly due to people waiting on Pathfinder 2nd Edition"

or possibly because Starfinder is just so damn awesome! Seriously, though, as a recent Starfinder convert, I haven't had this much fun with a RPG since...maybe forever.

And I am also eagerly awaiting PF2.

 

[LordEntrails]

...
Obviously a lot of that growth is 5e. But I do wonder how much is trickling down to other games? Morrus noted that this does not included kickstarter, it also doesn't include the specialized online sellers like Noble Knight. At the very least some people brought in through 5e should start to try other games.

I don't think there is much trickle down. If you look at the numbers for Fantasy Grounds, 5E had a 50% growth, while all the other systems mostly held steady. http://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/entry.php?334-Fantasy-Grounds-Game-Stats-for-2018-Q2&bt=1014

 

[Nathaniel Lee]

Dumb question: what is a "collectible" game? Is a "non-collectible" miniatures game something like Wrath of Ashardalon or those Jim Henson movie (Labyrinth, Dark Crystal) board games?

 

[GrahamWills]

Remember that these figures are for sales; they do not necessarily reflect the number of people playing the games. That's one reason why Starfinder might be ahead of Pathfinder -- if 95% of Pathfinder players didn't buy anything new last year, Starfinder might be one tenth as popular as Pathfinder and still sell more.

 

[Vexorg]

I wonder what percentage of miniatures sales are used primarily for role-playing games?

 

[EthanSental]

I wonder what percentage of miniatures sales are used primarily for role-playing games?

same vein, are these minis like reaper as well as wizkids minis and mini based games? Nice up tick in general for most ties in with stronger economy and people having a little more income to spend on various games..good for us all!!