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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[Ricochet]

Sounds like MtG is having a bad year

How do you figure that?

Regarding miniatures, I'm genuinely surprised at how much they are grossing! That's incredible, actually. I know minis are expensive, but I thought their popularity was waning with 5e going more theater of the mind.

 

[Morrus]

How do you figure that?

Regarding miniatures, I'm genuinely surprised at how much they are grossing! That's incredible, actually. I know minis are expensive, but I thought their popularity was waning with 5e going more theater of the mind.

The miniatures gaming market dwarfs the RPG market. These aren’t minis used in RPGs, they’re hobby miniature games like Warhammer 40K. Usage in RPGs is just a tiny part of the minis market.

 

[Ricochet]

The miniatures gaming market dwarfs the RPG market. These aren’t minis used in RPGs, they’re hobby miniature games like Warhammer 40K. Usage in RPGs is just a tiny part of the minis market.

Ahh, that would explain it!

 

[ShinHakkaider]

The miniatures gaming market dwarfs the RPG market. These aren’t minis used in RPGs, they’re hobby miniature games like Warhammer 40K. Usage in RPGs is just a tiny part of the minis market.

EXACTLY. My Warhammer 40K purchases have dwarfed my RPG purchases and I dont even really play the game. I collect and assemble and paint the mini's. I have about 7-8 different armies of various sizes. The problem with RPG's is finding a compatible group and consistency. I have a group (we're on our summer break right now) but would like to put together another group. If I were running more games I'd be spending more money on games. As it were, I recently sold a couple of hundred of dollars worth of RPG stuff to Noble Knight Games becasue they were just sitting here collecting dust. What did I do with the credit I got from them? I spent it on Warhammer 40K stuff.

 

[Jester David]

How do you figure that?

Collectable Games made $25 million less. MtG is the bid fish there, so its success or failure influences the rest.

 

[Phil Allison]

Where are the 2018 numbers from? Are those projections based on first half sales? Are they based on the yearly sales curve?

 

[LordEntrails]

Where are the 2018 numbers from? Are those projections based on first half sales? Are they based on the yearly sales curve?

They are not actually 2018 sales numbers. They are 2017 sales numbers reported in 2018. Based off this statement in the link;

Sales of hobby games in the U.S. and Canada topped $1.5 billion for the first time in 2017, reaching $1.55 billion, according to a new estimate compiled by ICv2 and reported in Internal Correspondence #94.

It's not exactly clear though because in other places they title things "Spring...". I think you would have to follow the links through and read the actual survey that the numbers come from.