Origins: Why no Wizards????

[JiffyPopTart]

I'm curious if anyone has recent attendance numbers for Indy vs. Origins. I'm pretty sure that Origins has a lower attendance, but I'm not sure that I'd say "far less."

According to their respective Wikipedia articles....

2006 GenCon Indy - 21,250
2005 Origins - 15,000

I would think that Gencon may have actually a bit more than that, but thats the figures listed.

DS

 

[Glyfair]

The choice isn't between Origins and GenCon. It's between Origins and Comic-Con International in San Diego. And the two aren't remotely comparable in the numbers of folks who come through the doors. If Wizards wanted to chuck every one of their cons but CCI, it'd be a sound decision in terms of manhours and costs.

Of course, one is a gaming convention and one is a media convention under the guise of a comic book convention. Yes, San Diego has a larger attendance, but that's because it's not focused on gamers (indeed, they are a minority).

It comes down to a decision to go to someplace where you'll get wider exposure, or to a place that serves your fan base. San Diego isn't a bad place to grow your customer base for a game company. While gamers might be a minority, most there are part of some sort of "fandom." They are much more likely than the average person to consider gaming (then again, they are much more likely top have already been exposed to gaming and have made a decision).

 

[Glyfair]

OK, I found Origins 2006 attendance, from the GAMA newsletter: 12,000. I'm guessing that's "uniques", rather than "turnstile."

I remember someone who said it was hard to compare them because one of the two used turnstile and the other used a different method.

 

[kenobi65]

I remember someone who said it was hard to compare them because one of the two used turnstile and the other used a different method.

I'd guess that the vast majority of GenCon attendees buy a 4-day pass, because (a) they only sell single-day and 4-days, and (b) a 4-day pass is *cheaper* than 2 single-day passes.

And, since there are no actual "turnstiles" at GenCon, I imagine their "turnstile" count is calculated as:
(4-day passes * 4) + (single-day passes)

In other words, they would be assuming that a 4-day pass is used all four days. Probably not entirely true, but that makes the numbers look good.

Origins, OTOH, does sell 2-day passes in addition to 4-day and single-day.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Of course, one is a gaming convention and one is a media convention under the guise of a comic book convention. Yes, San Diego has a larger attendance, but that's because it's not focused on gamers (indeed, they are a minority).

It comes down to a decision to go to someplace where you'll get wider exposure, or to a place that serves your fan base. San Diego isn't a bad place to grow your customer base for a game company. While gamers might be a minority, most there are part of some sort of "fandom." They are much more likely than the average person to consider gaming (then again, they are much more likely top have already been exposed to gaming and have made a decision).

WotC had good results with comic book fans with MTG (to the detriment of comic shops, thanks to how many owners decided to speculate as a business model), so they're a known quantity to a lot of visitors there, especially since many game shops are actually comic book shops first, nowadays.

And yeah, if there was a major convention (123,000 attendees in 2006) that would be open to guys with swords and magic wands, it'd be the folks who are streaming in to talk about guys in Spandex with indistinguishable-from-magic rings.

And given how many Hollywood types clog the aisles now, it's also a good way to get properties in front of people willing to throw money at companies for a good idea. I'd think it'd be irresponsible for WotC not to be there.