Pathfinder, Cthulhu, Level Up: D&D Competitors Start To Sell Out

One side-effect of 'OGL-gate' is that games other than Dungeons & Dragons are starting to see increased sales--in some cases, drastically so--as gamers explore other possibilities. Games like Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and our own Level Up, are all experiencing sales surges right now in scenes reminiscent of WotC's 'Game System License' backlash in 2008, which also led to a boom in Pathfinder's popularity.

We at EN Publishing have sold as many copies of Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition in the last month as we did in the 6-months prior. Paizo talks about Pathfinder's recent sale boom -- "Thank you for the kind words these last few days, and for the overwhelming support of our product and our OPENGAMING sale. It has been a critical hit!" -- and shared that the Pathfinder core rulebook has sold out (a new print run will arrive in April).

We were inundated with many weeks' worth of orders. We have brought in additional hands to help with shipping, and are working overtime to send you your new print products as quickly as possible. We apologize for longer than normal ship times as we work through the queue.

Additionally, we have run through what was an 8-month supply of our Pathfinder Core Rulebook in the last 2 weeks, and demand on our Beginner Boxes is surging too. We have already ordered another print run of the hardcover Core Rulebook, which will arrive in mid-April.

In the interim, we have some supply of the Pocket Edition still available. Happily, Pathfinder exists in many forms

Chaosium also reports a similar surge, reporting that they will be running out of Call of Cthulhu starter sets months ahead of schedule (they also have a new print run coming in).

Woah – there's been a truly monstrous surge of "Cthulhu curious" gamers coming to Chaosium.com in the last two weeks! As a result, we're likely going to run out of Call of Cthulhu Starter Sets, months ahead of schedule.

But never fear, there's already a new shipment on the way – it's due in early February, and there's an even bigger Call of Cthulhu shipment coming by sea in March!

To Call of Cthulhu fans, thanks for your support and for sharing our eldritch game with curious newcomers. And if you're new to tabletop gaming in the Mythos, we look forward to journeying with you into the black seas of infinity...

 

[Jer]

How soon do you think it will be before 5e D&D drops from the #1 position? And how far do you think it will fall thanks to RPGs like Pathfinder and Level Up? I think it will be soon because of the critical fumbles on WoTC's part. As for how far, I have no idea. But I would like it if Level Up supplanted it.

I don't think it will fall from the #1 position. The size difference between it and its nearest competitor is huge so it would have to drop a lot and all of that drop would have to go to one competitor instead of spreading among a few different ones to see its position actually change.

The question to consider is how much can it fall before the game is no longer of interest to Hasbro. Early 5e was very popular in RPG circles but not even a blip on Hasbro's radar and barely even remembered by Wizards of the Coast itself.

 

[BrokenTwin]

I would enjoy seeing Call of Cthulhu, Pathfinder or Savage Worlds take the #1 spot from D&D, but realistically, the brand power of the latter is unlikely to be overcome anytime in the near future. Best case scenario they fully fall to the Kleenex Effect that they've been dancing on the edge of for years.

 

[Corinnguard]

I don't think it will fall from the #1 position. The size difference between it and its nearest competitor is huge so it would have to drop a lot and all of that drop would have to go to one competitor instead of spreading among a few different ones to see its position actually change.

The question to consider is how much can it fall before the game is no longer of interest to Hasbro. Early 5e was very popular in RPG circles but not even a blip on Hasbro's radar and barely even remembered by Wizards of the Coast itself.

This article seems to suggest that right now that drop is being spread out amongst several of WoTC's competitors instead of to just one competitor. So you might be right.

Good point. This whole OGL controversy sooner or later is going to impact Hasbro's bottom line. If their bottom line is severely affected by WoTC's critical fumbles, one can only hope that they'll pull on WoTC's leash and tell them to back off on deauthorizing the OGL 1.0a.

 

[Corinnguard]

I would enjoy seeing Call of Cthulhu, Pathfinder or Savage Worlds take the #1 spot from D&D, but realistically, the brand power of the latter is unlikely to be overcome anytime in the near future. Best case scenario they fully fall to the Kleenex Effect that they've been dancing on the edge of for years.

The Kleenex Effect?

 

[LrdApoc]

I read that title as the other meaning of "sell out" and was very confused for a moment. It's really good to see that other publishers are actually benefiting from WotC's attempted assassination, even non-OGL products. I haven't bought a 5E book in years, but all this commotion has convinced me to pick up softcovers of the PF2 rulebooks (when they're back in stock at my FLGS, anyway).

So "Sell Through" would be a better less loaded retail term, lol.. I mean.. the headline was effective, it got me to come back after being inactive for a few years...

 

[Retreater]

The Kleenex Effect?

When every facial tissue is referred to as "Kleenex" so that the brand name doesn't have real meaning anymore.

 

[Steampunkette]

Kleenex, Xerox, Shopped, Slinky... It happens a lot more often than you might think!

And yeah. I'm deeply hoping Level Up becomes super popular and basically Pathfinder for 5e.

 

[pemerton]

This whole OGL controversy sooner or later is going to impact Hasbro's bottom line. If their bottom line is severely affected by WoTC's critical fumbles, one can only hope that they'll pull on WoTC's leash and tell them to back off on deauthorizing the OGL 1.0a.

I thought the general view was that Hasbro is driving this, and that WotC is not pursuing a RPG publication-based strategy but is trying to build up the D&D brand via online monetisation.

 

[Smackpixi]

People keep talking about the name recognition and brand power of DnD, and while true, that makes it your Dad’s RPG. It’s got some retro-cool maybe but it’s not too hard to see it going out as the Facebook of RPGs.

 

[Zehnseiter]

Call of Cthulhu sold out and is now chilling shirtless in a pool in Hollywood surrounded by beautiful people.

Naked Cthulhu in a pool having some fun.....mhhhh. Nope not going there. Sanity loss would be imminent.