Roll20 Reports First Drop For D&D

Roll20's latest stats are in. In terms of games run, D&D has shown its first drop since I last reported on Roll20's stats, from 51.87% in Q2 2019 to 47.54% in Q4 (although it is slightly higher than the 45% of Q3, which I missed!) Call of Cthulhu rises from 14.3% in Q2 to 15.3%, while Pathfinder drops from 6.5% to about 5% (but recovers from a massive Q3 drop, expected in the run-up to a new edition). In terms of player numbers, D&D dropped by about 1%, while Pathfinder increased by about 2%. Call of Cthulhu had a massive 7% rise.

Pathfinder 2E is the strange number here. Just over 1% in Q4 2019 (which is apparently a rise of 82%). I wonder if some of the Pathfinder 1E stats are being conflated with Pathfinder 2E under the generic "Pathfinder" heading?

The Orr Group also shows an interesting new stat, with the biggest growths in Q4 2019.

Ironsworn RPG's big spike coincide with Roll20's own in-house stream, so it is to be expected on their own internal reports.

Here's the full list.

And here's the Q2 report.

 

[Myrdin Potter]

I would note that I said that they have never released numbers of games played, just percentages with no reference point. They have not even used the same method consistently from quarter to quarter.

This is a marketing release by Roll20, and part of their marketing is claiming to be the largest VTT without ever discussing any number except for total accounts. An account is signing up on their website and never playing.

Because the method has changed, I just view these as a muddled snap shot of their player base. There is no way to know how many games are being counted and if all games are being counted, so other than being an internal snapshot I don’t use it to make any other reference.

I do read marketing claims with a huge grain of salt and their continual avoidance of how many games are being played does make me wonder. I just assume it is less that their competition and they don’t publish the number because that can be used to market against them.