RPG Market Grew 31% In 2020

During 2020, when the global pandemic hit, tabletop roleplaying game sales continued to rise, with the market in the US and Canada growing from $80M in 2019 to $105M in 2020, according to estimates by ICv2.

US/Canada Hobby Game Market ($ millions)

The below table is based on figures from ICv2. For timescale context, also compare chart changes with events listed in the chart [URL='https://www.enworld.org/threads/tsr-wotc-paizo-a-comparative-history.662357/']TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History[/URL]. [ATTACH...

www.enworld.org

The site reports that the hobby game market as a whole reached $2 Billion, and that the RPG segment was led by a grown of 33% for Dungeons & Dragons, making it the highest percentage growth in the hobby game channel.

ICv2 derives its estimates by interviewing retailers, distributors, and manufacturers, along with publicly available data from Kickstarter and other places.

 

[Sunsword]

The question is whether it will contract again when the issues have past.

WotC reports that they have year after year growth in D&D (& Magic) and I think in 2020 it was 65%. Critical Role & 5E have made RPGs more relatable.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Maybe building four castles on swampland?

The only bad news is that in 5e there's very little to spend 105,000,000 gp on.

30% growth in a single year is pretty ginormous. Many industries would kill for those numbers.

 

[Anselyn]

But D&D is traditionally played in groups, outside of most of the players homes.
The play by computer is a new and fast growing part. I dint think it’ll ever go away, and might eclipse in person gaming, but I still think there will be a boom when in person gaming picks up steam again.

In my experience, D&D is traditionally played in groups, at one of the players' home.
Most weeks of the year, the group around theirs or at mine. One or two days a year in groups at a con.

 

[Anselyn]

Apols. Double post

 

[Marc_C]

Great news! 90% of all my gaming spending in 2020 was on rpgs. Usually it was 40% rpgs and 60% wargames.

 

[Jimmy Dick]

I think we may see a dip as people are able to do more this year than last year, but on the other hand the ones that picked up dice and entered the TTRPG community via digital means are still rolling the d20 while I am seeing my players at my lodges who did not play in virtual space return to the table in our first live events this summer.
I want to see how this plays out over the next several months so I have a better grasp of who dropped out, moved away, or has come back to the tables before I make a final determination.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

During 2020, when the global pandemic hit, tabletop roleplaying game sales continued to rise, with the market in the US and Canada growing from $80M in 2019 to $105M in 2020...

How much is that in platinum pieces?

 

[darjr]

2019 was also a phenomenal growth year. I think that trend will at least continue and grow

 

[TerraDave]

Taking a look at the longer terms trends:

Hobby Games Market Climbs to $880 Million

According to New ICv2 Report

icv2.com

Picking 2014, we can see then "RPGs growing the fastest" apparently from a very low base.

Overall, hobby gaming has gone from 880 million to 2 billion. RPGs grew almost twice as fast, from 25 million to 100 million.

I also don't think this includes virtual/VTT sales, which have clearly grown much faster (albiet from a very small base).

Its mathematically impossible for growth like this to continue forever, but it could certainly go for a while.

 

[Hussar]

@TerraDave, a 400% increase in 7 years. O.O That's insane. I know it won't last. But, heck, even if all growth stopped today, and we just stayed where we are, that's still fantastic numbers

I really, really don't think we're going to see a 6e announcement anytime soon.