D&D General Some Interesting Stats About D&D Players!

The full cover spread for Phandelver and Below, by Antonio José Manzanedo​

GeekWire has reported on the recent D&D press event (which I've covered elsewhere). Along with all the upcoming product information we've all been devouring over the last day or two, there were some interesting tidbits regarding D&D player demographics.

• 60% of D&D players are male, 39% are female, and 1% identify otherwise
• 60% are “hybrid” players, who switch between playing the game physically or online
• 58% play D&D on a weekly basis
• 48% identify as millennials, 19% from Generation X and 33% from Generation Z
• The majority of current D&D players started with 5th Edition

 

[Parmandur]

These are PR numbers - I wouldn't take them too seriously unless WotC publish a methodology. Consider them a rough estimate.

Well, not just PR, this is infobthat informs SptC behavior. Of course they cater their products to ~80% of their audience.

 

[Hutchimus Prime]

These are PR numbers - I wouldn't take them too seriously unless WotC publish a methodology. Consider them a rough estimate.

Exactly. The numbers from this survey probably aren’t a representative sample. Seems like it’s pretty obvious selection bias; the most online generations responded to the online survey.

 

[Retreater]

It's probably not that the number of Boomers or Gen Xers have decreased, just that they haven't increased as much as the number of Millennials.
I would be curious to see if the number of Boomers or Gen Xers contain more DMs. I would expect more Gen Xers DM than Millennials or Zoomers - just anecdotally.

 

[jmartkdr2]

40 years old in 2019 is Gen X, and a younger Gen X at that, not a Boomer. Boomers were already off the scale 4 years ago.

The scale is 40 or older, so Boomers would fall into that grouping. Along with all of Gen X and even some Millennials.

 

[Morrus]

Exactly. The numbers from this survey probably aren’t a representative sample. Seems like it’s pretty obvious selection bias; the most online generations responded to the online survey.

Not liking the data and so immediately deciding it is flawed is pretty much the province of pseudoscience. Also, what's not to like? Young people joining the hobby is a good thing, isn't it? Would you rather they didn't?

 

[MGibster]

I don't know, in my experience marketers really care about serving me ads for various medications, cruises, and AARP membership now that I've passed 50.

That's fair. I tried watching a history probram a few years back and kept seeing commercials for catheters.

 

[Vaalingrade]

The important thing is to recognize that we are all always in the secret silent majority that studies* show is always correct.

*Which I will not cite.

 

[Charlaquin]

That adds to 100%. My father does not even count being a Boomer at age 75.

Just means the number of D&D players who self-identify as baby boomers is a rounding error.

 

[Charlaquin]

Honestly the 0% Boomers makes me wonder about the survey - not that I think there's a ton of boomers (or at least that I still believe millenials are the bulk) but none?

Just less than 1% of players. Probably half a percent or less.

EDIT: maybe this is less surprising to me, as a person who belongs to a group that makes up about half a percent of the world’s population and still has many friends and acquaintances who belong to the same group. Statistics are like that.

 

[mamba]

Sudden statistical insignificance is a noteworthy thing though -

Looking back, all the prior surveys had a 40+ category, which would be both Gen X and Boomers. I wonder if someone's misreporting the survey.

so 40+ skews heavily towards 40-60 or wherever the cutoff for GenX is. This is not necessarily a contradiction

It also is a matter of who is filling out the survey, and I can see that leaning towards the younger end of the player spectrum