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

 

[ad_hoc]

Most definitely this. To Wizards of the Coast as an entity, "D&D" basically means what most everyone else refers to as "5th Edition". They've never actually even officially referred to it as "5th Edition" or "5E". To them, it's just "D&D". And of course they're only going to care about their customers: people who only play the earlier editions have no relevance to them and their plans, for better or worse.

In a way, that's pretty much the view shared by the public at large. Most people playing 5th Edition right now never played anything before it. This was their entry into the world of Dungeons & Dragons. All that older stuff is basically just ancient history to them, for all intents and purposes. Same deal with the media at large. We've been seeing all these articles about D&D over the past several years, and it's all due to the sudden popularity of the game during the life of this edition. Sure, some of those articles will talk about the history of the game and how perception has evolved through the decades, but against for all intents and purposes "D&D" equates to "the current edition of the game that everyone and their grandmother is playing."

Not to take away from your point but WotC does call it fifth edition on the back of each book.

 

[mamba]

IF (and that's a big IF) there were even 25 million players, and we each had gotten a ticket to the D&D movie at $10 a piece (I know, that's actually on the low end today, let's say they all went to matinee's), the D&D movie would have busted $250 million easily, and that's not even including any other individual that saw it due to advertising, going with friends, or just interested in it.

As it is, probably less than 50% of the audience were D&D players, and with the totals, and the low estimate ($10 a ticket) that means there would be less than 10 million active D&D players more than likely if we look at the BEST picture ratio.

this assumes that every player went to the cinema to see the movie, I doubt that is a sound assumption

 

[Parmandur]

this assumes that every player went to the cinema to see the movie, I doubt that is a sound assumption

I never did.

 

[Blackwarder]

This survey is highly suspect. It’s either bad methodology, a bad case of selection bias or a representation of older folks abandoning WorC 5e in favor of other systems.

 

[Blackwarder]

this assumes that every player went to the cinema to see the movie, I doubt that is a sound assumption

Yup.
After the PR fiasco with the OGL and the idiotic interview about emasculating men the majority of players in my area stayed at home and didn’t go to see the movie.

 

[Azzy]

This survey is highly suspect. It’s either bad methodology, a bad case of selection bias or a representation of older folks abandoning WorC 5e in favor of other systems.

Or maybe it's just that the influx of new players dwarfs the amount of existing older players given the massive surge of popularity of the game since 2014. I know that doesn't fit the whole negative narrative that some cling to, but, y'know, Occam's Razor.

 

[Blackwarder]

Or maybe it's just that the influx of new players dwarfs the amount of existing older players given the massive surge of popularity of the game since 2014. I know that doesn't fit the whole negative narrative that some cling to, but, y'know, Occam's Razor.

Perhaps, from what I see around me (anecdotal I know but still) WotC is losing the older audience. It started a couple of years ago and it only been growing. Like it or not the older audience is the one with money in its pocket and generally the one with the widest circle of potential new players to recruit, be it family or friends.

The real shame is what happened to the D&D movie, instead of taking the kids to the cinema to watch the movie folks stayed home, despite the great word of mouth it received simply because of a general distrust in WotC coupled with getting burned by marvel phase 4.

I personally have nearly 30 people who watched the movie using my iTunes copy and enjoy it instead of going to the cinema paying for tickets. And they are all players in their late 30’s and early 40’s with kids old enough to see the movie.

 

[Azzy]

Perhaps, from what I see around me (anecdotal I know but still) WotC is losing the older audience. It started a couple of years ago and it only been growing.

I am my group are part of the older audience and we're still going strong on 5e. ¯\(ツ)/¯

Like it or not the older audience is the one with money in its pocket and generally the one with the widest circle of potential new players to recruit, be it family or friends.

Younger players also have their parents buy things for them, so I don't think that "the older audience is the one with money in its pocket" is really that meaningful in the long run. I patently disagree with older players having a wider circle—schools are great for creating gaming circles (and have been since at least the Eighties). They also are more likely to have a wide online social group than oldtimers. They also outnumber us (just like most generations outnumbered the previous generations)—the influx of new players is simply astounding.

 

[Charlaquin]

I am my group are part of the older audience and we're still going strong on 5e. ¯\(ツ)/¯


Younger players also have their parents buy things for them, so I don't think that "the older audience is the one with money in its pocket" is really that meaningful in the long run.

Also, like… Milennials are still the largest portion of the audience according to this survey, and we range from late 20s to early 40s. And while as a group we may have less wealth than previous generations, most of us do have our own income, and plenty of us have enough disposable income to support our hobbies.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Maybe the action-live movie is also victim of piracy. This is one of the reasons because I say the companies should bet for the marketing strategy of multimedia franchise.

Maybe there is a generational replacement, and with this a change of style, but D&D needs the arrival of new players. And it enjoys the adventage it can be played by members of different generations.

Other point is althought videogame industry moves more money, this needs more time and money, and the value of the titles is lost too fast. Now it is easier collabs with videogames created by other companies, but then D&D would need more famous characters, and not only from Forgotten Realms.

Hasbro has changed theirs plans to become a media empire as Disney, at least this after the death of their CEO.