Starfinder Outpaces Pathfinder In Fall 2017!

Starfinder outpaced Pathfinder! Wow!

 

[Jester David]

I have a hard time thinking that Starfinder sold at "Pathfinder levels", so from this we might discern the motivation for a 2nd edition Pathfinder.


Given this I think we can expect Pathfinder 2.0 to at least match or surpass Starfinder at launch, as fantasy most often sell better than SF. Then it becomes a question of staying power. As always with ICv2 ranking, the next one is always more interesting than the current one.

New core rulebooks/ games do sell quite well, and Starfinder was a solid hit at GenCon.


However, for most of the Fall, Starfinder only had a single book, compared to the dozens of Pathfinder books. Starfinder beating Pathfinder does mean that the combines sales of their back catalogue of two or three dozen accessories and splatbooks were selling less than a single core rulebook.


Honestly, Pathfinder has probably been losing sales for a couple years. It's an older game that is only slowly attracting new players. That it continued to hold onto the #2 position really says more about the gulf between it and the games below.

 

[Kramodlog]

I just wonder if you combined the sells of PF and SF they out sell StarDungeons and StarDragons or not.

 

[darjr]

I just wonder if you combined the sells of PF and SF they out sell StarDungeons and StarDragons or not.

I don’t think it’s even close. It debuted at 89 at Amazon but is now in the 4,000. Maybe for a short few days or weeks? But the PHB hit #1 over the weekend.

Starfinder from http://www.camelcamelcamel.com
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5e PHB
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[Blue]

If anything, this points to a good reason for a second edition of Pathfinder. There may be diminishing returns in core book sales, over ten years it may be approaching a saturation point. So core PF sales are smaller than those interested in PF/SF because of that long history of sales, where a new edition can tap into it again. And unlike the pushback when 3.5 came out, a ten year run of the original won't be considered premature.

 

[darjr]

I am pretty happy for Paizo! It can’t have been easy. And I wish them a lot of success.

 

[Shasarak]

Good to see Starfinder doing so well. Next quarter should be strong too.

 

[Doctor Futurity]

I have to say, speaking as someone who has two groups playing Starfinder now (I even convinced my D&D 5E regulars to switch over to it to give me a much needed break from straight fantasy) that I am happy it did so well so far. It's a fun game, and a kind of weird gonzo design energy to it that bodes well for PF 2.0 I hope.

Given that Star Wars, despite being such a big IP, has an RPG that requires funny dice and Star Trek is (imo, ymmv) something of a fading and mismanaged property with an RPG that I suspect is only resonating with the hardcore fans who don't feel like they've been disenfranchised over the last three movies, that it's not too surprising a new Paizo title carves its way to #2.

 

[Cergorach]

I just wonder if you combined the sells of PF and SF they out sell StarDungeons and StarDragons or not.

Well, if you did not depend on just Icv2 lists and Amazon ratings and could actually get sales figures for WotC D&D vs Paizo Pathfinder en Starfinder... Paizo does a TON of direct sales, WotC does very, very little. ICv2 only does FLGS and doesn't ask for hard numbers, just gut feeling... And seeing how many fanboys are actually running FLGS, it's such an undependable chart!

 

[darjr]

WotC also has a ton of 5e digital sales. On four different platforms. Those are not counted and last I heard DMsGuild has grown to soon eclipse drivethru.

 

[Morrus]

WotC also has a ton of 5e digital sales. On four different platforms. Those are not counted and last I heard DMsGuild has grown to soon eclipse drivethru.

You heard it had a better Alexa rank. Not the same thing at all.