State of the industry?

[der_kluge]

So, it seems to me that the d20 market (along with the rest of the economy), just went through, or is at least currently going through, a bad slump.

I've heard tales, and am getting a feeling that many d20 publishers aren't faring so well these days. Obviously, I'm not looking for anyone to post their financial statements, but I just wanted to ask - how is everyone doing? Got any big plans? Still plugging along? Any news or announcements anyone want to share?

 

[RangerWickett]

The only slump for me is coming from 'senior year of college'-itis. So while my grades may suffer, I'm still working just as hard on putting out good products. Really, we at E.N. Publishing have a slight bottleneck because we have four or five writers, and only two people doing layout.

I think people are just nervous that there ought to be a slump, and the nervousness might actually cause a slump when people think they should save money. Really, everyone ought to go out and spend at least $50 a month on things they enjoy, be that movies, gaming, or just exorbitantly-priced meals at Italian restaurants.

The great thing about the industry now is that most of the big producers are high-level . . . or rather, they're experienced, and so they know better what people want. Sure, there's still some hit and miss, but there's a large crop of very talented writers and publishers putting out great books. There are fewer 'Book of *classname*' things, because those are too obvious and have been done already, but now we get to enjoy exotic things. Writers have gotten comfortable that they know what they're doing, and now they're tackling pet projects. And the best thing is, we'll buy them.

I mean, if Monte Cook had put out AU at the very start of Malhavoc, he would've probably gotten lukewarm responses. But he proved more than clearly with his earlier and (I don't mean this as criticism, but) more predictable books of new spells and feats that he was a top writer, so people trust him now, and adore his work.

We have various print publishers helping out pdf companies by porting more pdfs to print. Sure, before a few top sellers got converted to print versions (such as Tournaments, Fairs, & Taverns, Monte's books, and Vigilance), but now some of the more niche products are being ported over. People know what they're doing, and are able to deal with books that are less surefire hits. This means we'll have less glut of stock products, and more things that are innovative and unique.

So yeah, people are a little nervous to buy, and I'm sure publishers are a little nervous to risk if people are coming across as nervous, but I'm confident we'll see good times ahead.

 

[DaveMage]

I wish Ryan Dancey would give an annual report (at Gencon?) about the state of the industry, just as you are requesting above.

I figure he's probably one of the best qualified to do so since he's not affiliated directly with any company (other than the open gaming foundation). And, oh yeah, he started all of this!

Of course, if supply continues to outpace demand, as it has been doing, there will have to be a sales slump.

Since there are literally hundreds (thousands?) of d20 products available, many of us cannot afford to purchase all the ones we might want.

What has me *really* curious is how the d20 market will survive when Wizards does release a 4th edition down the road. Will each d20 company simply retool their existing products for a 4th edition?

I certainly would be hard pressed to justify (to myself) a repurchase of items on the same scale that I have bought the current d20 products, especially since that in order to use all (or even half) the products I have purchased, will require at least another 10 years!

 

[Vaxalon]

What has me *really* curious is how the d20 market will survive when Wizards does release a 4th edition down the road. Will each d20 company simply retool their existing products for a 4th edition?

If they release a 4.0 SRD, yes, if they don't, no.

 

[trancejeremy]

I wish I could afford to spend $50 a month on things I enjoy, but I'm lucky to be able to spend half that. Still even then, I have a ton of d20 stuff, more than I have for any other RPG.

There are literally 1000s of products. The review database here has 1474 products. Yeah, some are free, but it also omits some products. So that's like 500 a year.

 

[Dana_Jorgensen]

So, it seems to me that the d20 market (along with the rest of the economy), just went through, or is at least currently going through, a bad slump.

I've heard tales, and am getting a feeling that many d20 publishers aren't faring so well these days. Obviously, I'm not looking for anyone to post their financial statements, but I just wanted to ask - how is everyone doing? Got any big plans? Still plugging along? Any news or announcements anyone want to share?

The economy has had some effect, but traditionally claims have been that gaming is affected less than most industries by economic downturns. You also have to consider the industry's pulse.

Traditionally, the industry's high point of the year is July-August, when most companies schedule major releases to coincide with the summer conventions. This is preceeded and followed by several months of median business, with a downturn occurring as Christmas approaches (gamer money goes to gifts for others, rather than the usual gifts for oneself and nongamer gift purchases typically do not include gaming products) After Christmas starts an upturn as Christmas gift-money to gamers enters the sales channels, heading back towards the median sales level. March brings the GAMA trade show for introducing new products to distributors, and by April things should be back to average until the summer cons strike again.

Basically, Oct-Jan, everybody doesn't do so well, and July-September they do their best (assuming some sort of Origins and/or GenCon presense or coinciding major release). So take the pulse of the industry into account when listening to those stories. You may simply be hearing a story about a company affected to an extreme by the annual downturn.