Tabletop Grows 13% On Kickstarter

ICO Partners reports that tabletop gaming has had a record year on Kickstarter, rising 13% with over 3,50 projects funding $272 million in 2021, with the 7th consecutive year of growth.

However, that growth rate is less than the 2020 growth of 34%, and the second half of 2021 was slower than the first half -- while the year saw 13% overall, the first half of the year grew at 22% while the second hall grew at significantly less than 13%.

Gamefound, a new tabletop specific crowdfunding platform, raised $22 million. While that's still only a fraction of Kickstarter, it is a significant fraction.

There's no breakdown as far as tabletop gaming types (TTRPGS, boardgames, etc.) but boardgames tend to make up the bulk of tabletop funding.

 

[aco175]

I would be interested in seeing if 2022 is flat or declines as people come out of Covid. I'm not sure if the shift away from everything with the lockdowns over 2+ years will stick and the games growth continues, or if people go back to the old ways and the money is spent back to the places that showed decline the last few years. Although I see where the initial growth to 2019 was steady and only jumped a lot in 2020, so what do I know.

 

[eyeheartawk]

I'd be interested to see the breakdown of board games vs RPGs. I'm willing to wager a considerable percentage in the tabletop games space on Kickstarter is driven by board games. That markets been pretty glutted for awhile now. Maybe the first sign that there is a board game bubble and it's going to burst soon?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I'd be interested to see the breakdown of board games vs RPGs. I'm willing to wager a considerable percentage in the tabletop games space on Kickstarter is driven by board games. That markets been pretty glutted for awhile now. Maybe the first sign that there is a board game bubble and it's going to burst soon?

I think bubble might be the wrong word, here. I can't see anythin unsustainable about the board game industry, which is usually what causes an industry to bubble and then burst. I expect that if we see a decline anytime soon, it will be gradual.

 

[TwoSix]

I think bubble might be the wrong word, here. I can't see anythin unsustainable about the board game industry, which is usually what causes an industry to bubble and then burst. I expect that if we see a decline anytime soon, it will be gradual.

Yea, I don't think there's a "bubble", but I wouldn't be shocked to see the market beginning to saturate and plateau a bit. I don't think constant 20% YTY growth is sustainable.

 

[pac71]

Not long till indie games sector is bigger than WotC. I'm sure that will upset the Hasbro board a bit.

 

[Morrus]

Not long till indie games sector is bigger than WotC. I'm sure that will upset the Hasbro board a bit.

I don’t think there’s much chance of that. WotC did over a billion dollars in turnover last year.

 

[TerraDave]

I think some perspective is warranted:

The numbers we are seeing are crazy!

Almost 300 million USD to support unpublished tabletop games, mostly from smaller publishers. Crazy!

 

[aramis erak]

I don’t think there’s much chance of that. WotC did over a billion dollars in turnover last year.

A good portion of that is MTG.
I wonder how much is other hasbro brands moved into WotC financial/administrative control.

 

[Morrus]

A good portion of that is MTG.

Of course.