I'm relatively new to the space - somewhere around 5 years, but one of the interesting things I noticed with KP - their older stuff is Pathfinder. (Maybe during the years when PF seem ascendent compared to D&D?) And they recently had a customer survey where they asked if people would be interested in Daggerheart modules from KP. At the same time they have ToV (which I love) and continue to support with the advantage that it is broadly compatible with D&D (to the level where their Northlands Kickstarter was released in both a D&D and ToV edition - and I expect the only real difference will be the subclass section).
In the mid-to-low tier - how many people are doing their own thing vs making modules for others? (Or a mix - as in the case of KP) I wonder if there would be an easy way to quantify. Also, how many are making for multiple systems? Like Legendary does a lot of Kickstarters that are 5e & PF1e. I've seen more and more people on RPGdrivethru who are making for both D&D and Black Flag (ToV's SRD-eqiv). Are they also making for A5e? And so on...it's a fascinating industry where some people (Evil Hat, I think) are licensing out their engines. Others are mostly making modules/supplements for someone else's game. And some are making their own thing. (Or all of the above)
Legendary Games started out doing Pathfinder stuff in 2011 but since 5E came out has always approached publishing from a multi-system perspective. We've done tons of 5E stuff but also added Starfinder, Pathfinder 2E, Tales of the Valiant (we even did one ToV-only Backerkit project last year), LevelUp, and even Savage Worlds, SWADE, and Shadow of the Demon Lord. We've been working on our own
Corefinder game for some years, a streamlined and updated rewrite of PF1, but it's always kind of floated on the back burner while we keep the lights on with one new project after another.
The tilt of which systems are most popular has shifted over time. We still sell a lot of PF1 stuff, probably more than most companies do, because we built that following and they've stayed with us. It would surprise no one that 5E has sold better than other systems, but the ongoing fragmentation of the market has made things harder. Sure, it helps us that we've already got that solid history of doing multiple systems, but it also makes it harder to hit targets for offset print runs if you get a Kickstarter with (just to make up arbitrary numbers) 200 backers each for four different games vs. 800 backers for one game. That leaves you with lower-margin POD. Doing our own game would add to the problem in its own way, though the potential benefits are there as well for a self-reinforcing ecosystem.
Being diversified does buffer your exposure when one game falls out of favor, and it helps you remonetize existing assets like art and maps if you release them for multiple systems, but it also adds to the churn of getting things done and out the door.
