Top 5 Tabletop RPGs Spring 2021: Cyberpunk Gains!

ICv2 has released its periodic bestseller list of tabletop roleplaying games in the US and Canada for spring 2021. Dungeons & Dragons takes the top spot as it has done every quarter since Summer 2014, R. Talsorian's Cyberpunk displaces Pathfinder as it continues its climb to 2nd place since it first appeared in the chart a year ago, and for the second time ever '5E Compatible' has appeared on the chart, while Alien maintains its position.

Position​	Game (Publisher)​
1​	Dungeons & Dragons (WotC)
2​	Cyberpunk (R. Talsorian)
3​	Pathfinder (Paizo)
4​	Alien (Free League)
5​	5E Compatible (Various)

As always I keep a historical record of these charts here.

 

[TwoSix]

'5e compatible' is a weird category and shouldn't exist.

They should publish a Top 10 list instead of Top 5.

Considering their goal is to get you to subscribe to their information service, I don't think handing out more information for free is in their best interest.

I do wonder what offerings are included in "5e compatible", though.

 

[Ulfgeir]

Would be interesting seeing number of how many copies are sold for each game.

 

[payn]

Carbon 2185 is a Cyberpunk RPG built on the 5e OGL. Maybe you'd like it? (I've never tried it.)

I have. The 5E engine makes it pretty easy to jump right in and get to playing. The issue my group had was it felt like D&D with spray paint and neon taped to it instead of a nice cyberpunk experience. (We like different systems for different genres so generic systems are not good for us.)

 

[Sir Brennen]

Very interesting development. Pathfinder dipping is surprising, I didn't think Cyberpunk would make that big an impact. Or is it Pathfinder having a slow spell? Anyways, happy to see Alien up there still.

I wonder if the new Savage Worlds version of Pathfinder coming out caused any diversion of funds from people who would have spent on regular PF otherwise.

 

[Grendel_Khan]

'5e compatible' is a weird category and shouldn't exist.

Great point. What a weird way for them to editorialize what should be raw stats. I assume they don't group all sci-fi or OSR games together, so this turns the entire list into a conversation with D&D.

 

[Reynard]

I wonder if the new Savage Worlds version of Pathfinder coming out caused any diversion of funds from people who would have spent on regular PF otherwise.

Probably not. Most of those people spent that money a long time ago, and SW PF is specifically a PF1E adaptation.

 

[lyle.spade]

Reading too much into this is probably not advised.

...that good advice isn't likely to stop people.

 

[Jimmy Dick]

I would say Pathfinder did not dip at all. ICv2 does not include internal company sales directly to the consumer and Paizo has a very large subscriber base. The report is a nice snapshot of retail store sales as that is the market the publication is for, but as for the overall market, it has some methodology flaws.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Going over the years past top 5 seem to be D&D, Pathfinder, Star Wars, Vamp, Shadowrun. But new hotness like Cyberpunk and Alien knock some down for a bit.

 

[Disgruntled Hobbit]

Hard not to read into the Pathfinder dip
Cyberpunk is prolly doing well, but that single book doing better than ALL of Pathfinder without a drop? That seems unlikely

But Pathfinder 2nd Ed is prolly dependent on new books. I don't see it having the same constant flow of new players
They had a monster book and a race book during the period with the BESTIARY 3 being late in the window. And the ANCESTRY GUIDE is the kind of book you want as a PDF or just on the PFRD cause you only need one or two pages of it at a time and can just copy out the full text of the feats
It would be harder to compete with a core rulebook for a game
In the summer when the big new splatbooks come out, Pathfinder will prolly be back at no. 2