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.

 

[CleverNickName]

Woah. I knew that Cyberpunk was going to surge this year, but I didn't expect it to outpace Pathfinder.

I'd love to see the actual numbers that were used to rank these games.

 

[Parmandur]

Woah. I knew that Cyberpunk was going to surge this year, but I didn't expect it to outpace Pathfinder.

I'd love to see the actual numbers that were used to rank these games.

Amazing what a major media tie-in can do....even a messy one.

 

[Parmandur]

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.

Probably Kobold Press, and any Kickstarted OGL product which makes it to retail.

 

[Morrus]

Probably Kobold Press, and any Kickstarted OGL product which makes it to retail.

Goodman Games too maybe.

 

[CleverNickName]

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

This was the first time that I looked back over the history of these sales charts...and as usual, the history tells an interesting story.

2008: D&D 4th Edition was released.

2009: Pathfinder RPG was released.

2010: D&D sales begin to flag, and Pathfinder sales rocket; Pathfinder ties with D&D for best selling RPG. "D&D Essentials" was released.

2011: Pathfinder becomes the best-selling RPG, and D&D falls to 2nd place for the first time ever.

2012: D&D falls to 3rd place, behind Pathfinder and Star Wars. D&D 5th Edition was announced.

2013: D&D slips to 4th place, behind Pathfinder, Star Wars, and Fate Core.

2014: D&D 5th Edition is released that summer, and D&D jumps to #1 again before Christmas. D&D has remained #1 ever since.

It's fun to talk about the possibility of a "6th Edition" of D&D, and to speculate about what it might look like and how it might evolve over the years...but I don't really see it happening until their sales begin to slip. Right now, D&D is more popular than it ever has been, and selling more copies than it ever has. Until D&D slips to the #2 or #3 position on that chart, I doubt they are going to tamper with their product. Those were hard lessons to learn, and too important to forget.

 

[TrickyDUK2]

If, and it’s a big unknown if, paizo sales are dipping with 2e, I hope they release some 5e compatible adventure paths.

I really hope not. Pathfinder works (as much as we know it does) because of their business model and style of game, both of which is very different from D&D. I feel they would have to compromise too much of what I like about Paizo/Pathfinder to make it work for D&D. I wasn't impressed that the Kingmaker (2e) added a 5e bestiary. Felt like they were trying to cash in on the vast D&D player base, and I can't blame them, but that isn't a direct Paizo release and I hope that it has the effect of causing a few more players to look at Pathfinder.

If people like their adventure paths, then I would have thought that they would want to give the game that underpins them a go, rather than just making everything 5e compatible.

 

[AlwaysMerlin]

I look forward to watching another YouTube video from someone using this ranking to declare that Paizo is dying and will soon be bought by WotC.

It is interesting how Paizo seems to be held to the same standard of sales performance as WotC by so many in the industry, but no other rpg publisher is held to that same standard.

 

[eyeheartawk]

I look forward to watching another YouTube video from someone using this ranking to declare that Paizo is dying and will soon be bought by WotC.

It is interesting how Paizo seems to be held to the same standard of sales performance as WotC by so many in the industry, but no other rpg publisher is held to that same standard.

To be fair, outside of WotC, no other RPG publisher runs as large of an operation in terms of product released and number of people employed. Most even mid-tier RPG concerns are at most like, half a dozen actual employees.

 

[billd91]

Honestly, this is a bit of a surprise to me - Cyberpunk rising to #2. Congratulations to R. Talsorian. But I'd be surprised if they hold the position next quarter.

 

[an_idol_mind]

I wouldn't characterize Pathfinder at #3 as a dip, necessarily. More that Cyberpunk got a really nice surge. The industry as a whole is seeing consistent growth, and a video game tie-in must certainly help.