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.

 

[Marc Radle]

My understanding is based on what a number of game developers said at the time. WotC pulling the plug on 3.5 left them in a terrible position. Everything they had been working on was now worthless. Distributors were had no interest in products that supported a game that was no longer in production, Paizo’s adventures included.

The OGL producers considered whether to switch to 4ed, but the GSL was so slow in coming out that even had they really wanted to, they couldn’t afford to risk investing in it (as the GSL might turn out to be too restrictive). So they were left in a bind. The OGL was at that point completely worthless. The GSL wasn’t out yet. It looked like they’d need to just give up and hope they could (maybe) rebuild when the GSL finally came out.

But then Paizo came up with an alternative. The Distributors would buy product for a dead game - so Paizo just created a new one. It was a massive risk, but obviously it paid off.

But one thing that Paizo learned from this was that they never wanted to be in a position where their product was tied to something another company could kill at short notice. I believe it was one of the stated reasons they didn’t make 4ed compatible material (despite high demand).

The OGL was what ALLOWED Paizo to create Pathfinder as essentially the evolution of 3.5. The OGL saved the company and allowed Paizo to become the top RPG company for a number of years, until 5E came out. It absolutely was a risk, but without the OGL, Paizo could never have released the Pathfinder RPG.

The OGL was very much not worthless - it was pure gold for Paizo

 

[TrippyHippy]

But Shadowrun is a "veteran", with decades of experencie and Starfinder is a (relatively) beginner. Shadowrun has been adapted into videogame some times. Even some written novel was published decades ago. But how many languages has been translated the last edition?

Starfinder is perfect for the fandom who love to create a homebred smash-up version of their favorite franchises. I only miss rules for mind-uploading and digital inmortality after buying my Eclipse Phase RPG. As brand has got a lot of possibilities to be remembered in the future. We have to remember Spelljammer wasn't a true smahs-hit for its age. If WotC wants to publish a new edition of Star-Frontiers/Star*Drive they should be worried about Starfinder as potential rival.

I don’t think that WotC wants to publish a new edition of Star-Frontiers/Star*Drive any time soon, because it would be pretty insignificant for them. That is bluntly, the same level for Starfinder as a point of comparison.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Here we could agree because if I was Hasbro I would rather to recover the licence of Star Wars, or get other famous title, but now Star Treck and others are taken. Do you remember when Fantasy Flight Games published the last sourcebook for Star Wars RPG? Other reason, and maybe more important, is Disney doesn't want Hasbro to launch a potential rival for their own franchise. In the past Disney broke with Mattel because they didn't want Ever After High was a potential rival for the princesses' franchise.

 

[macd21]

The OGL was what ALLOWED Paizo to create Pathfinder as essentially the evolution of 3.5. The OGL saved the company and allowed Paizo to become the top RPG company for a number of years, until 5E came out. It absolutely was a risk, but without the OGL, Paizo could never have released the Pathfinder RPG.

The OGL was very much not worthless - it was pure gold for Paizo

That the OGL provided the solution to Paizo’s problem doesn’t change the fact that it was what created the problem in the first place. And yes, it was very much worthless until Paizo took a massive gamble on it. That’s not a situation they want to be in again.

 

[Staffan]

That the OGL provided the solution to Paizo’s problem doesn’t change the fact that it was what created the problem in the first place. And yes, it was very much worthless until Paizo took a massive gamble on it. That’s not a situation they want to be in again.

The OGL was not the cause of Paizo's problems, at least not in immediate terms (one might argue that the OGL had something to do with the creation of 4e which is what lead to the mags being canceled, but I'd call shenanigans on that too). Pre-Pathfinder, Paizo pretty much didn't use the OGL because they had a direct licensing agreement with Wizards of the Coast to publish Dungeon, Dragon, and assorted accessories. It wasn't until they lost the magazine licenses that they turned to the OGL in order to create the Pathfinder adventure paths and eventually the RPG.

 

[Parmandur]

The OGL was not the cause of Paizo's problems, at least not in immediate terms (one might argue that the OGL had something to do with the creation of 4e which is what lead to the mags being canceled, but I'd call shenanigans on that too). Pre-Pathfinder, Paizo pretty much didn't use the OGL because they had a direct licensing agreement with Wizards of the Coast to publish Dungeon, Dragon, and assorted accessories. It wasn't until they lost the magazine licenses that they turned to the OGL in order to create the Pathfinder adventure paths and eventually the RPG.

The magazines were probably doomed on ROI grounds no matter what happened, sadly.

 

[darjr]

The magazines were probably doomed on ROI grounds no matter what happened, sadly.

The subscriber list was solid gold though. It was a part of their success post WotC.

I kinda don’t understand why they don’t use that more for Kickstarters. That’s a great post-magazine way.

 

[Parmandur]

The subscriber list was solid gold though. It was a part of their success post WotC.

I kinda don’t understand why they don’t use that more for Kickstarters. That’s a great post-magazine way.

Might be somewhat outdated now? They may still do so for newsletters, etc.

 

[darjr]

Might be somewhat outdated now? They may still do so for newsletters, etc.

They turned it into their subscriber list for the adventure paths. I’d bet a good big chunk of those are still subscribing.

 

[Jaeger]

The OGL was not the cause of Paizo's problems, at least not in immediate terms (one might argue that the OGL had something to do with the creation of 4e which is what lead to the mags being canceled, but I'd call shenanigans on that too). Pre-Pathfinder, Paizo pretty much didn't use the OGL because they had a direct licensing agreement with Wizards of the Coast to publish Dungeon, Dragon, and assorted accessories. It wasn't until they lost the magazine licenses that they turned to the OGL in order to create the Pathfinder adventure paths and eventually the RPG.

This is truth. if anything the OGL helped them when WOTC sored a series of own goals by screwing up the 4e GSL so badly.

If WOTC had been Johnny on the spot with the 4e GSL, Paizo would have been a 4e adventure path company.

And without a clone to hammer away at 4e sales, and make people at Hasbro crack the whip on WOTC; the current RPG landscape might be a bit different environment than it is now.