D&D 5E Xanathar’s Guide to Everything is the fastest-selling Dungeons & Dragons book of all time
hawkeyefan
Legend
I find it funny that people “explain” the book’s success by pointing out that the book appeals to a wide variety of players and DMs, is the first major addition in an otherwise limited expansion, and is likely to be bought as a gift because of being released near the holidays.
It’s almost like the WotC team considered all this when they planned the book...
It’s almost like the WotC team considered all this when they planned the book...
I consider the success of this one particular book to be evidence against Wizard's planned limited release schedule.
There are more players than DMs.
Few players buy all of the adventure paths.
Not even all DMs buy adventure paths (many of those like me write their own material)
Players want books that give them options.
XGtE gives them options, so they buy it.
If WotC released more books with options for players they would sell more books.
XGtE shows me that WotC is producing too many of the books less people want, and not enough of the books that they do want.
They are losing sales, and thus their limited release schedule is a bad plan.
There are more players than DMs.
Few players buy all of the adventure paths.
Not even all DMs buy adventure paths (many of those like me write their own material)
Players want books that give them options.
XGtE gives them options, so they buy it.
If WotC released more books with options for players they would sell more books.
XGtE shows me that WotC is producing too many of the books less people want, and not enough of the books that they do want.
They are losing sales, and thus their limited release schedule is a bad plan.
ad_hoc
(they/them)
WotC are looking at the big picture and the long haul.
They want to reach out to more players and sell more core books.
Creating bloat in the game and running the edition into the ground won't do that. They've learned their lesson.
I can handle 1 option book a year but that is my limit. I'm sure it is true of many others.
The last thing WotC wants is for 5e to be intimidating to new players. And their model is working. Sales are phenomenal.
ad_hoc
(they/them)
It's $30 on Amazon, that is the price everywhere else needs to compete with.
"Retail" price is a thing of the past.
Right, they'd sell more supplements, which would have a diminishing return on revenue but a linear increase in production costs.
With the current strategy, they're selling more PHBs which have a fixed minimal production cost because it's already written.
And there's evidence that too many supplements drives away new players -- players who they need to buy those PHBs. Basically, increasing supplement production would cannibalize PHB sales. Wizards would be spending money to write books that take away sales of books that are already written.
This is how we wound up with 3.5: Wizards needed to prompt all the current players to go out and re-purchase the PHB/DMG/MM only 3 years after release. Now, instead of 5.5, Wizards puts out Xanathar's (which is kind of like 5.5) and all the current players go out and buy it. The big difference is that 5E core is still intact so it's much less likely to fracture the player base or undermine the existing third-party supplement market. This keeps new player growth healthy, which keeps PHB sales up.
Wizards has always been a PHB company. Supplements were always seen as just a marketing plan to sell PHBs. This was the driving force behind the OGL and the d20 license: a way to allow third-party publishers to bear the cost of this marketing material. Now, because of live streaming and Adventurer's League, there's not as much pressure on current players to rope in new players. So Wizards doesn't need to spend as much pleasing current players with supplements, and can afford to make the game itself welcoming to new players, who will buy the PHBs.
Ok, diminishing returns are still more returns than they get for not producing books and not getting those returns.
Let's say production cost equals X
And let's say the PHB returns 100X
Maybe XGtE returns 90x
And maybe SCAG returned 70x
Let's pretend that the next options book only gets 50X
The next one 40X, and then 30X and 20X and then it plateaus at 20X for others.
Now maybe those extra books turn away a few new players and that drops the PHB down to 90X or even 80X.
Maybe the other high seller's drop a little too.
In the end you are still selling many multiples more books to the players that you do have than if you didn't produce them at all.
In the end I attribute any growth in D&D's popularity (which I am just accepting as truth despite my own contrary experience) more to YouTube and virtual table-top gaming than I do to "making fewer books means better sales". That sounds more like a lie that Hasbro feeds us to justify their lack of confidence in the IP and unwillingness to risk more by investing in a real plan to grow the hobby. It sounds ridiculous, "we are going to give you less so that you appreciate it more". The popularity of XGtE just shows me that they are failing to meet the full potential of the demand for this game. They are leaving money on the table.
Everybody keeps citing 3.5e as an example of how not to develop an edition. I disagree. Sure, they could have done a better job avoiding power-creep and limiting some of the really exotic combinations, but they produced a lot of books that did very well for them, so well that when they abandoned it for 4e another company (Paizo) picked up the pieces and produced a clone that sold even more books with the same rules (Pathfinder).
Let's say production cost equals X
And let's say the PHB returns 100X
Maybe XGtE returns 90x
And maybe SCAG returned 70x
Let's pretend that the next options book only gets 50X
The next one 40X, and then 30X and 20X and then it plateaus at 20X for others.
Now maybe those extra books turn away a few new players and that drops the PHB down to 90X or even 80X.
Maybe the other high seller's drop a little too.
In the end you are still selling many multiples more books to the players that you do have than if you didn't produce them at all.
In the end I attribute any growth in D&D's popularity (which I am just accepting as truth despite my own contrary experience) more to YouTube and virtual table-top gaming than I do to "making fewer books means better sales". That sounds more like a lie that Hasbro feeds us to justify their lack of confidence in the IP and unwillingness to risk more by investing in a real plan to grow the hobby. It sounds ridiculous, "we are going to give you less so that you appreciate it more". The popularity of XGtE just shows me that they are failing to meet the full potential of the demand for this game. They are leaving money on the table.
Everybody keeps citing 3.5e as an example of how not to develop an edition. I disagree. Sure, they could have done a better job avoiding power-creep and limiting some of the really exotic combinations, but they produced a lot of books that did very well for them, so well that when they abandoned it for 4e another company (Paizo) picked up the pieces and produced a clone that sold even more books with the same rules (Pathfinder).
ad_hoc
(they/them)
This sounds like you are out of the loop on both sales figures and Hasbro's happiness with how well D&D is doing.
RPG sales have skyrocketed since the release of 5e. Splat books won't grow the hobby. They will just cater to the few who are really into splat books while alienating the typical gamer.
I know people who play D&D whose engagement in geek culture consists of D&D and a few board games. For them it's primarily a social time to get together with friends.
If WotC only caters to the long converted the hobby won't grow.
Then there is the contingent of people who have reached RPG fatigue. I thought I was finished with new D&D when 4e came out. Then 5e brought me back, but a ramped up cycle would probably lose me again.
ad_hoc
(they/them)
RPG sales in US and Canada in 2013: $15 million. Spring 2014 (just before 5e) D&D sales out of top 5 in RPGs.
https://icv2.com/articles/games/view/29326/hobby-games-market-hits-700m
RPG sales in US and Canada in 2016: $45 million. Hobby games sales doubled since 2013, RPG sales tripled. RPG sales showed the greatest increase in hobby game sales over 2015.
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/38012/hobby-games-market-over-1-4-billion
https://icv2.com/articles/games/view/29326/hobby-games-market-hits-700m
RPG sales in US and Canada in 2016: $45 million. Hobby games sales doubled since 2013, RPG sales tripled. RPG sales showed the greatest increase in hobby game sales over 2015.
https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/38012/hobby-games-market-over-1-4-billion
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