https://cannibalhalflinggaming.com/2026/08/20/the-data-on-million-plus-rpg-crowdfunding-campaigns/With regards to RPG crowdfunding campaigns that manage over a million USD in pledges, ~54.2% of the money goes to directly D&D-related (and, more specifically, 5e-related) products. ~39.6% of the money goes to products associated with already-popular IPs (which are not just piggybacking off 5e), and only ~6.2% of the money goes to products that are neither D&D-related nor tied to a preexisting piece of media.A very large portion of all this revenue comes from whales. For example, Neon Odyssey, a 5e setting that aggressively advertised itself across the internet (e.g. YouTube ads), earned 16,139,970 USD across 49,116 backers, for an average of ~328.61 USD per backer. Neon Odyssey convinced 5,503 people to pledge at 999 USD, earning a total of 5,497,497 from those whales alone (and probably more, since 999 USD was simply the pledge floor for them).
I love flying whales, post more, please.Didn't read the post, sorry.
>>98575314It definitely seems that way. These days companies live and die by seducing idiots with no impulse control
>>98575314fuck neon odyssey. there is a huge gap in the market neon odyssey is targeting. but it is dnd 5e and people ate it up. making it unlikelier that an actual effort will be put into a game to fill it
>>98575934Everyone had access to good consumer information and is highly incentivised to be frugal with their discretionary spending (because 80% of people are in a financial crisis and nobody's panicking because the rich guys aren't). It's hard to part people from their money unless they're deranged gacha fuckwits.
>>98576473There is also no education or training on how to be frugal with money, and innumerable systems designed to part people from their money for instant gratification.
>>98576554Formal training? No. People living in financial precarity developing these habits out of grim necessity? Yes.
>>98575314I wonder how many people actually use the 3rd party supplements in their games compared to the people who buy it just to read it on the shitter.
>>98576561It's probably no bullshit about one gamer to a hundred collectors. Across 50 thousand people buying Neon Odyssey, I would be shocked if there were more than 5,000 groups who played it for 2+ sessions. Role Playing is barely even a real hobby.
>>98575314It's nice to see the actual numbers from people voting with their wallets instead of endless squabbling between haters and shills. >Neon OdysseyLooks like safehorny version of Carbon Pink (which was also based on D&D), makes sense there would be demand for this kind of thing - Cyberpunk and Shadowrun rulesets aren't exactly newcomer friendly.
>>98576559The same impulse that causes people to spend on smokes despite not having enough money also causes people to buy RPGs despite the economy.
>>98578758Nicotine?
>>98577371>if there were more than 5,000 groups who played it for 2+ sessionsThis is way, way, way, way, way more than the great bulk of indie RPGs.
>>98577464Fun factGoogle and Yandex are so AI-filled now I can’t find the source of the picture you posted besides it being a Shindol image.What’s your source?
I'm making a plant monster bestiary for D&D 5e. I have homebrew projects but I made a fair bit of money off my other D&D products I sold on DriveThru so why not make more for 5e? It sucks but at least I can build up more of a following for when I do make my own RPG. Question though, should I just finish it and release it on DriveThru, or should I do a Kickstarter so I can afford to do actual art and layout? Do people care much about that? I just tried to make each monster have its own page so you can print out the ones you want to use and have it easy that way.
>>98580224Youkoso Mizuryu Kei Land, Goudoubon, chapter 1.5, page 30
>>98575314>This many fucking names in the credits for a product that isn't even finished yetWhat the fuck. How? No wonder they had to make ten gorillion dollars. This is like the production team size of a AA video game studio.
>>98576473>highly incentivised to be frugal with their discretionary spending (because 80% of people are in a financial crisisIt's so weird to me to read things like this. I don't think of myself as particularly successful--I'm thirty-five years old and still just a staff accountant at a small firm--but I just bought a house last year and have recently been moving some of my savings to a brokerage account. Meanwhile, headlines are informing me that the majority of people my age will never be able to afford a house at all, grocery bills are purportedly spiking, and the overall sense is of imminent catastrophe. I get that it's probably a combination of luck and having popped out of the right uterus, but it is truly bizarre.Granted, I don't back Kickstarters because I'm fully capable of writing my own game material, but I'm over here calling the electrician because I don't like the way the lights are wired in part of the basement while other people are apparently deciding between food and toilet paper.
>>98581682Yes, you're doing pretty well. Congratulations. Thanks for reminding the rest of us.
>>98575314>Blatant advertisement thread>Still up almost 2 days later
