GURPS Market Share?

CaseMajor · 10-10-2007, 09:05 AM

Gang,

Has anyone ever attempted to figure out what percentage of the tabletop role-playing game market GURPS controls?

I mean, I'm certain that D&D is far and away the market leader, but is GURPS a clear #2? If not, then who is? Where does GURPS' position in the market fall, and what percentage of the TTRPG market does it command?

If anyone knows, please post! I'd be curious to know!

Moonsword · 10-10-2007, 09:13 AM

It's probably d20, then the various Storyteller systems, and then GURPS and Hero duking it out for third place, I'd imagine.

cmdicely · 10-10-2007, 09:52 AM

IIRC, there is (or used to be, at least) an industry magazine that did this based, presumably, on surveys of shops; IIRC, D&D/d20 was pretty consistently #1, and the next three were usually Palladium, WoD, and GURPS, most often in that order. At least, from the times people posted the rankings to various fora that I saw.

thastygliax · 10-10-2007, 10:27 AM

As Kenneth Hite once explained in an old "Out of the Box" column, there are such rankings, but the statistics used are highly suspect. That year, D&D was the clear leader, with WoD next, and Green Ronin, SJ Games, and a couple other publishers at the top of the vast list of (to paraphrase) "everything else, each of which has a share smaller than the probable margin of error."

Maz · 10-10-2007, 06:14 PM

It's also highly dependent upon area. The local shop only buys one of each GURPS book because they do not really sell... but they got rows and rows of D&D and WOP.

jspade · 10-10-2007, 09:27 PM

And here I thought this was going to be a suggestion for a mercantile-campaign-themed book.

demonsbane · 10-11-2007, 12:35 AM

I don't know about market ratings, but currently it seems to me -putting aside d20 dominance- the fashion now is going for Rules Lite & Non-Crunchy & Cinematic & Fast Action Paced...arf... arf... systems.

You know: BESM, Savage Worlds... And if they want a realistic combat system in a RPG, they play The Riddle of Steel.

It seems a lot of people likes shining, simple and new things. I guess that makes these systems escalating in that RPG market rating.

NorthSaber · 10-11-2007, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demonsbane

I don't know about market ratings, but currently it seems to me -putting aside d20 dominance- the fashion now is going for Rules Lite & Non-Crunchy & Cinematic & Fast Action Paced...arf... arf... systems.

I've noticed this too - Star Wars Saga edition is one example, and the new 4th edition of DnD seems to be taking a more simplistic direction as well. To me Saga at least seems funny as it tries to simultaneously be simpler than vanilla d20, but also attempt a free-form character building system. It's obvious that it's a midway product, where the concepts are being tested but not really fully realized.

Greg 1 · 10-11-2007, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by demonsbane

I don't know about market ratings, but currently it seems to me -putting aside d20 dominance- the fashion now is going for Rules Lite & Non-Crunchy & Cinematic & Fast Action Paced...arf... arf... systems.

You know: BESM, Savage Worlds... And if they want a realistic combat system in a RPG, they play The Riddle of Steel.

It seems a lot of people likes shining, simple and new things. I guess that makes these systems escalating in that RPG market rating.

My impression is that these items are hot right now among vocal internet geeks but that the general fashion is still for crunchy rules. I see a lot of online fuss about BESM, Savage Worlds and Riddle of Steel, but I don't see much shelf space devoted to them in games stores. On the other hand, going by what is said online, it would be easy to think that everyone hates crunchy Palladium, but the kids keep buying it.

Jürgen Hubert · 10-11-2007, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaseMajor

Gang,

Has anyone ever attempted to figure out what percentage of the tabletop role-playing game market GURPS controls?

I mean, I'm certain that D&D is far and away the market leader, but is GURPS a clear #2? If not, then who is?

The various incarnations of the Storyteller system, most likely.

Quote:

Where does GURPS' position in the market fall, and what percentage of the TTRPG market does it command?

My personal estimate is that GURPS probably has a market share of 3% or so, but maybe I am optimistic.

10-10-2007, 09:52 AM	#3
cmdicely Join Date: Aug 2004	Re: GURPS Market Share? IIRC, there is (or used to be, at least) an industry magazine that did this based, presumably, on surveys of shops; IIRC, D&D/d20 was pretty consistently #1, and the next three were usually Palladium, WoD, and GURPS, most often in that order. At least, from the times people posted the rankings to various fora that I saw.

10-10-2007, 10:27 AM	#4
thastygliax Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Lexington, KY	Re: GURPS Market Share? As Kenneth Hite once explained in an old "Out of the Box" column, there are such rankings, but the statistics used are highly suspect. That year, D&D was the clear leader, with WoD next, and Green Ronin, SJ Games, and a couple other publishers at the top of the vast list of (to paraphrase) "everything else, each of which has a share smaller than the probable margin of error." __________________ Tim Emrick / my blog: Studded Plate / my gaming site: Thastygliax's Vault

10-10-2007, 06:14 PM	#5
Maz Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Denmark	Re: GURPS Market Share? It's also highly dependent upon area. The local shop only buys one of each GURPS book because they do not really sell... but they got rows and rows of D&D and WOP.

10-10-2007, 09:27 PM	#6
jspade Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Top of the deck	Re: GURPS Market Share? And here I thought this was going to be a suggestion for a mercantile-campaign-themed book. __________________ [][] C. Lee Davis © 2014 C. Lee Davis, some rights reserved

10-11-2007, 12:35 AM	#7
demonsbane Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Spain —Europe	Re: GURPS Market Share? I don't know about market ratings, but currently it seems to me -putting aside d20 dominance- the fashion now is going for Rules Lite & Non-Crunchy & Cinematic & Fast Action Paced...arf... arf... systems. You know: BESM, Savage Worlds... And if they want a realistic combat system in a RPG, they play *The Riddle of Steel. It seems a lot of people likes shining, simple and new things. I guess that makes these systems escalating in that RPG market rating. __________________ "Let's face it: for some people, roleplaying is a serious challenge, a life-or-death struggle."* J. M. Caparula/Scott Haring "Physics is basic but inessential." Wolfgang Smith My G+

10-10-2007, 09:05 AM	#1
CaseMajor Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Beaumont, TX	GURPS Market Share? Gang, Has anyone ever attempted to figure out what percentage of the tabletop role-playing game market GURPS controls? I mean, I'm certain that D&D is far and away the market leader, but is GURPS a clear #2? If not, then who is? Where does GURPS' position in the market fall, and what percentage of the TTRPG market does it command? If anyone knows, please post! I'd be curious to know!

10-10-2007, 09:13 AM	#2
Moonsword Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Georgia	Re: GURPS Market Share? It's probably d20, then the various Storyteller systems, and then GURPS and Hero duking it out for third place, I'd imagine.