The general population may look back on 2020 as a pretty bad year.
The world was shaken by the COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many businesses to close, people to lose their jobs, and socializing as we knew it to take a vitual turn.
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But 2020 wasn’t all too bad for Dungeons and Dragons, which actually saw its biggest year ever according to its parent corporation, HASBRO.
HASBRO, the entertainment conglomerate and parent of D&D’s own Wizards of the Coast, revealed in its 2021 Investor Event in late February that the TTRPG has been more profitable than ever before.
The Hasbro Outlines Strategic Growth Drivers at Virtual Investor Event Unveils New Segment Reporting document states that revenue was up 33% in 2020, marking an all-time high for the company.
Magic: The Gathering also saw a record year, up 23% in 2020. Wizards of the Coast, as a whole, saw its own revenue hit $813M, and is “approximately halfway to achieving its target of doubling its revenue from 2018 to 2023.”
The uptick in popularity may be due to the inclusion of the game in recent pop culture, including shows like Riverdale, The Big Bang Theory, and Stranger Things.
Actual play shows like Critical Role and Not Another D&D Podcast have also brought the game to a wider audience, which in turn increases the number of players and DMs bringing adventures to their own (mostly virtual) tables.
With two new hardcover books already having been announced for the first quarter of 2021, we’re hopeful that this next year turns out even bigger for D&D.
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