Further growth for hobby games

Hobby Games in North America have grown by an impressive $180 million since 2013 to reach a $880 million in size. The latest report from ICv2 has more details and also divides sales across several categories.

In miniatures, Warhammer 40,000 retains its crown as top seller, followed by X-Wing. The new Imperial Armada joins the charts in a 3rd place, ahead of War Machine and then Hordes from Privateer Press. The Star Wars name is showing its power. Games set in this universe have been released and failed in the past, but Fantasy Flight are showing what the licence can do with a quality system that is well-supported.

The perennial top selling board games, Catan (the new name for Settlers of Catan) and Ticket to Ride remain 1st and 2nd. The new Imperial Assault game is 3rd, and we’ll see whether those sales continue.

In role-playing games, the new edition of Dungeons and Dragons is the top seller. This returns the top franchise in role-playing to the top of the charts, a place it had long lost to Pathfinder. It was a long way back to the top for D&D. Wizards of the Coast engaged the population with public rules development and playtesting that latest for years before releasing a suite of products to the market, including a low cost starter game.

This strategy has paid off, with Dungeons and Dragons again at the top.

Back in the land of miniatures, Games Workshop are trying to address the same problem with the opposite strategy.

Their Warhammer game had failed in the market falling out of the top 5 charts a while back. Recently the company discontinued the existing Warhammer armies and setting to replace them with Age of Sigmar. Unlike Wizards of the Coast though, there was no communication or advanced notice. The range was replaced, new rules were issued online, and a new, premium priced starter set for Age of Sigmar is now in the shops. We shall see how well this strategy works for Games Workshop in the next set of sales charts.