Web of Webhead

ICv2 is highlighting a year of growth for gaming in 2007.  CMG’s, CCG’s and Board Games are all up, with RPG’s being down.  (In particular, it is noted that the announcement of DnD4 hurt DnD3.5 sales as would be expected, but we could and probably should see an upswing when the new release is out.)

Here are some of the interesting things I picked out of the article.

• CCG’s make 4 times as much money as all Minis.  ($600 mil vs. $150 mil)
• Minis make about 10 times as much as RPGs.  ($150 mil vs. $15 mil)
• Which of course means CCG’s make 40 times! the money of RPGs.
• By way of comparison, though not mentioned in the article, a rough count of World of Warcraft moneys (10 million players x $15 per month) means that WoW alone makes as much money in a month as all Minis sales do in a year, WoW alone makes 3 times as much per year as all CCG’s.  WoW brings in as much as all RPG sales do in a year in about 3 or 4 days.
• Fantasy is still king, with the top two spots of the CCG market claimed by fantasy themes, as well as the top RPG.
• WotC is still king, with top spots in CCG and RPG markets, as well as 2 out of the top 3 in CMGs.
• Board Games are surging, hopefully meaning more CCG/RPG players are getting more well rounded in their gaming hobby.
• Anime titles do well in CCG form.
• Warhammer, strong in minis and rpg both

So there you go, some of my insights on the year.  In particular, 2007 was a year in which my own taste in games grew quite a bit, particularly in the board game realm, matching it seems a trend in that direction.  If you haven’t tried one of those game, I’d encourage you to do so. – B