State of the Tabletop Industry – Spring 2016
All the industry distributors have released this quarter’s gaming winners and losers. Come see who’s King of the Kill!
ICV2 recently released thier quarterly distributor & retailer sales reports on the tabeltop industry. The information they report is from distros and retailers across the United States. Here’s the basics on the report:
ICv2 has announced the release of ICv2’s Internal Correspondence #90, which is distributed to the trade by Alliance Game Distributors, Diamond Comic Distributors, ACD Distribution, GTS Distribution, Southern Hobby Supply, AAA Anime, Bookazine, Esdevium, other distributors, and is also available directly from ICv2.
Internal Correspondence #90 covers the hobby game and comics and graphic novel (including manga) markets.
Now let’s dive into Spring 2016 with the following segments:
Miniatures Wargames
| Top 5 Non-Collectible Miniature Lines – Spring 2016 | ||
| Title | Publisher | |
| 1 | Star Wars X-Wing | Fantasy Flight Games |
| 2 | Warhammer 40K | Games Workshop |
| 3 | Star Wars Armada | Fantasy Flight Games |
| 4 | Warmachine | Privateer Press |
| 5 | Star Trek Attack Wing | WizKids |
RPGs
| Top 5 Roleplaying Games – Spring 2016 | ||
| Title | Publisher | |
| 1 | Dungeons & Dragons | Wizards of the Coast |
| 2 | Pathfinder | Paizo Publishing |
| 3 | Star Wars | Fantasy Flight Games |
| 4 | Shadowrun | Catalyst Game Labs |
| 5 | Fantasy / Dragon Age | Green Ronin |
Board Games
| Top 10 Hobby Channel Board Games – Spring 2016 | ||
| Title | Publisher | |
| 1 | Star Wars Rebellion | ANA / Fantasy Flight Games |
| 2 | Pandemic | Z-Man Games |
| 3 | Catan | ANA / Catan Studio |
| 4 | Dead of Winter | Plaid Hat Games |
| 5 | Ticket to Ride | ANA / Days of Wonder |
Industry Size and Growth Trends:
“The largest category, collectible games, grew 14% from $550 million to $625 million, the lowest percentage growth of any category, but the second largest dollar growth.
Hobby board games, now firmly established as the second largest hobby game category, grew 56%, from $160 million in 2014 to $250 million in 2015.
Non-collectible miniature games grew 40%, from $125 million in 2014 to $175 million in 2015.
The fastest growth rate was for hobby card and dice games, which added a digit and grew 75% to $105 million in 2015, up from $60 million in 2014.
And the smallest category, roleplaying games, grew 40%, from $25 million in 2014 to $35 million in 2015.”
Advertisement
In the wargames market, X-wing has clawed it’s way to the top, with a #1 spot, up from it’s #2 spot last year (see chart below) Warhammer 40K has slipped to #2 perhaps for the first time ever. FFG (with Armada), Privateer and Wizkids round out the top 5.
In RPGs, the regulars have found stability with Green Ronin making it into the top 5.
In the highly competitive BoardGame again we see Asmodee North America dominating with three spots in the top 5, with recent distribution acquisition of Catan, Ticktet to Ride and smash hit Star Wars Rebellion.
Taking a look at last year’s numbers what we are seeing here is a expansion of Asmodee North America into leading positions in almost every market. They hold leading or multiple spots in all segments and are expanding into even more. It’s not all on the backs of Star Wars, as shrewd moves to acquire distribution rights for favorites such as Catan further increase their reach. If I had to pick the companies in the industry to consider the three big players at this time it would be Asmodee North America, Games Workshop, Hasbro.
Miniatures Wargames Spring 2015 (last year)
| Top 5 Non-Collectible Miniature Lines – Spring 2015 | ||
| Title | Publisher | |
| 1 | Warhammer 40k | Games Workshop |
| 2 | Star Wars X-Wing | Fantasy Flight Games |
| 3 | Star Wars Armada | Fantasy Flight Games |
| 4 | Warmachine | Privateer Press |
| 5 | Hordes | Privateer Press |
~What non-wargames do you play with your buddies? Have at it!
