Dungeons & Dragons Confirms 2020 Was Its Top-Selling Year Ever

Wizards of the Coast shared some impressive statistics about Dungeons & Dragons, confirming that 2020 was the most successful year for the game to date. Wizards announced that its Dungeons & Dragons line experienced a 33% year-over-year growth in sales, marking the seventh consecutive year that the game had seen increases in sales. The sales were buoyed by the release of the expansion rulebook Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, which Wizards noted was the most pre-ordered game ever. In addition to the new products, Dungeons & Dragons confirmed that both the Monster Manual and Dungeon Master's Guide saw sales increase from 2019.Additionally, Wizards of the Coast announced that Dungeons & Dragons had a playerbase of more than 50 million players, with 40% of players identifying as female. You can check out the fact sheets released by Wizards of the Coast below:

Dungeons & Dragons was not hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which came with widespread restrictions on even small social gatherings. Wizards of the Coast noted that Dungeons & Dragons reached an all-time peak in search interest in March 2020 and that millions had downloaded the free material from D&D's "Stay at Home, Play at Home" hub that encouraged players to use digital resources in lieu of gathering in person. Additionally, the annual D&D Live event, which moved digitally due to the pandemic, received over 4 million views on various streaming and VOD platforms.

It's likely that 2021 will have even higher sales figures, as Dungeons & Dragons is pushing into mainstream gaming even more. Next month, Tuque Games (a subsidiary studio of Wizards of the Coast) will release the new co-op action brawler Dark Alliance for major consoles and PCs. Additionally, Wizards of the Coast is releasing its first ever D&D-themed Magic: The Gathering set "Adventures in the Forgotten Realms" in July. D&D will also continue its annual events D&D Live and D&D Celebration to help build interest in the game and celebrate the game's community. Notably, G4 is partnering with Wizards of the Coast for this year's D&D Live, bringing the two-day event to an even wider audience.