March TTRPG Crowdfunding Retrospective

For an overview of my methodology, please refer to my original November post. The only things that have been added this time around are some median metrics for various variables (campaign type, platform, AI campaign performance).

As always, the raw data are available for you to peruse at your leisure.

The big picture statistics:

• 267 campaigns
• 21 Backerkit
• 14 Crowdfundr
• 232 Kickstarter
• $5,866,948.48 raised
• $939,594.09 on Backerkit
• $30,063.15 on Crowdfundr
• $4,897,291.24 on Kickstarter
• Types of campaigns
• 20 accessories
• 73 adventures
• 1 advice
• 10 campaign settings
• 2 fundraising campaigns
• 66 supplements
• 93 systems
• 2 zines
• 129 distinct systems used (81 original)
• 69 campaigns (25.84%) used D&D 5E and raised $1,918,554.37 (32.70% of all money raised in March)
• 34 campaigns used AI in some form (12.73% of total)
• These campaigns raised $95,239.73 (1.62% of all money raised in March)
• 15 of these were D&D 5E campaigns, accounting for 21.74% of all 5E crowdfunding campaigns

Backerkit's March

The top 5 TTRPG campaigns were:

1. Adventures On the Purple Planet...and Beyond! by Goodman Games ($294,820 from 1,859 backers)
2. Dagger in the Heart by Rowan, Rook, and Decard ($219,802.07 from 2,575 backers)
3. Battlezoo Ancestries: Classic Creatures for 5E and Pathfinder 2e by Roll For Combat ($90,435 from 993 backers)
4. The Bird Oracle by Shing Yin Khor ($83,902 from 913 backers)
5. Perfect Draw! A Card Game Anime Roleplaying Game by Double Summon Games ($45,161.01 from 1,413 backers)

March was a respectable showing for Backerkit, bringing in just under $1 million dollars. Over a third of that ($380,505) can be attributed to Goodman Games' Purple Planet event, combining 9 projects across 8 publishers into one big push for funding. This is, by all accounts, quite successful overall, with all 9 projects getting fully funded and then some. Certainly it was most successful for Goodman Games, which received 85.85% ($326,680) of the money, raising the question: who's getting the best deal from this arrangement? The other participants are presumably much smaller than Goodman Games and benefitting from the increased exposure that a larger company can give them, but Goodman Games receives the lion's share of the money. I'm absolutely not suggesting impropriety here (that could only happen if Goodman Games was demanding some kind of licensing fee for participating in this event, which is not happening), but it makes me wonder: what is the best way to collaborate across artists and companies? Do smaller creators benefit most from working with other similar-sized creators, or from riding the drafts behind a larger entity?

Crowdfundr's March

The top 5 TTRPG campaigns were:

1. Bahía Gris, un juego en solitario de pesca y enigmas con un toque de horror by ¡Rol o Barbarie! ($6,789.61 from 452 backers)
2. No-Tell Motel: A Single Player Murder Mystery RPG by Ken Lowery ($5,425 from 192 backers)
3. Beth and Angel Make a Campaign by Beth and Angel ($3,297 from 177 backers)
4. Teldramir: The Northern and Southern Stillwilds by Adam Ma ($3,125 from 60 backers)
5. Random Realities: 60+ oracle results on every single page to aid any solo RPG! by Cezar Capacle ($1,934.72 from 97 backers)

Crowdfundr closes out March still riding the end of ZineMonth, albeit pretty successfully. Bahía Gris is the big winner here, but barely scratches the money made by some of the lowest-funded campaigns on other platforms. Still, it's really interesting that a campaign leading with a Spanish title tops the chart here considering how much English-speakers dominate the TTRPG crowdfunding sphere. We also have some RPGLATAM projects successfully funded this month with Random Realities and From Midgard to Eternity, both solo TTRPG projects.

Kickstarter's March

The top 5 TTRPG campaigns were:

1. Legend in the Mist RPG by Amít Moshe / Son of Oak Game Studio ($855,686 from 8,156 backers)
2. The Tomb of Gyzaengaxx: Adventure & Campaign Setting by Gooey Cube ($635,750 from 2,964 backers)
3. Veil of the Eternal Night - Gothic Horror for 5e & MythCraft by Grant Mielke ($454,638 from 2,803 backers)
4. Vampire: The Masquerade - CHAPTERS (Definitive Edition) by Flyos Games ($392,676.74 from 3,953 backers)
5. The Map Library – A Huge Box Set of RPG Battle Maps by Roll & Play Press ($340,838.58 from 3,028 backers)

The top 5 campaigns on Kickstarter in March are interesting, as it's mostly well-established systems that are making more money than the biggest campaign from February. We're probably still seeing the knockdown effects from ZineQuest/ZineMonth with larger indie campaigns (Legend in the Mist excepted) perhaps not having launched until the beginning of March and thus likely to end sometime in April.

That said, the average Kickstarter campaign raised more money in March ($21,109.01) than in January ($11,435.03) or February ($11,487.04) while the median campaign raised less ($2,956.05 vs $4,190.04 and $3,701.65, respectively). I'll be very curious to see how these numbers compare to April's, by which time any ZQ/ZiMo effects should be well and truly over.