Zine events are done, which means it's time for big-huge crowdfunders to sweep in again (as though they were even really taking a break during February). Check out the raw data for March and let's dive in.
- 267 campaigns
- 31 Backerkit
- 1 Gamefound
- 235 Kickstarter
- $10,661,503.30 raised
- $3,489,278.13 on Backerkit
- $23,469.04 on Gamefound
- $7,148,756.13 on Kickstarter
- Types of campaigns
- 18 accessories
- 1 Actual Play
- 47 adventures
- 2 advice
- 1 audiobook
- 12 campaign settings
- 1 fundraising
- 1 LitRPG
- 1 magazine
- 1 'offload'
- 4 reprints
- 86 supplements
- 87 systems
- 5 zines
- 124 distinct systems used (58 original)
- 66 campaigns (24.72%) used D&D 5E and raised $2,250,503.58 (21.11% of all money raised in March)
- 54 campaigns used AI in some form (20.22% of total) and raised $374,649.11 (3.51% of all money raised in March)
- 27 of these were D&D 5E campaigns, accounting for 40.91% of all 5E crowdfunding campaigns
- Campaigns were based in 20 different countries
- Top 3: 148 in USA, 39 in UK, 20 in Italy
- Singleton countries: Denmark, Hong Kong, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan
- (Kickstarter is taking a some strong geopolitical stance in its designation of what gets the 'country' treatment it would seem)
Backerkit's March
- Pumpkin Spice - A Magical Cozy RPG by Acheron Games ($1,531,175.72 from 10,948 backers)
- Numenera: The Amber Archive by Monte Cook Games ($767,026 from 3,880 backers)
- Blades '68 by Evil Hat ($507,901 from 6,667 backers)
- Legends of Akeroth - JRPG Inspired TTRPG by Crossed Paths Press ($272,032.53 from 1,543 backers)
- Castles & Crusades Adventurers Spellbook REFORGED! by Troll Lord Games ($107,081 from 1,090 backers)
Gamefound's March
Kickstarter's March
- Dragonbane Trudvang – The Legend Returns by Free League ($1,144,797.64 from 5640 backers)
- Monsters & More! A Nimble TTRPG Reprint & Expansion by Nimble Co. ($1,065,804 from 6277 backers)
- Altheya: The Dragon Empire – A High-Fantasy 5E Setting by Roll & Play Press ($934,715.49 from 5845 backers)
- Temeraire: The Roleplaying Game by Magpie Games ($514,632 from 4022 backers)
- Ariadne's Book of Legends - D&D beyond 20th level! by Ariadne's Codex of Strings ($410,051 from 3330 backers)
March 2024 vs 2025 vs 2026
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign count | |||
| Backerkit | 21 | 34 | 31 |
| Kickstarter | 232 | 254 | 235 |
| Money pledged | |||
| Backerkit total | $939,594.09 | $1,918,365.98 | $3,489,278.13 |
| Backerkit average | $44,742.58 | $56,422.53 | $112,557.36 |
| Backerkit median | $15,100.00 | $4,654.00 | $6,684.00 |
| Kickstarter total | $4,897,291.24 | $2,283,379.13 | $7,148,756.13 |
| Kickstarter average | $21,109.01 | $8,989.68 | $30,420.24 |
| Kickstarter median | $2,956.05 | $2,320.09 | $2,373.00 |
| AI | |||
| Campaign count | 34 | 47 | 54 |
| Money pledged | $152,318.82 | $399,981.45 | $374,649.11 |
| D&D 5E | |||
| Campaign count | 69 | 73 | 66 |
| Money pledged | $1,918,554.37 | $815,507.09 | $2,250,503.58 |
In every sense (money raised, number of successful campaigns, etc.), March was an unmitigated success for TTRPG crowdfunding. Despite a slight decrease in the number of March 2026 campaigns compared to last year, both Backerkit and Kickstarter saw massive increases in the money pledged to projects that they hosted. Things are looking up! There's not even a 'but' coming!
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No seriously! Just good stuff this month! No but!
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Okay, but...I'm still not wild about how much a 'successful' month depends on there being a handful of individually successful crowdfunding campaigns. I've talked before about the remarkable stability of the money pledged to the median campaign, and this is both a blessing and a curse.
There are two different pieces of conventional wisdom that should impact this measurement:
- A rising tide raises all boats: the presence of hugely successful projects should drive eyes to the platforms they're hosted on and benefit other creators
- This town ain't big enough for the both of us: the presence of hugely successful projects will take away money and attention from smaller creators
Are either of these things happening? The median money pledged stat suggests that they aren't (or that if they are, they're canceling each other out). When money comes in for big projects, it seems to largely stay in those projects. When big projects aren't happening, people who turn out for them seem to largely stay home.
What does this mean for people seeking to launch projects? Wellllllllllll...it's hard to draw any definitive conclusions, but it seems that you don't need to be all that concerned about some big project coming in and taking all your thunder. For better or worse, you're probably going to raise the money you're going to raise. The bigger question is how running alongside some behemoth project is going to affect you psychologically, as your ability to relentlessly self-promote has at least some impact on the ultimate outcome. If you get discouraged because it feels like the air is getting sucked out of the room, that's likely going to matter a lot more than the 5E splatbook du jour raising $200K in .5 seconds. Not to say that there is no material impact there, just that there's probably less than you might think.
This of course all has yet to be put to the statistical test, so stay tuned for whenever that comes.
