Links: Gamegrene

Like most devoted hobbyists, I tend to keep track of the industries that support the pastimes that I am so fond of. I know Nintendo's first-quarter earnings (they're ridiculously good BTW), I know the new product lines Trek is introducing, and I can rattle off the many new S&W products designed to retake the law enforcement market. In all my years, though, I never seriously looked at the tabletop RPG economy.

To say the RPG industry is on the downturn is putting it lightly. While in the early to mid-90s RPG sales were on the rise (thanks to White Wolf and a little game called "Vampire: The Masquerade," which drew in both males and females), today's audiences are starting to grow restless. With the immense pressures modern video games and the Internet place on RPG publishers, along with the dwindling fortunes of small hobby shops and even the book-selling industry in general, we're seeing a general folding-up of the tents. Many publishers, like Wizards of the Coast, are scaling back their RPG lines, or moving into the lucrative miniatures or CCG markets. While the monographs and indie RPG publishers might cater to the dedicated fanbase, without a continual influx of new players, role-playing grows stagnant, and everyone suffers.

Hope is not lost, however. I believe face-to-face roleplaying will always have fans, mostly because it's fun to roll those funny little dice around and have some laughs over pizza. A new site I came across discusses these games, and more - Gamegrene.