The 45-year anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons marked 2019 as the hobby's most successful year yet. In its long history, the game has never been so popular or so central within pop culture as a whole. With its player base growing and appearances popping up all over traditional media and streams alike, this legendary roleplaying game has captured a new generation and broken firmly into the mainstream.
What is it about the fifth edition of the game -- it's current iteration -- that has helped elevate it to new heights of fame and glory? Let's take a look.
New Pop Culture Stewardship
One reason for 5e's rise is that the nerds have taken over. D&D has been around for so long that the kids who started playing with earlier editions have grown up to become the shapers and stewards of pop culture. Current ambassadors of the hobby like Matt Mercer of Critical Role and Dan Harmon of Rick and Morty played in a time when D&D was far more niche but their experiences eventually led to ideas that have, in turn, sparked the imaginations of Millennials and Gen Z alike who don't view the hobby as being too "uncool" or niche to get into.
Since 5e was released in 2014, D&D has also shown up in South Park, Stranger Things, Community, and even a team-up with Stephen Colbert. This illustrates not only that being a D&D fan is trendy now, but it also implies that there is a ton of money to be made from cashing-in on nerd culture. Critical Role raised over $11 million for an animated version of its campaign on Kickstarter, with Amazon Video picking it up for a 24-episode run soon after. This is great for nerds in general as bigger companies with bigger budgets are incentivized to produce more nerd culture, further normalizing and popularizing it in a positive cycle. This upward trend is bringing D&D 5e not only to hardcore gamers but to general audiences. Unlike it's predecessors, 5e stands accepted as mainstream.
Inclusivity
Both the marketing behind D&D and the society in which it exists have evolved for the better in recent years. One of the most hopeful pieces of data released by Wizards of the Coast (pictured below) is that a growing 39% of players identify as female. It's also encouraging to see that the company now tracks other/non-binary folks, too. D&D, along with the rest of nerd culture, has long-been lesser for its exclusivity and barriers to entry toward non-cis men. Although there is still a gap and thus room for improvement, the efforts of Wizards to be mindful of inclusion in book art, adventure design and Twitch streams can also be attributed to the rise in 5e's popularity -- at least 50% of potential players now feel more welcome than ever to roll their first dice.
Good Game Design
While some of D&D's current popularity can be attributed to pop culture exposure, it can't be discounted that 5e is also just a damn fine role-playing game system. No other edition has ever been able to provide such a flexible and comprehensive set of options for players to get into the game. 5e is fun to play, streamlined and well-balanced but, more importantly, it's new-player friendly.
Newcomers to tabletop RPGs might eventually try another system with more math-crunching but most players will get their first taste today with D&D 5e. In comparison to previous editions, 5e has a greater focus on narrative storytelling, enriched player characters and an accessible rules system -- it feels like a true synthesis of game design.
Wizard of the Coast has done well to embrace D&D's renewed popularity with creators and its presence across non-traditional media like YouTube and Twitch. With eyes to increase its expansion into 5e video games and streaming services, along with new gamebooks, D&D doesn't look to slow down any time soon. Few games ever made can brag about the longevity that is enjoyed by D&D, and it's well-deserved. It's heartening to see it still being discovered and still growing in 2020.