Audio EXP Podcast: #224 – The 2023 wrap-up complete with the most successful new RPG publishers

Welcome home.

This is Audio EXP for the 30th of December, and the episode title is “The 2023 wrap-up complete with most successful new RPG publishers”.

[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #224]

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DR Games is in the Spotlight thanks to votes from Geek Native’s fantastic patrons.

In the interview, Toby tells us future plans for Trade Nations, which will hit the next level in 2024.

Now, this Audio EXP podcast falls in that limbo between the festive holidays and the New Year. Hogmanay is a biggie here in Scotland, and blog coverage has therefore been on those few big news stories.

You’ll hear that reflected in what we have to include in the round-up this week. Also, though, let’s do a recap as we’ve been posting the best selling RPGs and supplements by setting on DriveThruRPG and have more to share.

Last week, we looked at the top three; the blog has the top twenty, but in summary,

At the top of the best selling fantasy RPG is Fabula Ultima Atlas: High Fantasy by Need Games.

Then, best selling sci-fi RPGs published this year is Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay: Imperium Maledictum Core Rulebook by Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.

It’s also the best selling horror RPG.

In modern settings, alternative or otherwise the best seller is the scary Delta Green: God’s Teeth by Arc Dream Publishing.

Last week, we also revealed the best selling historical RPG published this year was M20 Victorian Age Mage by Onyx Path Publishing.

As we look at new-this-week lists, I’ll do the top three on the podcast, and you can find the full 20 on the blog.

In best selling family games, where family means age-appropriate, the top three are;

1. EZD6 Book of Quests by RUNEHAMMER GAMES.
2. ENTITY by Candlenaut.
3. Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game – Republic City by Magpie Games.

Then, in best selling miscellaneous RPGs the top three are;

1. Mythic Game Master Emulator Second Edition by Word Mill Games.
2. Fabula Ultima Atlas: High Fantasy by Need Games.
3. Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine by Chaosium.

Yeah, that means an engine for solo RPGs outsold the top fantasy game.

It’s not all DriveThruRPG, though. The best selling community content on the Dungeon Masters Guild are;

1. Monster Manual Expanded I | Roll20 VTT Compendium by Dragonix Books.
2. Fall of Vecna by Marc Altfuldisch.
3. Manual of the Planes by Andrew Welker.

We also have the best selling Pathfinder titles and broke the rules for feedback. A large number of these titles had lots of authors so rather than sticking to the data as provided, we expanded it to mention everyone.

For the podcast, though, I’ll just name the books;

1. Archetypes+ 
2. Barbarians+ 
3. Magus+ .

Spot the trend!

In previous years, I had to respond to people who didn’t like the Creative Commons art I used to accompany these lists, so I switched to AI art a few years ago. This year, oh no, I switched back despite not previously having had a complaint.

Alas, no plan survives reality, and the Creative Commons art I found of two vampire lovers, for which I duly credited to the artist, was done with AI and eagle-eyed readers noticed a six-finger hand. This year, we, therefore, tried to avoid AI art and got appropriate complaints about it anyway.

Here are the top three AI-free, best-selling community content titles on the Storytellers Vault.

1. Dark Eras: Requiem for Rome 2nd Edition 
2. The Autarkis Storyteller 
3. Vampire: Age of the Living Gods 

Lastly, and I promise this is the last, are the new publishers on DriveThruRPG.

New in this case is defined as not being on DriveThruRPG before, and you’ll see why that’s important as I list the top three.

1. MCDM Productions.
2. CA Taylor.
3. Jake House.

So, congrats to Jake House and CA Taylor; you’ve had products that have sold well.

MCMD are new to DriveThruRPG, and I’m sure they’ve had ups and downs in 2023, but the smash hit of The MCDM RPG will surely end the year on an upper.

There are other RPG headlines, though, and I think the Organised Play Foundation securing tax-free status is a big one. You might know them best from Pathfinder, but their first commercial partner is Evil Genius Games. That’s the company suing Netflix over Rebel Moon.

The EGO program means Evil Genius will be providing material and gamers will get easy access to Everyday Heroes content.

It’s not all RPG lists, though, Fenn and Bronwen made 8 of the best new festive films to watch over the holidays.

We confirmed that Bronwen likes her strong tag and horror. We also discovered that new contributor Fenn likes his romcoms! Well well!

In bundles, there are psychological horror and tragedy RPGs from The Gauntlet with Trophy Dark and Trophy Gold.

In Humble, Evil Genius have their cinematic adventures for Everyday Hero, all of them, on offer so that’s games like Kong, Highlander, Pacific Rim and Total Recall.

An expensive offer is the Lost Adventures of Garycon, the Limited Edition from Wizard Tower Games. It’s worth looking at Tim Kask’s book, as some money from the module goes to help Rach Tenkar pay medical bills.

Lastly, with thanks to Bronwen for doing most of the heavy lifting, Geek Native published a look back at 2023.

It’s true. I got Geek Native a black mark at Facebook by subtitling a Macross Plus anime review ‘Men are Idiots’ because the men were being idiots. We even appealed and lost.

On that note, prepare for food and see you next week. Wait. No. See you next year.