Roll20 today has staked out a serious claim to be the world’s most popular virtual tabletop. It’s just celebrated hitting 5 million users.
It’s been a growth story from the 2012 Kickstarter in which Nolan T. Jones, Richard Zayas and Riley Dutton shared the browser-based system that let them keep roleplaying together despite moving to different parts of the USA.
Two years ago, Roll20 passed the 3 million members mark and so to hit 5 million, so soon afterwards indicates growth is accelerating.
It’s not just Dungeons & Dragons that members can play on Roll20, although the quarterly reports from the parent company, The Orr Group, shows that D&D 5e dominates.
The growth of the platform has, of course, encountered both publishers and groups of gamers too it. Compared to last year, there are now 30% more official characters sheets today, and that indicates how diverse the options on the platform are.
Re-written dynamic lighting
Virtual tabletops are becoming a competitive marketplace, and one area in which Roll20 competitors have tried to pull away is in dynamic lighting. Dynamic lighting means the map reveals itself as and when the virtual characters on the desktop move around.
Today, Roll20 has announced a total system rework of Dynamic Lighting. The changes will make their system faster and more streamlined and, importantly, help ensure Dynamic Lighting is as compatible with future updates to the platform.
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