Fantasy Grounds published some interesting stats for the year to date, up to the end of Q3 2019 and they reveal what games people are playing there.
Fantasy Grounds is desktop software that acts as a virtual tabletop allowing you to play games like Dungeons & Dragons with friends (or strangers) online. The stats are crystal clear; it’s D&D 5e that people overwhelmingly play.
CoreRPG and MoreCore are two different classifications for Fantasy Grounds provided generic templates. Gamers use these when the right character sheets, etc, for the game they want to play aren’t available.
At a glance, D&D’s dominance is clear.
Pathfinder 2e (PFRPG2) is on a dramatic rise in the last two months after officially being released. Star Wars and Starfinder (SFRPG) are the only two sci-fi titles and Call of Cthulhu the only horror. GURPS and the Cypher System can, of course, be anything they want.
If we discard CoreRPG and MoreCore and apply some helpful SUMIF statements, we can add up the totals for each of the RPGs owned by different publishers. Let’s credit PEG with all Savage Worlds games to keep this straightforward.
Wizards of the Coast’s dominance is even greater. Perhaps that’s not surprising. Fantasy Ground’s demographic may skew towards the younger and newer players, and surely they’re more likely to be playing 5E. The unexpected twist might be the strong performance of AD&D, which gives titles like Star Wars a run for their money.
Fantasy Grounds is not the only virtual tabletop provider. The main competitor and market leader are Roll20. Their stats show a similar leader, but some different runners and riders. Meanwhile, the likes of Astral and potentially significant Talespire are yet to release any stats.
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It pains my heart to see the lazily built 5th edition of D&D monopolizing the market and destroying the hobby in the process.