GEN CON ATTENDANCE AND FAKE STAFF
The figures are in, this year’s Gen Con had a whopping 50,000 unique attendees over the last weekend’s event. This is the “true” first post-pandemic Gen Con and so numbers were significantly up on the rescheduled 2021 show. However, this year’s attendance is down 25% on the pre-pandemic figures. Despite this, the con was a huge success with many of the exhibitors reporting strong sales and a high level of interaction and enthusiasm.
Unfortunately, the convention was marred somewhat in the run-up to the gates opening as some attendees found themselves being racially and or sexually harassed via email and text by people claiming to be event staff. GenCon was quick to respond when these messages were reported to them, assuring those affected that they and their staff were not involved at all and that they do not store phone numbers. It seems that those targeted were identified and targeted through Twitter and via nefarious means their contact details were captured.
DIANNA JONES WINNERS
The 2022 Dianna Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming was given to Ajit George (co-lead designer and author of D&D Journeys Through the Radiant Citadel). Ajit is a prominent advocate in the gaming community for the inclusion and representation of minority individuals and has worked in this area via his non-profit for greater diversity not just in the games themselves but also within the companies that produce them.
Other nominees for the award included:
• Across PRGSea by Momatoes; initially a hashtag and then a website and newsletter promoting game creators from Southeast Asia.
• Haunted West by Darker Hue Studios; is an epic weird west RPG with a focus on marginalized people and a more truthful account of the ‘Old West’
• Mothership by Tuesday Night Games; is a completely original sci-fi horror RPG which grew into a large and highly interactive community.
ENNIE AWARDS
Thirsty Sword Lesbians picked up two gold awards at this year’s ENnie Awards ceremony held during Gen Con. Published by Evil Hat Productions, Thirsty Sword Lesbians was voted as Game and Best Product of 2022. Winning gold for Best Adventure was a D&D 5E compatible module Uncaged Goddesses and Wanderhome took gold for Best Family Game.
Probably all worth checking out if you need to mix up your RPG nights.
HOBBY GAMES SALES UP
According to ICV2, Hobby Games Sales in 2021 were up 33% from 2020 to $2.69 billion despite the huge supply chain issues the industry and many others faced. All areas of the industry were up with, collectable games at the fore.
Board Games were up with both classic evergreens, such as Catan continued to perform well and new evergreens like Wingspan continued to exceed expectations.
RPGs saw substantial growth, driven mainly by online gaming. Notably, although D&D was a forerunner in this category, “micro-lines” were also doing extremely well.
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