How many people play miniature games?

[Knightofspades]

Anyone know how many people play miniature games? Skirmish games contra army games?
I play only skirmish games but it seems that army style games are most popular.
Is it only Warhammer who can manage to earn some money on selling miniature games or are like Frostgrave and others earning money too?

[Michi]

Anyone know how many people play miniature games?

My gaming fellows and I used to discuss that topic and made an estimated guess of a few 1.000 gamers per industrialized country, making a total of about 10.000 to less than 100.000 serious miniature gamers on our planet. This could be totally wrong though... 

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

You could make a very rough guess based on the size of companies.

Games Workshop turnover was £118 Million for their year to April 2016.
If GW are 50% of the wargames industry, then the annual sales value is £236 Million.

If the average wargamer spends £200 per year, then you have 1,180,000 active purchasers so possibly 1.5+ milion players.

[Hammers]

You could make a very rough guess based on the size of companies.

Games Workshop turnover was £118 Million for their year to April 2016.
If GW are 50% of the wargames industry, then the annual sales value is £236 Million.

If the average wargamer spends £200 per year, then you have 1,180,000 active purchasers so possibly 1.5+ milion players.

Sounds like a reasonably qualified assumption.

[Conquistador]

Anyone know how many people play miniature games? Skirmish games contra army games?
I play only skirmish games but it seems that army style games are most popular.
<snip>

Armies versus single figure skirmish games is a pendulum I have watched swing since the very early 1970s when I switched from board games to miniatures.

[vodkafan]

If the average wargamer spends £200 per year, then you have 1,180,000 active purchasers so possibly 1.5+ milion players.

 Hi Mick, I don't agree or disagree with your other calculations, but I have spent 4 times the above amount on wargaming already this year, and it's only March...

[Conquistador]

<snip>
Is it only Warhammer who can manage to earn some money on selling miniature games or are like Frostgrave and others earning money too?

Uh, basic business reality is that companies not making a profit of some kind sell off their product to other companies or just flat go out of business.

I see plenty of old companies (Irregular, GZG) continuing and many excellent new firms (Khurasan, Rebel Minis, Splintered Light, Clear Horizon) seeming to be profitable.

Perhaps you need a wider view than just GW?

[Conquistador]

Hi Mick, I don't agree or disagree with your other calculations, but I have spent 4 times the above amount on wargaming already this year, and it's only March...

This, since retiring in December I have peaked above that every month though April will drop I suspect.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

@vodkafan,

£200 was a very rough guess at an average spend. 
I have averaged well over £600 per anum for the past ten years but I think many people spend far less.

Mick

[Conquistador]

@vodkafan,

£200 was a very rough guess at an average spend. 
I have averaged well over £600 per anum for the past ten years but I think many people spend far less.

Mick

We tease a friend that just because he has the poster with GW "chapters" doesn't mean he needs to build them all.  Ooh, shades of Pokémon!

[Duncan McDane]

I think many people are collectors/painters too. And I feel 200 UKP a year is a bit low on the estimate, since we see the inflated prices of miniatures, especially om GW ( 15 pounds for a single 32mm character e.g. ). I spend quite  over 200 UKP each month on the hobby including miniature boardgames on Kickstarter, new miniatures, 2nd hand models and basement bargains and I know more addicts who do so.

[Mick_in_Switzerland]

Does anybody know how many people attend shows such as Tactica, Salute etc?
This may be an indicator.

[Elbows]

I think it's exceptionally tough to establish what a "person who plays miniatures games" is.  There are so many people who dabble, play for a month and quit, or have played in the past but currently don't own anything, etc.

I'd think a couple million world wide are probably current genuine hobbyists.

[Knightofspades]

Lots of interesting inshights here. I like to think I dont spend 200 pounds on miniature games a year but that is probably not true...
I need to cut down. But there is just so much cool stuff!

Perhaps you need a wider view than just GW?

Thats why I am asking . Im happy more companies gets on the field. I think the internet have been a real boon to wargaming outside GW.

Im no Games workshop fan I still remember the purge of 97!   

[Lovejoy]

Uh, basic business reality is that companies not making a profit of some kind sell off their product to other companies or just flat go out of business.

I'm sure that's right in lots of areas of business, but doesn't always hold true for miniatures. There's a lot of small minis businesses doing it for a variety of reasons, and profit is often not among those reasons. They are often subsidised by the owner's 'real job'.

I know from personal dealings, of companies that are run right around the zero-profit level, and are used by the owners as a way to get models they want into production without costing them too much personally. And I know of a few others that are run at a loss, with the losses used to off-set tax from other income.

It's one of the reasons you see such a disparity in pricing across the industry - companies with low prices are often being supported by 'real world' income.