The hobby game market continued its strong momentum from 2011 during the spring season of 2012, according to a recently released report in ICv2's Internal Correspondence #79.  Called "explosive" by one game distributor, and on fire by another, if hobby game growth continues at the current pace it has a strong chance to match or exceed the 20-25% growth rate from 2011 (see "Hobby Games Grow 20-25%").

In addition to growth in existing stores, the number of hobby game stores is growing, as store openings outpace store closings by a strong ratio.  Sales in the mass channel are also growing, powered by strong upticks in two of the three collectible card games that make up the bulk of sales in that channel: Magic: The Gathering and Yu-Gi-Oh!

CCG growth in the hobby channel is being driven by the return of lapsed players of both Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh!, according to the report; as well as continuing improvements in organized play. HeroClix is also doing well, rounding out the top three in the collectible game category.

Board, deckbuildng, and card games are all doing well this year as well, with licenses and the Tabletop YouTube show strong drivers of sales on particular titles.  Miniatures are also trending upward, with Games Workshop turning around after a rough transition to Finecast last year and Privateer growing behind its new larger miniatures.

In the RPG category, Pathfinder is continuing to do well as Dungeon & Dragons slows down in the run-up to D&D Next, the upcoming new edition.  Marvel Heroic Roleplaying from Margaret Weis Productions is a strong new entrant in the category.

For the lists of the bestselling Collectible Games in the hobby channel, in the mass channel, and over-all, click here.

For the bestselling board games in the hobby channel, click here.

For the bestselling card/building games in the hobby channel, click here.

For the bestselling RPGs, click here.

For the bestselling non-collectible miniature games, click here.

For information on how to get the new issue of Internal Correspondence #79, see "ICv2 Releases 'Internal Correspondence' #79."