The 2024 Player's Handbook just became the fastest-selling D&D book in history

[EDIT: The news from Wizards of the Coast specifically used the term "product" (not "book") when describing the new Player's Handbook as the fastest-selling product in D&D history. There's some legalese behind the definition of book. Suffice it to say, a lot of people are looking at the thing, most of them on D&D Beyond, even if what we're looking at on D&D Beyond can't be considered the sale of a book because we haven't bought the book, we've only paid for a licence to view a book for as long as we're D&D Beyond subscribers. - RK]

Well well, look what just became the fastest-selling book in Dungeons & Dragons' 50-year history: The D&D 2024 Player's Handbook. Here at Gaming Nexus, it's unlikely we've covered any video game more thoroughly than we covered the new Player's Handbook. Those three months of coverage culminated in our 9 out of 10 review. We summarized it by saying:

The D&D 2024 Player’s Handbook introduces incremental updates and refinements to the familiar 5e system, enhancing clarity and detail across its extensive content. While it maintains backward compatibility, it brings new features like revised spells, updated subclasses, and an attempt at improved character sheets, and is chock full of fresh artwork and streamlined rules from cover to cover. Character creation remains complex, but the handbook’s enhancements and artistic brushstrokes are a refreshing experience for both new and seasoned players. Overall, it’s a thoughtful update that makes such a beloved game feel new again.

Publisher Wizards of the Coast knew it was going to be a big seller, so they printed three times more 2024 Player's Handbooks than they'd printed of original 5e Player's Handbooks in 2014. The gamble paid off. According to Wizards of the Coast, after printing 3x the number of books, they sold 3x the number of books. Good work, sales prognosticators, even if the real numbers aren't disclosed to the public.

Wizards of the Coast has snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Only a year and a half ago, the company fell under fire for a leaked revision of D&D's Open Gaming License (OGL). That's why you still only hear the word "debacle" follow "OGL" during discussions of D&D and license agreements. 

But look how far they've come. "The World's Greatest Roleplaying Game" is popping champagne with its shareholders today. 

Here's a fun detail I just noticed about the 2024 Player's Handbook alternate cover: It would be right at home on the "Sunday funnies" comic page of any newspaper in 1974—alongside characters like Charlie Brown, The Wizard of Id, and Alley Oop.

Being a celebration of D&D's 50th anniversary, this adorable scene is perhaps a revisionist ideal of D&D's '70s art style. But it's in keeping with the spirit of how much D&D has evolved in those 50 years, while still making it apparent how much is the same, since the original game, in its original form, which was just that good from the start.