BattleTech is now officially one of the biggest names in tabletop gaming

We don’t often get definitive sales numbers in the world of tabletop gaming, but when we do, it’s because a publisher has something to crow about. Catalyst Game Labs’ BattleTech line had one hell of a 2022… and also a pretty good 2021 and 2019. 2018 wasn’t too shabby either, it turns out. The publisher should have some sales by the middle of summer 2023 at current rates. 9 MillionSince 2015, little plastic mech minis have been created. BattleTechThe next expansion will kick off crowdfunding shortly.

BattleTech began in 1984 with Jordan Weisman and L. Ross Babcock’s miniatures wargame, before morphing into a tabletop role-playing game, a franchise of video games, and a destination pre-VR arcade experience. Catalyst assumed the tabletop gaming line’s reins a few more years later. The game was relaunched in 2015.

“That meant all-new, ready-to-play, high-quality plastics — and completely redesigning the core products to match that quality,” the BattleTechTabletop team blog wrote Jan. “These were a success from the moment they became available in January 2018; advance order sales were so high that we began second printings before the first even got to market. Seventh printing A Game of Armored CombatThe eighteenth printing Starter Box were being loaded on ships at the end of 2022, and once they go on sale there will have been 160,000 copies between these two boxes moved into the market in four years.”

This line has been expanding ever since. First came the ForcePacks — discrete boxed sets of four to six miniatures. Catalyst sold half-a-million of them, along with another 160,000 packs featuring mercenary themes. It is BattleTech: Clan Invasion The staggering $2.5 Million Kickstarter received in 2020 was enough to rank it as one of the 10 highest-funded tabletop gaming platforms that year. Next, the Alpha Strike Gen Con 2022 was the launch of the boxed set. Another 30,000 copies were sold within the first run. The company anticipates that it will have sold approximately 9 million miniatures in 28mm by the end of the summer.

What is the secret to Catalyst’s success? The video gaming industry has a lot to offer. A good relationship with peers is a huge help. Harebrained Schemes’ BattleTech turn-based strategy game remains a fixture on top 10 lists across the video game industry, its lifespan far exceeding even the developers’ own desires, thanks to multiple outstanding fan modifications. Meanwhile, Piranha Games’ MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries Although it had a slow launch, the company has seen success in subsequent expansions. The next entry — Rise of Rasalhague — is due out later this month.

The most important thing is that the companies share resources including artists to make a coherent and consistent mech sculpt set across all its versions. Take a test drive, in either isometric or 1st-person. Buy your car and customize it to your liking.

Catalyst Game Labs

Catalyst also has plans to expand. A Backerkit campaign, according to the company, will allow 50 brand new designs. These include a new range of plastic tanks as well as airborne vehicles. AdeptiCon2023 will host the campaign.

“By any metric, BattleTech is now more successful and more popular than ever before,” Catalyst said. “With the coming Mercenaries Kickstarter and the lead-up to BattleTech’s 40th anniversary, there’s an excellent chance our current staggering success will be eclipsed as BattleTech reaches even more fans.”