What MCDM Productions does

MCDM Productions is a privately held tabletop RPG publisher founded in 2017 and headquartered in Irvine, California, with a team of 14 employees. The company operates two principal product lines: its proprietary Draw Steel fantasy RPG system (launched 2024) and a catalog of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition supplements, including the ARCADIA monthly digital magazine (published from January 2021 through July 2023), the Flee Mortals! monster book, Kingdoms & Warfare, Strongholds & Followers, and character class supplements. The Draw Steel system is built on novel mechanics including the Malice system (escalating director abilities), dynamic terrain objects, montage rules for non-combat challenges, and negotiation rules, all designed to be equally fun to play and to run as a Game Master. The accompanying Draw Steel Codex is a Steam-based digital platform offering custom maps with dynamic lighting, multi-level environments, character creation tools, and battle soundtracks, with digital dice add-ons sold as additional purchases.

The business is anchored in a direct-to-consumer e-commerce model via a Shopify storefront (shop.mcdmproductions.com), supplemented by an FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store) retail program that extends into independent game stores. Products are sold as PDFs, hardcovers, and bundled packages, with pricing ranging from $9.99 for digital content to $134.99 for premium hardcover-plus-Codex bundles. Marketing is community-led, leveraging founder Matt Colville's established YouTube 'Running the Game' series, an active Discord server, and a Patreon following, with Black Friday sales events driving peak conversion. The customer base consists of tabletop RPG players and Game Masters globally, with no enterprise or B2B anchor customers disclosed. Disclosed funding rounds, revenue figures, and ownership structure are not available in the source data.

Name

MCDM Productions

Legal name

MCDM Productions

Website

https://shop.mcdmproductions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MCDM Productions is a privately held tabletop RPG publisher selling the proprietary Draw Steel fantasy RPG system and D&D 5e supplements through a direct-to-consumer Shopify storefront, serving individual players and Game Masters globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Tabletop RPG Publishing

NAICS

Book Publishers (51313), Book Publishers (513130), Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (45912), Doll, Toy, and Game Manufacturing (33993), Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers (459), Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Hobby Games & Miniatures Retail (Tabletop RPGs, Wargaming) (CRALAFAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Tabletop RPG Miniatures & Terrain (CRALAKAD), Miniature Gaming Accessories (Dice, Mats, Tokens, Measuring Tools) (CRALAKAL), Miniatures Games & Tabletop Skirmish Games Retail (CRALALAH)

Keywords

• Tabletop RPG publishing
• Role-playing game systems
• D&D 5e supplements
• Fantasy tabletop games
• Digital VTT platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Irvine, CA

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Physical Book Sales: Sale of hardcover RPG books including Draw Steel Heroes, Draw Steel Monsters, and D&D supplements like Flee Mortals! and Kingdoms & Warfare. Sold as standalone products or bundles with PDF versions.
2. Digital PDF Downloads: Sale of PDF versions of rulebooks, adventures, and supplements. Digital products are delivered via Fileflare after checkout. All digital sales are final.
3. ARCADIA Digital Magazine Subscription: Monthly digital magazine for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, sold as individual issues ($3.99-$9.99) or as a complete bundle of issues 1-30 ($119.70). Published monthly from January 2021 through July 2023.
4. Draw Steel Codex Add-ons: Digital dice and add-ons for the Draw Steel Codex platform (digital dice themes like Sea of Stars, Soulkiller, Llianar, Zodiakol, Terran Steel priced at $4.99 each). Requires Steam account connection.
5. Apparel Sales: Sale of branded T-shirts and apparel items.
6. Miniatures Sales: Sale of tabletop miniatures including the Jagged Edge Hideaway Goblin Box ($124.95).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MCDM Productions publishes tabletop RPG content, including the proprietary Draw Steel fantasy RPG system (core rulebooks, adventure modules, character classes, and the Draw Steel Codex digital platform on Steam) and Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition supplements (rulebooks, monster books, and the ARCADIA monthly digital magazine). Products are sold as PDFs, hardcovers, and digital bundles through the company's Shopify storefront, with additional revenue from miniatures, branded apparel, and digital dice add-ons.

Product overview

MCDM Productions is a tabletop RPG publisher offering two distinct product lines: their proprietary Draw Steel RPG system and D&D 5th Edition supplements. Draw Steel is a complete action-oriented fantasy RPG featuring Draw Steel Heroes (character creation), Draw Steel Monsters (enemy compendium), the Draw Steel Codex digital platform for online play, and various adventure modules including The Delian Tomb, The Red Road, and The Condemned. Their D&D 5e offerings include the ARCADIA monthly digital magazine (30 issues from 2021-2023), supplements like Flee Mortals!, Where Evil Lives, Kingdoms & Warfare, and Strongholds & Followers, plus character classes like The Illrigger and The Talent. Products are sold as PDFs, hardcovers, and digital bundles through their Shopify-based store.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Draw Steel RPG System Action-oriented fantasy tabletop RPG system designed to be both fun to play and fun to run, featuring tactical combat where characters build heroic resources during battles.
• Draw Steel Heroes Core rulebook containing all rules for creating heroes and running combat, including character options, ancestries, treasures, downtime projects, negotiation rules, and montage test mechanics.
• Draw Steel Monsters Monster rulebook featuring hundreds of statblocks across dozens of monsters with self-contained abilities, dynamic terrain objects, and the Malice system for game masters.
• Draw Steel Codex Digital Platform Digital online platform for playing Draw Steel with friends, available via Steam. Includes tools for custom maps with dynamic lighting, multiple levels, character creation with custom icons and battle soundtracks.
• The Delian Tomb - Start Here Adventure for Draw Steel Starter adventure for Draw Steel based on Matt Colville's classic adventure, expanded and updated with step-by-step tutorial for players and directors. Includes starter rules, pre-generated heroes, the five-room dungeon, town of Broadhurst, and sandbox wilderness area.
• The Red Road - Quest for Draw Steel Quest for 2nd-level heroes, designed as a one to two session monster-of-the-week style adventure. A mystery in the village of Asher leads heroes on a race through the woods.
• The Condemned - Adventure for Draw Steel Adventure for 3rd-level protagonists set in a maximum security prison. Players create new villain protagonists for this high-stakes mission adventure.
• Flee, Mortals! The MCDM Monster Book Comprehensive monster book for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition, available in hardcover and PDF formats.
• Where Evil Lives: The MCDM Book of Boss Battles Supplement for D&D 5th Edition focusing on boss battle design and encounters.
• Kingdoms & Warfare Hardcover supplement for D&D 5th Edition covering kingdom management and warfare mechanics.
• Strongholds & Followers Hardcover supplement for D&D 5th Edition covering stronghold construction and follower management.
• ARCADIA Digital Magazine Monthly digital magazine for D&D 5th Edition featuring articles on character options, spells, adventures, monsters, and game mechanics. 30 issues released from January 2021 to July 2023.
• Jagged Edge Hideaway Goblin Box Physical miniature product featuring goblin figures for tabletop gaming.
• Crack The Sun T-Shirt Branced apparel item featuring Draw Steel branding.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of hours of testing and polish invested in Draw Steel system development
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature6 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Free League Publishing: Swedish tabletop RPG publisher of original systems (Mörk Borg, Tales from the Loop, The One Ring 2e) with hardcover production values comparable to MCDM's Draw Steel and D&D 5e premium products.
• Paizo: Publisher of Pathfinder and Starfinder tabletop RPGs, with a comparable mix of hardcover rulebooks, adventure paths, digital tools (Pathfinder/Starfinder Society), and direct-to-consumer retail. Paizo is the closest direct competitor to MCDM's combination of proprietary RPG system plus adventure and supplement publishing.
• Kobold Press: Independent tabletop RPG publisher that went through the same OGL disruption as MCDM and subsequently launched its own Black Flag / Tales of the Valiant RPG system. Highly comparable in size, channel model, and migration strategy.
• Green Ronin Publishing: Independent tabletop RPG publisher of Mutants & Masterminds, Fantasy AGE, and other original systems, with a similar DTC e-commerce model and D&D-adjacent product positioning.
• Chaosium: Independent tabletop RPG publisher (Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest) with original IP and a direct-to-consumer catalog of hardcovers, PDFs, and adventure modules, comparable in scale and product mix to MCDM.
• Goodman Games: Publisher of Dungeon Crawl Classics and creator-owned tabletop RPG content with a similar hardcover-plus-PDF product mix and a strong hobby game store presence, comparable to MCDM's FLGS retail program.
• Pelgrane Press: Publisher of GUMSHOE-system RPGs and D&D supplement content, comparable to MCDM's blend of original-system design and 5e publishing, with similar DTC distribution.

Emerging players

• Critical Role / Darrington Press: Darrington Press launched the original Daggerheart RPG system, directly comparable to MCDM's Draw Steel as a creator-led, community-driven alternative to D&D with a digital play platform.

Others

• Foundry Virtual Tabletop: Self-hosted VTT platform with a strong third-party marketplace for game systems; it is the closest comparable to Draw Steel Codex in product category and competes for the same digital play budget.

Broad incumbents

• Wizards of the Coast: Publisher of Dungeons & Dragons, the dominant fantasy tabletop RPG, and owner of D&D Beyond. MCDM's D&D 5e supplements and class options are built on WotC's IP, and Draw Steel competes directly with D&D in the fantasy RPG category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubemcdm.gg/youtube
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mcdm-productions

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MCDM Productions