I think the reason Pathfinder is losing to D&D 5e is because of player entry to play the game. The first issue is name recognition, if you want to play an RPG D&D IS the name people know (we can’t change the name because Pathfinder does have brand recognition but not close to Dungeons and Dragons). The sheer amount of books that are out there for Pathfinder is an issue, if an interested person walks into a store and sees the amount of books the for Pathfinder is a hurtle to start the game (I think that starting a second edition will help with that.) It is interesting that in order to get into D&D 5e requires a person to buy at least two books but actually three books (Players Handbook, DMs guide and a Monster Manual) to run a game and Pathfinder only requires one (the Core Rulebook) and maybe 2 with a beastiary to have a large variety of monsters. That needs be made clear to any that looks at the book as quickly as possible (like on the spine and cover). It is something that differentiate the two games in a big way. The next barrier to entry for Pathfinder is how your competition advertise their game. I think having a free adventure that anyone can play for free without needing anything to play for the first time is likely the reason that WotC announced that D&D has never been more popular. Pathfinder even has an amazing system to build a player base through the Pathfinder Society. I think if Paizo would release a free adventure with characters for new players to be able to join with nothing but the ability to get to the store is smart. If the store advertise this with the Venture Captains and Lieutenants running them on a specified day of the week your player base would grow and it is a great way to test for new Venture crew for the Venture Captains.
