The problem that every one including CGL Shadowrun seems to forget it that TTRPGs are a word of mouth industry.
Both the players and the brick-and-mortar stores being the key salesman, that has change only a little with Drivethru coming into the picture.
Yes, you need to draw in new players to keep the boat afloat, but you need to keep players for these new products to reach the new players.
Having worked at a Tabletop/CCG game store for many years, I can say that there a many new game out there every day.
We had a day set aside per month at the store where the owner, myself and the other manager would comb the Alliance catalog to see what was new.
And truth be told if we had not heard about the items listed we didn't buy them unless one of the demo reps or players brought them up or asked for them.
That said, while you have to bring in new player, your main avenue for doing this are the demo reps or players.
You may get some from Drivethru, but the one paragraph intro is not for the most part going to convince players to buy it unless they have heard about it from the demo reps or players. So keeping the players you have is also important. Brand recognition was also a big part of our sales at the store. If a new D&D, Pathfinder, Shadowrun, Magic, etc. book/set came out we would buy it right away. This was no indicator of the quality of the product, just that the name would sell it. This is an issues that the sales numbers on Drivethru fail to address.
AS for the sales numbers for 6th on Drivethru. I have no doubt that the game appeals to some members of the RPG community, but the ratings for the game speak volumes about the quality of the game. Editing issues, layout, missing or hard to follow rules, contradictory rule, etc..
While, as has been pointed out, a lot of this can be house ruled or figured out if you are familiar with older edition.
This is not a good look for the brand, and brings into question CGL commitment to the line, as this is not a new thing.
While I like 5th edition (being my 3rd favorite), it was littered with these problem from the get-go, showing a disturbing trend with the shadowrun product line in general.
And from what I have seen, a continual trend in the TTRPG and gaming industry in general (quantity over quality).
And for as much as I like Drivetru, I think it has a lot to do with this issues. The ease (in-relative terms to having to reprint) with which companies can put out a product, and get errata to the players through it has IMHO destroyed quality control throughout the industry, not just with CGL. If you need to get the product out to meet a deadline, just do it you can fix it later. This has also lead to this attitude within the gaming community of acceptance of substandard work and the "just house rule it" position.
All-in-all the response by Jason Hardy, calls into question CGL Shadowruns commitment to the product as anything other then a money grab.
While I agree with his point that it is a waste of time to debate players on the finer points of the game (he not going to change my mind about armor or the all or nothing effect system), failing to address the fundamental issues such as editing, layout, missing or hard to follow rules, contradictory rule, etc. is showing a lack of caring about the product. You can say that the errata team is working on it all you want but their track record for this tends to speak for itself (5th edition errata anyone).
This has been an informative discussion so far. There are many things that I previously didn't know about TTRPG development that I know now. I'm also glad that for the most part this discussion has been very civil and people have been respectful of each others views.
Personally I think all of his comments make perfect sense. If I were in his position I might feel the exact same way. Shadowrun is probably one of the top 5 TTRPG IPs in the world right now so the pressure to perform from TOPPS, or whomever might be dictating release dates, is probably very high and comes with an expectation of "fast" profit. Under those conditions I'm not unhappy with the product as it is now with errata coming out over time. I just hope the errata is integrated into the pdf as it is released.
I am sorry to put it this way, but this is a relative observation.
I am not saying you are wrong, but Shadowrun is one of the 5 top TTRPG IP because there isn't a top 10.
IF you look at the list for the most part the top five have been the top five for over 20 years and barring one or two going out of business will probable be the top 5 for the next 20 years.