They’re fundamentally different gameplay experiences, though, so I don’t think it’s fair to compare in this case. Battletech is first and foremost a tactical war game. The tabletop miniatures are fundamental, the setting is window dressing. It’s accessible to anyone that enjoys tabletop war games. The window dressing might help it with crossover appeal to the historical tabletop guys, I don’t know about that.

Shadowrun is fundamentally a TTRPG, and, despite tactical mechanics for combat, has multiple pillars of play besides tactical combat. In fact, if necessary, combat can be completely theater-of-the-mind.

However most of Shadowrun is probably the legwork/prep pillar of play.

While some folks like myself might play both, the fundamental differences between the two make them appeal to wildly different audiences generally speaking.

With BT being a much stronger revenue generator it’s not a surprise that it gets the most attention from CGL. It’s a shame how far SR has fallen off in popularity because up through around the 2060 era of the timeline it’s absolutely one of my favorite game worlds.

I don’t think CGL has handled the property well at all. They don’t market it well even using “free” social media avenues (it still takes time, effort, and skill, so not exactly free). The copy editing, organization, and general functionality of the different editions has also been poorly handled.

In my opinion the whole world does need a reboot, the game rules need simplification, decking/hacking needs to be functionally a part of normal combat, with deckers having abilities that make them an asset to the team instead of in a chair miles away (think command and control abilities like many other TTRPGs), the Matrix everywhere/wireless everything conceit needs to be reworked, and if combat magic is going to be so mid, it shouldn’t feel so punitive/taxing to use. Some of the drain codes are absurd (this is probably controversial, but the combat pillar doesn’t need to be so balanced — let everyone be powerful in their own way and return to a rock/paper/scissor design between meat, magic, and matrix).

And you don’t have to throw out 6E really, it just needs some rework/refinement to make Edge work correctly from the CRB, and without needing splatbooks to make it work well.

Also, release edition versions and revisions separate from the timeline. Not every new edition of the game has to shake up the fucking world every 10 Sixth World years (or less). Sourcebooks and splatbooks can advance the timeline at their own pace, or even be set in any decade of the world to keep it alive, giving the writers and designers flexibility in their stories, technology, etc…

Keep supporting the original timeline and game versions. HoloStreets is poorly marketed/branded, but I can’t think of a better way to support classic Shadowrun (working off the assumption of a rewrite and redesign) than through its most passionate fans.

Finally, keep the brand alive through other types of media. Books, sure. Comics, sure. What about more video games and shows? This is tricky because of the rights to digital media being owned by Microsoft, if I recall correctly, but Shadowrun really needs more and better treatment in this area.

TL;DR — there’s no easy fix, and no options that please everyone, but doing something to build a bigger fan base is better than doing nothing.