Reasons for WOTC's layoffs

mhensley · Mar 15, 2002

It seems pretty obvious what is causing all the layoffs at WOTC. Three words - collectable card games.

Go to your local toystore and look for the stacks of Pokemon cards that on sale for 70% off. Take a look at the stacks of Pokemon adventure games that are currently selling for $1.99. Now, ask any of the kids in the store if they play the Harry Potter ccg. I bet they answer you with a blank stare. Ok now try to find some MTG cards. Oops, you can't because they don't sell them in most toy stores anymore.

I would bet that WOTC's profits are way, way down compared to when Hasbro bought them. The success of their rpg lines today are just a drop in the bucket compared to what they used to make on MTG and Pokemon.

Of course, putting their seal of approval on crappy computer games like Pool of Radiance doesn't help much either.

Cerubus Dark · Mar 15, 2002

mhensley said:
It seems pretty obvious what is causing all the layoffs at WOTC. Three words - collectable card games.

Hehe, I am glad someone else said this before me. Although I use to play Magic the Adiction before they over expanded the hell out of it.

As for as Pokemon, well I would rather have my brain sucked out of my head than play that. But hopefully we won't see a drop in the quality of D&D products as a result of this "minor" set back by WoTC.

Chronosome · Mar 15, 2002

Hahaha.... No offense, really...

But how can you be sure?

Florin · Mar 15, 2002

Well, my youngest cousin, who is in 9th grade now, I think, used to collect Pokemon cards. He never actually played the game, but he liked to collect them. Now, he's moved onto actually playing Magic. I was very surprised that he brought a couple of decks with him to the family Christmas party. I then pulled out my shoebox of cards and proceeded to whip him.

It was really cool to watch his eyes get as big as saucers over my Chronicles stuff. It was nice to play with him, though, because it was the first time I'd played in like 2 years. So, thank you WotC for giving me something to share with my little cousin.

Umbran · Mar 15, 2002

mhensley said:
It seems pretty obvious what is causing all the layoffs at WOTC. Three words - collectable card games.

It seems pretty obvious. It even seems reasonable. But we don't actually know anything. We can sit here and speculate until we are blue in the face, but it won't actually mean anything.

Wolfspider · Mar 15, 2002

We can sit here and speculate until we are blue in the face, but it won't actually mean anything.

But it's still fun.

Zander · Mar 15, 2002

My guess is that Hasbro is taking over WotC (they already own it, but it had some autonomy before). Eventually, when profits from CCG's turn into losses, they'll liquidate WotC - and the RPG division with it.

Umbran · Mar 15, 2002

Wolfspider said:
But it's still fun.

Yes, it can be fun. I engage in a bit of it myself, now and then.

But, as they say, it's all fun and games, until someone loses an eye.

Look at what Zander just wrote - more speculation. But getting somewhat more alarmist, suggesting that this is the beginning of the end for WotC.

People are sometimes not so smart - they listen to enough speculation, they decide it's likely true. They make decisions and plans. People sometimes change their behavior based upon hearsay. And people have been putting forth a lot of hearsay over the past day or so...

My point isn't that we should stop thinking about the recent history of WotC. Just that it is important that we keep a distinction between what we know, and what we suppose.

King_Stannis · Mar 15, 2002

Zander said:
My guess is that Hasbro is taking over WotC (they already own it, but it had some autonomy before). Eventually, when profits from CCG's turn into losses, they'll liquidate WotC - and the RPG division with it.

sorry zander, but this type of speculation does no good at all. besides, if the profits from the CCG's turn into losses, why would they liquidate their RPG line, which was doing quite well the last i knew? why wouldn't they just get rid of the CCG lines and keep the RPG lines (so long as they remained profitable?)

Wolfspider · Mar 15, 2002

My point isn't that we should stop thinking about the recent history of WotC. Just that it is important that we keep a distinction between what we know, and what we suppose.

Well said.

We don't know very much at all, truth be told, and because of those nasty NDAs everyone signed, we're not likely to know anytime in the future either.

I guess we'll just have to suffer in silent ignorance.