WotC WotC President Cynthia Williams Resigns

Parmandur · Apr 19, 2024

mamba said:
Well, I do not know what most CEOs do all day long either, so that tracks, why would we know more about her...

As to the 'WotC red' comment, not sure what she meant there, WotC would have turned a profit either way. I assume it is about D&D profits / revenue not shrinking compared to the previous year, and yes, that is true, you could see that in the annual report. The report showed barely any growth, so without BG3 it would have shrunk.

One of the problems D&D has always had, is that more people playing more doesn't necessarily equal paying more.

Parmandur · Apr 19, 2024

mamba said:
if anything was the cause, it is the VTT to me, 250+ developers cost some real money and while there is no official timeline I am aware of, I cannot help but feel that it was intended to be further along

They were telling people at Pax East in early December that they had intended to launch a public Beta at the event, but were suffering some delays...5 months later, haven't heard anything.

mamba · Apr 19, 2024

Parmandur said:
While technically true, if it hasn't made a measurable impact...not a major ongoing business factor for Hasbro, even if in an ideal world with no mistake they would maybe be doing better.

agreed, if they lost 5% of players but gain 10% of players, they would not really notice, and it is something like that. The players dropping off because of the OGL slowed growth, it was not a noticeable collapse in the player numbers. That is the difference between measurable and no impact I guess.

It is hard for WotC to pinpoint it (not that they would tell us what they found if they could...) and it is impossible for us, so all we have is that D&D did not grow in 2023 while it showed a lot of growth the previous years, the reasons for that are up for grabs

mamba · Apr 19, 2024

Parmandur said:
One of the problems D&D has always had, is that more people playing more doesn't necessarily equal paying more.

true, but I assume that is a pretty static factor, i.e. revenue growth is pretty proportional to more people playing (unless you have some disruptive technology, like people moving from books to DDB or VTT)

On the other side of that medal you have the increase in players not being the same as the number of new players, as some drop out, so your sales are higher than the increase in players would explain

mamba · Apr 19, 2024

Parmandur said:
They were telling people at Pax East in early December that they had intended to launch a public Beta at the event, but were suffering some delays...5 months later, haven't heard anything.

hadn't heard that, but I expected a beta early this year (Pax East would have fit that) with a full public release before the 2024 PHB (with fallback to as much as early 2025 just like the MM). Full public release does not mean final version though, but good enough for a public release.

SlyFlourish · Apr 19, 2024

Mark Craddock said:
“She helped implement Cocks’ Blueprint 2.0 strategy, which narrowed Hasbro’s focus on licensing the company’s most profitable brands and emphasizing digital products as much as possible….That blueprint has not materialized in the way Cocks wanted. The company faces an extremely tough 2023 and laid off 1,100 workersin order to salvage a bump in stock prices at the end of a tumultuous year that saw both the OGL fiasco and the miraculous success of Baldur's Gate 3. We can’t say for sure that Williams’ departure signals yet another new phase within the flagging toy giant or if the Wizards’ president found an opportunity to deploy her golden parachute before things get worse.”

I think Cox is scapegoating her. He promised doubling 2022's profits by 2025. I'm not going to miss her but unless Cox leaves I don't think much will change. I hope I am wrong. I really worry about them bungling the new PHB launch. New magic product is riddled with typos and other QC errors.

The PHB is practically released at this point. I don't think there's much they can do to change things now.

dbolack · Apr 19, 2024

Ruin Explorer said:
I think your views are preventing you understanding, actually. It's just purified and rather outdated cynicism, that might have been semi-reasonable 20 years ago, in a much smaller industry with a much more homogenous fanbase, but now is just not helping you. WotC is not this hated victim that you seem to believe. Nor is it as doomed as you seem to believe.

You seem to have me confused with another entity.

Mark Craddock · Apr 19, 2024

SlyFlourish said:
The PHB is practically released at this point. I don't think there's much they can do to change things now.

My concern is how they will handle the logistics of all of those preorders they are going after with DnD Beyond. Who is handling the shipping once they release? I know that there have been some rough spots with their M:tG Secret Lairs. Its hard enough competing with Amazon as a local game store but when you combine that with free and early access to the DnD Beyond material its going to cut into our sales.

And after dealing with 2 years of some major QC issues and the firing of 2 art directors and a graphic designer I wonder who is left for those inevitable changes at the 11th hour. Maybe it's been sent to the printers?

As a fan and as a merchant whose livelihood has strong ties to Hasbor/WotC I don't have a lot faith left in them especially after the December cuts and what seemed like an indication similar staff cuts could come this year to prop up the stocks again.

Maybe Cynthia is fleeing a dumpster fire? Maybe she's a scapegoat? Maybe she has real issues in her life more important than her career? Either way the last few years have been rough for their fans and partners.

Mark Craddock · Apr 19, 2024

Henadic Theologian said:
Cocks has said nothing but good things about her. And given they have no one yet to replace her suggests she wasn't fired at all, I mean WotC under her was keeping Hssbro afloat, she made unpopular actions, but from the suits POV she made a lot of money until rescently. If Cocks was going to throw anybody under the bus its someone in the toy department, not the most profitable department.

No one wants to say this because its sad, but the suddeness suggests its likely health related, she could be very sick. I hope not, I hope she simply found a job more suitable for her, but we can't ignore the possiblity because its said (I'm no fan WotC under her leadership, but she's still a person).

I honestly hope brighter horizons are ahead for her. If is an emergency I wish her well. Cocks made some big promises and on some leave, IMO, a higher up has to answer for their fallen stocks and the fact they were downgraded. I think it will eventually catch up with him but she is an easy scapegoat because he can claim he had more success in her position.

Honestly? I'd just like a boring release of a 5.5 product. I wish her well in her future and I hope someone will replace Cocks who might steer their IPs in better directions. We will see what happens.

LesserThan · Apr 19, 2024

SlyFlourish said:
The PHB is practically released at this point. I don't think there's much they can do to change things now.

That worked well for Book of Many Things...

WotC WotC President Cynthia Williams Resigns

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