WotC Hasbro CEO Chris Cox, "I would say that the underlying thesis of our D&D business is all about digital,”

[darjr]

Again from the discord.

—-/-////———-

I'm not sure exactly what the licensing deal is, but it sounds like BG3 is also going to be profitable for WotC:

[Cocks saying] And just to kind of put in financial perspective, we will likely make more money on Baldur's Gate 3 than we have made on all of our film licensing for the last five to ten years combined. So it's not only a great brand win. It's a great financial win for us, and I think it's a heavy focus of the company moving forward.

 

[Zardnaar]

"Under monetized".

They've lost way more money than TSR ever did. They can just afford to absorb it.

 

[Clint_L]

Sly Flourish says “imagine losing three billion dollars. That's three thousand million dollars That's losing twenty three D&D Beyonds.”

Imagine thinking they lost three billion dollars on that deal. Sly Flourish is not exactly a business analyst. Pepa Pig alone has generated more than that in sales since the deal was done.

 

[Reynard]

Anyways the faux D&D that is Baldur’s Gate 3 by all reports is really good. And popular. And probably already on it’s way to make more money and may already be on its way to having more time played.

Than D&D.

It is really great, and has the potential to make TTD&D better.

 

[Scribe]

They are talking about customer acquisition strategies - Cocks is saying that they are hoping that Baldur's gate 3 will be an on-ramp for the many more people who play computer rpgs but don't play TTRPGs, and that is a route to growth of D&D as a brand

They would be negligent if they didn't. I said this in one of the BG threads. Minsc is still referenced, hell there has been Baldurs Gate references for decades.

BG1 set the stage for a ton of people, and BG3 should be seen as a launch pad for the next 15 years of D&D assuming Wizards can actually capitalize.

 

[Oofta]

Anyways the faux D&D that is Baldur’s Gate 3 by all reports is really good. And popular. And probably already on it’s way to make more money and may already be on its way to having more time played.

Than D&D.

Most video game adaptions are going to tweak things a little bit. It's not quite standard D&D but it's close enough to give you a feel for a real game.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

It doesn’t mean the death if the game as an analog medium.

There is a part of me that hopes the analog part of the game moves out from under the corporate view anyway.

That is never going to happen since the IP of the tabletop game is the basis for all the digital stufff. I do not believe that we well see any change in the pen and paper formats in the near to mid term future and my basis for that belief is Wizards ultimate response to the OGL wrangle. If they really wanted to kill the pen and paper game they would not have walked back on the effort to kill the OGL.
I also would not be surprised to hear that pen and paper game growth is tapering off.
If they want a big digital presence then they are going to have to create it. D&DBeyond and the VTT will bring some growth to the tabletop game but the big bucks are video games, merch, tv and movies.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Anyways the faux D&D that is Baldur’s Gate 3 by all reports is really good. And popular. And probably already on it’s way to make more money and may already be on its way to having more time played.

Than D&D.

Baldurs Gate is really good I would recommend.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

From the discord, good points and maybe a clarification of the Chris Cox quote.
————-////
This is the full quote in context (source: Hasbro (HAS) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript | The Motley Fool)

They are talking about customer acquisition strategies - Cocks is saying that they are hoping that Baldur's gate 3 will be an on-ramp for the many more people who play computer rpgs but don't play TTRPGs, and that is a route to growth of D&D as a brand

I cannot see the vast majority of the video game crowd playing pen and paper D&D. Some definitely will but even in the egame arena CRPGs are a bit of a minority sport. That said, my YouTube feed is currently full of gamer channels that said they would never play a turn based game praising Baldur's Gate.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

They would be negligent if they didn't. I said this in one of the BG threads. Minsc is still referenced, hell there has been Baldurs Gate references for decades.

BG1 set the stage for a ton of people, and BG3 should be seen as a launch pad for the next 15 years of D&D assuming Wizards can actually capitalize.

Descent in to Avernus is referenced.