Time to update your resumes!

[TikkchikFenTikktikk]

Looking at Hasbro's earnings call transcript and the 10-Q they filed with the SEC today, it's clear that anyone working on WotC's "digital initiatives" should have their resume in order.

Here's a choice quote from the 10-Q:
“ The increases in gross profit were partially offset in the quarter and fully offset in the six months by increased operating expenses, primarily increased product development as a result of increased investment in the Company’s digital initiative related to its Wizards of the Coast subsidiary, and higher royalty expense resulting from increased sales of entertainment-based products. ”

Hasbro is closely partnering with EA to create digital games across all product lines and just about every platform available. EA is the gorilla of digital gaming, and generally knows what they are doing. They put playable games on the market that make money.

The initial focus is on getting their "Family Game Night" games digified. But I hope they bring some expertise to the WotC products.

The “not invented here” syndrome infests WotC. It costs Hasbro and their shareholders money and delivers inferior product for their customers and fans. Gleemax, Magic: the Gathering Online, and Dungeons & Dragons Insider are all the obvious examples.

IMHO, WotC should have partnered with EA, or another studio, years ago. (Yeah, there have been Magic games before. Those weren't the result of a partnership, but of a licensed production).

 

[Scribble]

I don't know how telling that is... In the other statement they mention that their earnings have been good eniough as of late that rather then just hand out big dividend checks to everyone, they're instead re-investing part of that money into the company.

 

[TerraDave]

Right, if I was just going to rush to judgement...

To get the nod for the cost of the DDI, but not the sales of D&D (WotCs only possitive mention is Dual Masters doing well in Japan)...that would seem like a bad thing.

 

[Halivar]

Agree fully with OP. The very concept of DDI made me groan at its announcement. Delivering high-quality on-line gaming content is not exactly an unexploited opportunity: the internet is saturated with it, and only the best rises to the top. Combine this with the fact that WotC is a PnP/CCG company and not an internet gaming juggernaut, and you have the inevitable end of Gleemax/DDI. They should have partnered with people from the beginning that have experience dominating in this field. EA certainly would have fit this bill.

That said, this only affects me insofar as it affects the print-side of 4th Edition, which is where all my gaming money is going right now.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Too much reading of tea leaves here. Very bold conclusions are being drawn from very sparce information.

 

[Mouseferatu]

Too much reading of tea leaves here. Very bold conclusions are being drawn from very sparce information.

So, JADOTI, then?

(That would be "Just Another Day On the Internet.")

 

[Scribble]

So, JADOTI, then?

(That would be "Just Another Day On the Internet.")

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH the mouse knows something The mouse knows something!

Obviously those quotes mean soemthing other then what you meant them to mean otherwise you would have said they didn't mean anything else and not just used them like that. I know. I use soap.

 

[Shemeska]

I think it's safe to say that they took a financial bath on Gleemax over the past year. But just how bad it was, and how it will impact WotC, remains to be seen (though it's a really bad omen that it was large enough to be mentioned in that earnings call).

 

[Scribble]

I think it's safe to say that they took a financial bath on Gleemax over the past year. But just how bad it was, and how it will impact WotC, remains to be seen (though it's a really bad omen that it was large enough to be mentioned in that earnings call).

No it wasn't..

Hasbro said the profits were being reinvested into the digital movement. Nothing about Gleemax.

 

[dmccoy1693]

I'm an investor in a major pharmaceutical corporation. When I hear "gross profit were partially offset/fully offset by increased operating expenses, primarily increased product development," the first question I ask is, "When can we expect to see return on this investment for this major undertaking?" and second question is, "What's the plan to recoop those profits if this undertaking tanks?"

I guarantee their investors are asking the same questions. Their DI has been worse then a joke. Gleemax bombed. Their previews of the online version of the game has been pittiful at best. The OP's sentiment is valid.