D&D General Adam Bradford, Lauren Urban, Todd Kenrick Leave D&D Beyond

They join lead writer James Haeck, who left a couple of weeks ago. Adam Bradford is the D&D Beyond co-founder, and VP of Tabletop Gaming at its owner, Fandom. Lauren Urban is DDB's Community Manager. Todd Kenrick is the company's Creative Manager.

D&D Beyond, launched in 2017, is currently owned by Fandom (previously known as Wikia), after it acquired the company in 2018 from previous owner Curse, a Twitch subsidiary.

According to Cam Banks, creator of DDB owner Fandom's Cortex, all three received offers elsewhere which they could not turn down.

 

[Emirikol Prime]

I can easily see the license ending and this all being folded back into WOTC.

 

[darjr]

I’ve changed my mind. I think some speculation threads are plain bile

 

[JRedmond]

I want to work in your industry, where there's a cauldron of money to throw at problems. A lot of times, a better offer is one that your current employer simply can't top.

When I leave my current job, which I expect to happen before summer, it'll be for a combo of opportunities my current employer can't compete with, even if they had a cauldron of money (they do not) and a higher salary.

You're welcome to, I work in IT and yes there is a cauldron of money to throw at problems. My point is D&D Beyond is not a small press like Kobold Press they have a little bit of money. I would have said Todd wait two more weeks to make the announcement and we'll give you a $5000 bonus for example. And yes this happens all the time in the corporate world.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I can easily see the license ending and this all being folded back into WOTC.

I can see Cindy Crawford coming to her senses and begging me to run away with her, but there's no real evidence that either of these things are true.

The D&D Beyond license appears to have benefited both parties and WotC still pushes it heavily. If there's a reconsideration, it'll come with 6E/the Anniversary edition.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You're welcome to, I work in IT and yes there is a cauldron of money to throw at problems. My point is D&D Beyond is not a small press like Kobold Press they have a little bit of money. I would have said Todd wait two more weeks to make the announcement and we'll give you a $5000 bonus for example. And yes this happens all the time in the corporate world.

Ha, no, it really doesn't. You are in an unusually cash-rich enterprise. Normal people get a cake and beers after work.

There's also no evidence that Todd's departure is causing $5,000 or more worth of damage to D&D Beyond's image.

Folks are going to be really disappointed if/when these folks show up at exciting places like Amazon and Microsoft and an MMO publisher and not some surprise new competitor to the D&D Beyond throne.

I'm not even sure who would have the resources for such a thing. Paizo's got plenty of other stuff to worry about right now, Free League doesn't have a single unified system that would lend itself to a D&D Beyond-style product, and everyone else is significantly smaller. Maybe they've all been lured away by a big board game company, but Fantasy Flight has been cutting, not expanding.

I have a hard time picturing who the "this is all pointing to something big" folks could possibly be imagining is behind it.

 

[Zardnaar]

How does calling sombody dumb and misleading not constitute offense?

I have very thick skin and come from NZ. Virtually impossible to offend me. Unless Australia beats the All Blacks at rugby.

Damn Australians.

 

[JRedmond]

Ha, no, it really doesn't. You are in an unusually cash-rich enterprise. Normal people get a cake and beers after work.

There's also no evidence that Todd's departure is causing $5,000 or more worth of damage to D&D Beyond's image.

Folks are going to be really disappointed if/when these folks show up at exciting places like Amazon and Microsoft and an MMO publisher and not some surprise new competitor to the D&D Beyond throne.

I'm not even sure who would have the resources for such a thing. Paizo's got plenty of other stuff to worry about right now, Free League doesn't have a single unified system that would lend itself to a D&D Beyond-style product, and everyone else is significantly smaller. Maybe they've all been lured away by a big board game company, but Fantasy Flight has been cutting, not expanding.

I have a hard time picturing who the "this is all pointing to something big" folks could possibly be imagining is behind it.

We'll agree to disagree, I obviously won't convince you but it would have been to possible to or limit prevent people freaking out.

 

[Mistwell]

When staff leaves, especially en masse, there is often very little truth revealed behind why people are leaving. The employees want it to look like their choice, as do the employers, regardless of whether that is true or not.

Actions speak louder than words - I will wait to see what happens to D&DB in the next few months - they need to be on their A game to maintain their customer confidence.

Yeah - actions tend to speak louder than words. They were also leaders of the site. This gives me concerns that perhaps we're headed towards a reduction in service. They'll need to be on their game in the next few months to shake the concerns that people may be having about whether D&DBeyond is dying. They've been slower to support elements of the game, stopped supporting Critical Role, etc... not good signs for a company that should be benefiting from the downturn with more people doing more things virtually.

Yes, we heard you the first time?

 

[TheBanjoNerd]

something odd is happening lately with D&D.

Y'know, I've had the same feeling. Seems like there's something in the air.

 

[MGibster]

I’ve changed my mind. I think some speculation threads are plain bile

It's always good to be reminded that we're not privy to what's going on behind the scenes. A few years back my own department at work experienced a lot of turnover in a relatively short period of time. It was a combination of retirements, people leaving for different careers, cities, or employers, and one termination for cause. Turnover in my department is historically low and this threw up a red flag prompting our VP to meet with everyone one-on-one to assess the situation. It turns out there wasn't any deep seeded serious problems that prompted the turnovers it was just a confluence of the stars or something. Sometimes change happens and it's not always for nefarious reasons.