WotC D&D Gets A New Division At Hasbro

Hasbro is reorganizing and giving tabletop gaming -- Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: the Gathering -- a higher priority.

According to the Wall Street Journal, WotC's revenue last year was $816 million (a 24% increase on 2019). Brian Goldner, Hasbro's Chief Executive, says WotC is predicted to double revenue from 2019 to 2023.

Hasbro is dividing into three 'units' -- Consumer Products (toys, classic board games); Entertainment (film, TV, licensing); and Wizards & Digital (WotC plus digital licensing).

Hasbro bought WotC in 1999 for about $325M.

WSJ News Exclusive | Dungeons & Dragons Gets a Bigger Role at Hasbro

Toy maker Hasbro is reorganizing to capitalize on a pandemic-fueled boom in old-school tabletop games, creating a separate division around the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.

www.wsj.com

 

[Oofta]

When did I predict anything? I asked a question.

Lots of people are making predictions. I don't even disagree with what you said. But "I wonder if..." is a prediction.

Meant no offense just that like Yogi Berra supposedly said "The future is hard to predict, especially when it hasn't happened yet."

 

[embee]

Don't be silly. Separating a business unit makes it easier to sell.

As proven by Microsoft, Google, and Apple.

 

[Reynard]

Lots of people are making predictions. I don't even disagree with what you said. But "I wonder if..." is a prediction.

Meant no offense just that like Yogi Berra supposedly said "The future is hard to predict, especially when it hasn't happened yet."

No, it was a question. More importantly, it is an interesting thing to discuss (this being a discussion board and all): will people keep playing D&D after their former avenues of entertainment return to their lives? Why, or why not? What can WotC and the gaming community at large do to keep them play? What effect will those methods have on how the game is played? Will people keep their games online, or head to public spaces to play? Before the pandemic, board game and D&D nights at bars were growing in popularity. Will that return? What about the rising popularity of solo games and GM emulators? Will we see more of that? Will D&D eventually go GM-less?

 

[Oofta]

No, it was a question. More importantly, it is an interesting thing to discuss (this being a discussion board and all): will people keep playing D&D after their former avenues of entertainment return to their lives? Why, or why not? What can WotC and the gaming community at large do to keep them play? What effect will those methods have on how the game is played? Will people keep their games online, or head to public spaces to play? Before the pandemic, board game and D&D nights at bars were growing in popularity. Will that return? What about the rising popularity of solo games and GM emulators? Will we see more of that? Will D&D eventually go GM-less?

Dude, sorry if I sounded negative. It wasn't meant that way.

I also wonder what percentage of WOTC growth is D&D related? I can't imagine MtG is booming because of the pandemic, but maybe it's played more online than I realize.

 

[Morrus]

I think there's very little evidence that the rising tide really raises all ships. That growth in D&D leads to overall growth in the rest of the hobby.

Did you miss out a negative somewhere? You just said two opposite things!

 

[Reynard]

Dude, sorry if I sounded negative. It wasn't meant that way.

Sorry if I was reactive. Not sure why I felt attacked. Mea culpa.

I also wonder what percentage of WOTC growth is D&D related? I can't imagine MtG is booming because of the pandemic, but maybe it's played more online than I realize.

Friend of mine that are into Magic play Arena quite a lot. I have played it a little and found it way too easy to spend money in, so abandoned it, but I imagine it is profitable. plus, people probably still buy their cards and play their decks. It isn't like you can't play Magic easily over something as simple as Zoom.

 

[Scott Christian]

No, it was a question. More importantly, it is an interesting thing to discuss (this being a discussion board and all): will people keep playing D&D after their former avenues of entertainment return to their lives? Why, or why not? What can WotC and the gaming community at large do to keep them play? What effect will those methods have on how the game is played? Will people keep their games online, or head to public spaces to play? Before the pandemic, board game and D&D nights at bars were growing in popularity. Will that return? What about the rising popularity of solo games and GM emulators? Will we see more of that? Will D&D eventually go GM-less?

Those are all good questions. One a lot of businesses are actually asking: Zoom, Home Depot, Amazon?

They are all asking and trying to predict what will happen once things "go back to normal." For D&D, it will be especially interesting. There was a chart someone put up a while ago about the increase in sales and time for Roll20.

 

[Lieslo]

Here's hoping that this means 6E is not on the horizon then.

 

[Oofta]

Sorry if I was reactive. Not sure why I felt attacked. Mea culpa.

Friend of mine that are into Magic play Arena quite a lot. I have played it a little and found it way too easy to spend money in, so abandoned it, but I imagine it is profitable. plus, people probably still buy their cards and play their decks. It isn't like you can't play Magic easily over something as simple as Zoom.

I guess that was kind of the question - magic has always been associated as face-to-face for me because you have to have the physical cards. I hazily remember there being an online version where you could "buy" digital cards.

In any case Hasbro doesn't release details, it was just curiosity if there was a thriving online MtG presence like there is for D&D.

 

[Aldarc]

Did you miss out a negative somewhere? You just said two opposite things!

I think that the second sentence is a clarification of the first. I would put a comma where the period is or a colon followed by i.e..