D&D 5E Hasbro Acquires D&D Beyond For $146M

D&D owner WotC and D&D Beyond have announced that the online tools platform is being acquired by WotC.

DDB’s (former) owner was Fandom, which acquired it in 2018, and which also acquired the Cortex Prime TTRPG system recently. Fandom is producing a range of licensed games using the Cortex Prime system starting with the recent Tales of Xadia: The Dragon Prince RPG. Several DDB core staff members and founders moved on to other projects last year.

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...

www.enworld.org

This move has been widely expected for some time. The purchase figure being circulated is $146 million. By comparison, when WotC purchased then-D&D owner TSR in 1997, it did so for $25M. Hasbro later purchased WotC for $325M.

D&D Beyond was created in 2017 by Curse LLC, a company owned by Twitch. Fandom purchased Curse in 2018. WotC will be the third owner of the platform.

In other news, back in November WotC applied for a trademark for 'Atomic Arcade' for a variety of electronic gaming applications, and earlier in the year, rumours spread regarding WotC’s plans for its own virtual tabletop platform (VTT) following a survey in which they gauged opinions and allegedly showed off graphically rich 3D screenshots.

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) today announced that it is acquiring D&D Beyond, the leading digital toolset and game companion for the Company’s groundbreaking fantasy franchise, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, from Fandom. Fandom, the world’s largest fan platform, has owned and operated D&D Beyond since 2019 and has grown the direct-to-consumer business to be the leading role-playing game (RPG) digital toolset on the market with close to 10 million registered users. This strategic acquisition, for $146.3 million in cash, will further strengthen Hasbro’s capabilities in the fast-growing digital tabletop category while also adding veteran talents to the Wizards of the Coast team and accelerating efforts to deliver exceptional experiences for fans across all platforms.

Since 2017, D&D Beyond has helped to power DUNGEONS & DRAGONS tabletop play and deliver the brand's eighth consecutive year of growth in 2021. Over the last three years, the royalty paid to Hasbro by D&D Beyond has represented a significant contribution to the fastest growing source of revenue for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. The strategic acquisition of D&D Beyond will deliver a direct relationship with fans, providing valuable, data-driven insights to unlock opportunities for growth in new product development, live services and tools, and regional expansions. As part of Wizards, the brand’s leadership will soon be able to drive a unified, player-centric vision of the world’s greatest role-playing game on all platforms.

“The acquisition of D&D Beyond will accelerate our progress in both gaming and direct to consumer, two priority areas of growth for Hasbro, providing immediate access to a loyal, growing player base,” said Chris Cocks, Hasbro Chief Executive Officer. “Hasbro’s gaming portfolio is among the largest and most profitable in the industry, and we continue to make strategic investments to grow our brands, including in digital.”

“This is the perfect next step for the talented D&D Beyond team, who built a transformative digital product that engaged and delighted millions of D&D fans around the world,” said Perkins Miller, CEO of Fandom. “We can't wait to see what this team will do next as an integral part of the D&D franchise, and I look forward to investing in more brands and products to super serve Fandom’s 300 million+ global fans.”

“D&D Beyond has been one of our most valuable partners in the digital space for the past six years and we’re excited to bring their best-in-class talent onto our team,” said Cynthia Williams, President of Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming. “The team at D&D Beyond has built an incredible digital platform, and together we will deliver the best-possible DUNGEONS & DRAGONS experience for players around the world.”

Hasbro’s continued investment in Wizards of the Coast’s digital growth for its two iconic franchises, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and MAGIC: THE GATHERING, is representative of the significant opportunity in PC and mobile gaming, an industry that represented over 3 billion players globally and $129 billion in revenue in 20211. With the launch of Magic: The Gathering Arena on PC in 2019 and on mobile in 2021, Wizards has built a unique ecosystem of best-in-class tabletop and digital play to create deeper player engagement and satisfaction and grow revenue across all expressions and regions. Similarly, with more than 80% of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS fans having already played the game virtually in 2021, aided by online digital platforms such as D&D Beyond, this acquisition accelerates the game’s ability to penetrate new markets, gather valuable consumer insights and provide players with the best DUNGEONS & DRAGONS experience on all platforms.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and the receipt of certain regulatory approvals, and is expected to close during the second or third quarter of 2022. The transaction will be funded out of cash on hand and is expected to be immaterial to revenue and earnings per share in 2022 and accretive to earnings per share in fiscal year 2023 and beyond. The transaction has been approved by both Hasbro’s and Fandom’s Boards of Directors.

Welcome to the Party, D&D Beyond | Dungeons & Dragons

We are excited to welcome everyone at D&D Beyond, bringing together two teams dedicated to making Dungeons & Dragons easy to run and accessible to all!

dnd.wizards.com

 

[Michael Linke]

A bunch of the high visibility staff has already left in the past few months. No clue about low visibility staff.

I've worked for companies in not dissimilar situations. Essential people are offered big bonuses with a "you have to stay with the company for at least X months to get the other half of this money". People that don't want to stick around probably look into moving ASAP, since they just got half the bonus no-strings-attached. People that don't get this sort of bonus at all see the writing on the wall, know they're not "essential" and look for other opportunities to avoid being axed by the buyer later.

 

[Jer]

TSR had huge debts that were factored into that sale price, which had to be payed off before any publishing could resume.

Not only that but the bankruptcy meant that Wizards could strike a harder bargain - either TSR's owners were going to sell their assets off piecemeal to pay their creditors or they could take the buyout and walk away with money in their pockets.

 

[darjr]

Not only that but the bankruptcy meant that Wizards could strike a harder bargain - either TSR's owners were going to sell their assets off piecemeal to pay their creditors or they could take the buyout and walk away with money in their pockets.

All true, $100 million true? I don’t know. I want to though.

 

[darjr]

 

[Michael Linke]

Yup. Any idea what those numbers were?

was it $100 million or more?

According to wikipedia, "In large part due to the need to refund Random House, TSR entered 1997 over $30 million in debt."

That's like $53 million in today money. So in today money, TSR was "worth" $100 million dollars (not counting its debt). Keep in mind that TSR was probably the weakest tabletop brand at that moment in time. White Wolf's offerings were gaining steam each year and absent the sale of TSR to WotC, White Wolf may not have ever peaked and could have just continued on until they were top dog.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Today the software moves a lot of money, but very soon this becomes obsolete. Then the strategy by entertaiment industry is to bet for the value of the brands.

Other of the future steps will be a multiplayer asymetric dungeon crawler arcade. Do you remember Resident Evil: Resistance? Something like that, but the DM can create and design her own dungeons, and also adding social interaction with nPCs. Let's imagine streamers in youtube earning with actual-play shows using that virtual tabletop+arcades.

One of the challenges for the 3PPs is maybe they start with a good idea, and the project in the crowdfunding is a total success, but after that title falls in the oblivion, and then new players don't buy it because they don't know it exists and then there is not more money to create new sourcebooks based in that setting.

* If you were Hasbro, would you buy Paradox Entertaiment to be the owners of Onyx Path's franchises (World of Darkness, Trinity, Exalted, Pugmire, Scarred Lands..).

 

[darjr]

According to wikipedia, "In large part due to the need to refund Random House, TSR entered 1997 over $30 million in debt."

That's like $53 million in today money. So in today money, TSR was "worth" $100 million dollars (not counting its debt). Keep in mind that TSR was probably the weakest tabletop brand at that moment in time. White Wolf's offerings were gaining steam each year and absent the sale of TSR to WotC, White Wolf may not have ever peaked and could have just continued on until they were top dog.

So WotC likely still paid a lot more for DnDBeyond.
I am anxious to see what kind of location policy WotC has for DnDBeyond folks. If they are going to ask folks to move or not, I think there are a lot of remote folks at ddb

 

[doctorbadwolf]

. (Or they could license Beyond integration to all of the VTTs and let them pay Wizards for the privilege - as long as there are multiple competing VTTs it may not make sense for them to actually own one and spend their own money on it, depending on how profitable they are).

This is what I think will happen, tbh.

I can haz Sidekicks now?

That’s one example they listed in a dev update as something that will be easier to implement once they are done overhauling they system.

Re: Ruin Explorer's comments and the responses to it:--
All we can say for sure is that there were fundamental play issues (my own personal gripe--Clockwork and Aberrant Sorcerers could not swap out their archetype-granted spells) that damaged our enjoyment (and potentially likelihood to start/continue paying for the service). Previously, this did not get addressed, be it because no one knew, no one cared, the expense was too great, no one knew how to fix it with the resources available, or it was always #3 on the priority list (even as they cycled through ever-changing @s 1&2).

Now that D&DB is moving under WotC's umbrella, will this change? Potentially, as great playability will no longer impact just X subscriptions per month, but be part of the PR for the D&D brand as a whole.

They’re already working on fixing exactly this sort of issue. That’s why implementation hasn’t been slower than it used to be. They’re trying to roll our a replacement “general features” system, which is what underpins the entire endeavor, from the pov of implementing new features.

Im goina out on my pessimistic hat. This further fractured the community. Those that bought stuff on roll20 are going to eventually be left in the dust so to speak. Which leads to anger/resentment toward Wotc for not providing a clear direction when it came to online support for 5e.

I also think business wise it made sense to pay for books twice when owned by different companies. I can’t see people being happy to continue that practice.

Why not? The ddb data and service isn’t just a copy of the text of the book.

Maybe now they can offer free digital versions when you buy a physical book

Other way around could work, but at most I’d expect a discount. Digital versions have value, you’re gonna have to pay for them. Especially in a format like DDB, with indexed search functions and character builder built in.

Maybe Wizards buys them next?

I think they will either license ddb integration to any vvt that wants it, or they will integrate thier own vvt and let others continue to license content, or something that combines the two.

remember that wotc is very much banking on thier reputation these days. It matters to them a lot when something happens that angers part of the fanbase. I don’t think they’re going to screw over roll20 or FG player groups.

 

[Michael Linke]

Today the software moves a lot of money, but very soon this becomes obsolete. Then the strategy by entertaiment industry is to bet for the value of the brands.

Other of the future steps will be a multiplayer asymetric dungeon crawler arcade. Do you remember Resident Evil: Resistance? Something like that, but the DM can create and design her own dungeons, and also adding social interaction with nPCs. Let's imagine streamers in youtube earning with actual-play shows using that virtual tabletop+arcades.

One of the challenges for the 3PPs is maybe they start with a good idea, and the project in the crowdfunding is a total success, but after that title falls in the oblivion, and then new players don't buy it because they don't know it exists and then there is not more money to create new sourcebooks based in that setting.

* If you were Hasbro, would you buy Paradox Entertaiment to be the owners of Onyx Path's franchises (World of Darkness, Trinity, Exalted, Pugmire, Scarred Lands..).

Paradox is publicly traded and has a market cap of $2 Billion right now. I don't think Hasbro wants to spend that kind of money.

 

[LordEntrails]

PDFs are great for searching, but not for general reference.

Digital does not mean PDF. PDF is only one digital format. A proper digital format is far superior for searching than a physical book is.

Buy digital book, get physical book discount when ordering directly from Wotc?

And so much for FLGSs & Amazon huh?

My bet? Not only have they been working on this for a while, I bet it’s kinda built into the licensing contract. Which would explain why DnDBeyond has zero third party content built in, like Roll20 does.

Yep, which also goes to the apparent mindset of many of the WotC employees over the last years as they have constantly touted DDB as the digital platform for D&D. Often while completely ignoring their other digital partners like FG, Roll20 etc.