D&D General Dan Rawson Named New Head Of D&D

Hasbro has announced a former Microsoft digital commerce is the new senior vice president in charge of Dungeons & Dragons. Dan Rawson was the COO of Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Hasbro also hired Cynthia Williams earlier this year; she too, came from Microsoft. Of Rawson, she said "We couldn’t be bringing on Dan at a better time. With the acquisition of D&D Beyond earlier this year, the digital capabilities and opportunities for Dungeons & Dragons are accelerating faster than ever. I am excited to partner with Dan to explore the global potential of the brand while maintaining Hasbro’s core value as a player-first company.”

Rawson himself says that "Leading D&D is the realization of a childhood dream. I’m excited to work with Cynthia once again, and I’m thrilled to work with a talented team to expand the global reach of D&D, a game I grew up with and now play with my own kids.”

Interestingly, Ray Wininger -- who has been running D&D for the last couple of years -- has removed mention of WotC and Hasbro from his Twitter bio.

 

[ad_hoc]

FWIW as far as the (off-topic) edition discussion goes, note that the One D&D FAQ distinguishes between "One D&D" and "fifth edition". Even Wizards doesn't see them as the same thing, even if they're careful to avoid the 'E' word when referencing One D&D.

Wizards rarely refer to 5e as 5e.

It's normally just "D&D". There is mention of it on the back of the core books but I don't know off hand where else they use the name.

 

[MockingBird]

On a side note, I keep trying to play and enjoy Dragon Age Inquisition and it has the same problem. Its a single player MMO. Zzzzzzzz

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way about DA Inquisition. I loved the first one but that one just didn't do it.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Nearly eight years of Unearthed Arcana articles were referred to as "playtest material" but not as part of something other than "fifth edition." Only One D&D has been differentiated in that way.

Can you seriously not see the difference between the previous UAs and the 1D&D UAs and the purpose of marketing a more expansive playtest for a special anniversary update if the core books?

 

[JEB]

Can you seriously not see the difference between the previous UAs and the 1D&D UAs and the purpose of marketing a more expansive playtest for a special anniversary update if the core books?

Yes, I absolutely see the difference.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Interestingly, Ray Wininger -- who has been running D&D for the last couple of years -- has removed mention of WotC and Hasbro from his Twitter bio.

So, does anyone know what the above means for Ray Winninger? Anyone know if he is still with WotC/D&D?

 

[Parmandur]

So, does anyone know what the above means for Ray Winninger? Anyone know if he is still with WotC/D&D?

Nope, but the longer he maintains radio silence, the weirder it gets.

Based on how things went down with Mearls exiting the team, we may barely ever get a grudging admission if he is gone.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Nope, but the longer he maintains radio silence, the weirder it gets.

Based on how things went down with Mearls exiting the team, we may barely ever get a grudging admission if he is gone.

Until someone else fills the role of executive producer. Whenever the truth is, I wish him the best.

 

[Parmandur]

Until someone else fills the role of executive producer. Whenever the truth is, I wish him the best.

I wouldn't necessarily expect thst the role will be filled, given the apparent reorganization. Remember that the role was created specifically for Winninger after Nate Stewart was promoted to VP of Franchise and Mearls was shuffled off of D&D, to combine their previous roles. If I had to guess, which I love to do, Winninger is out in a reorganization, and Rawlson is doing more of the executive side that Stewart used to do, while probably Crawford will fill the role Mearls used to play before the EP role was created for Winninger.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I wouldn't necessarily expect thst the role will be filled, given the apparent reorganization. Remember that the role was created specifically for Winninger after Nate Stewart was promoted to VP of Franchise and Mearls was shuffled off of D&D, to combine their previous roles. If I had to guess, which I love to do, Winninger is out in a reorganization, and Rawlson is doing more of the executive side that Stewart used to do, while probably Crawford will fill the role Mearls used to play before the EP role was created for Winninger.

That is a possibility and there may be more roles that have opened up in the organisation the new VP need people to boss around after all.
What I do expect going forward is that the rpg becoming a more and more minor thing in the corporate D&D universe if the push into digital multimedia is successful.

 

[Parmandur]

That is a possibility and there may be more roles that have opened up in the organisation the new VP need people to boss around after all.
What I do expect going forward is that the rpg becoming a more and more minor thing in the corporate D&D universe if the push into digital multimedia is successful.

Yes, but that may be healthy for the game community. Less need to force product churn.