WotC Ray Winninger Steps Back From WotC

Former leader of the D&D team Ray Winninger has announced his departure from WotC, having "accomplished the ambitious goals we set". Dan Rawson was announced the new head of D&D earlier this month, leading many to speculate about Winninger's departure.

"Sorry for the radio silence; I'm in the midst of a SORELY needed Long Rest. I have indeed left WotC, having accomplished the ambitious goals we set when I took over the D&D team.

Shepherding D&D was an honor and a privilege, but I'm looking forward to slowing down and getting back to a list of personal design projects. (Gamers, you haven't seen the last of me!) Most of all, I look forward to following D&D as a fan again.

Proud of the team I left behind; D&D is in very good hands: @JeremyECrawford, @ChrisPerkinsDnD, @DroidsForSale, @dtovar77, Liz Schuh, Kate Irwin, Trish Yochum, @aquelajames, @FWesSchneider, @MakenzieLaneDA, @amandahamon, Emi Tanji, Bree Heiss, @doctorcomics. @justicearman

@RPGRonLundeen, @BillBenham2, Rob Hawkey, Ben Petrisor, @Dan_Dillon_1, @EytanBernstein, Adrian Ng, Janica Carter, @chrislindsay, @TrystanFalcone, @mattchucole, Bob Jordan, @christulach, Natalie Egan, Hilary Ross, Carl Sibley. Thanks for being such great adventuring companions."

 

[Parmandur]

This earnings report couldn’t have helped.
Wizards of the Coast 3rd Quarter

DnD creator Wizards’ Q3 revenue drops $60m on last year​

A financial report shows a $60 million decline in DnD and Magic: The Gathering creator Wizard of the Coast's earnings compared to last year's quarterly revenue.

the reason was apparently the lack of a video game release, unlike Dark Alliance last year which brought in a lot of money. They said the TTRP line was doing fine, the lack of a medium profile video game made a big dent.

 

[FoolishFrost]

I'm having a hard time parsing what you mean here, can you clarify? The difficulty of getting players used to 5E to try any other system is, at this point, a meme in a lot of circles.

What I mean is, there is already books and rules on the market, the moment that it becomes costly to upgrade to a new edition, and has enforced subscriptions that the gm has to maintain, let alone each player… it will start effecting their bottom line.

 

[TerraDave]

Subscriptions? What about microtransactions?

Digital is one concern, but its the actual tabletop game that counts.

In terms of veteran designers on the team, who is left? Jeremy--the delighted dolphin--Crawford and Chris--a lot of OK but no really great adventures--Perkins?

 

[Parmandur]

Based on Arena, I expect them to go free to play: easy to pick up and go with lots of options for dropping a buck here or there fornaesthetics in the VTT.

 

[Haplo781]

This earnings report couldn’t have helped.
Wizards of the Coast 3rd Quarter

DnD creator Wizards’ Q3 revenue drops $60m on last year​

A financial report shows a $60 million decline in DnD and Magic: The Gathering creator Wizard of the Coast's earnings compared to last year's quarterly revenue.

Pandemic's over. People are going back outside.

 

[MonsterEnvy]

I don’t know why people are talking about imaginary subscriptions and micro transactions for the game that have not even been implied.

Like there is already a type of sub and micro transactions on D&D Beyond, but they are unobtrusive and for content sharing in the case of the sub, and for cosmetics in the case of the micros.

Like the biggest change I see coming in 2024 is the VTT being attached to the sub.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I don’t know why people are talking about imaginary subscriptions and micro transactions for the game that have not even been implied.

Like there is already a type of sub and micro transactions on D&D Beyond, but they are unobtrusive and for content sharing in the case of the sub, and for cosmetics in the case of the micros.

Like the biggest change I see coming in 2024 is the VTT being attached to the sub.

The current model is not going to put cash in WotC's mattress in the amounts they want though. There are other ways, however...

 

[MonsterEnvy]

The current model is not going to put cash in WotC's mattress in the amounts they want though. There are other ways, however...

Not sure why are making this up when they explicitly have been making lots of money and the stated reason they did not make as much this quarter compared to last years 3rd was because there was no video game release this time.

 

[bedir than]

This earnings report couldn’t have helped.
Wizards of the Coast 3rd Quarter

DnD creator Wizards’ Q3 revenue drops $60m on last year​

A financial report shows a $60 million decline in DnD and Magic: The Gathering creator Wizard of the Coast's earnings compared to last year's quarterly revenue.

The purchase of DnDBeyond and MtG only having a single major set (versus 2 in '21) are credited as the reasons for the decline.

 

[Haplo781]

Not sure why are making this up when they explicitly have been making lots of money and the stated reason they did not make as much this quarter compared to last years 3rd was because there was no video game release this time.

They want D&D to be making half a billion dollars in 5 years. It's currently estimated to be at less than $150 million.

How would you triple (or more) revenue in 5 years without milking more out of every customer?