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."

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Exec Producer was replaced btw

I was right about Rawson not replacing Ray, because a Vice President is a very different job then Executive Producer, we now know who the new Executive Producer is.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

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

Dominaria United is also not doing as well as previous sets. And alot of customers are angry at price increases when WotC is making record breaking amounts of money.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

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?

They want D&D to be their next Billion Dollar brand. I'm very curious how they plan to get there (I assume a cinematic universes is a big part of that).

I am going againat the grain and saying that paper Table Top is going no where, its fine, I've seen these "everything is going digital! Paper is Doomed!" panics before, most rescently with MtG.

They have access to tons of market data and they know a large portion of the market wants to keep paper D&D. Plus paper is an opportunity to sell collectibles.

So yeah they have big digital plans, but that doesn't mean they don't have big physical plans too (not just paper, but a return of novels, maybe Theme Parks and more).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Yeah, Dungeon Masterpiece did a piece on this (albeit with regard to the announced VTT) which touched on a lot of the same points.

That guy's entire brand is how everyone else is doing it wrong and is probably stupid. I'm not sure I would give him much credence.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

From Kyle Brink's linked in (why does it appear he's not on Twitter when he's been executive producer for 4 months!) Was Spelljammer Ray or Kyle's fault?

"Experience

Wizards of the Coast

1 year 9 months

Executive Producer, Dungeons & Dragons

Jul 2022 - Present4 months

Renton, Washington, United States

I lead the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game studio, producing and publishing a game I've been playing since I was in grade school. Couldn't be happier or more in my element.

Director of Studio Operations

Feb 2021 - Jul 20221 year 6 months

Renton, Washington, United States"

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Welp, get ready for history to repeat itself, because subscription services require a steady stream of content.

A reminder that ENWorld's confident predictions about the Definite Future of D&D tend to be right only about 10% of the time, historically. (I've been here since the 2E/3E transition.)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

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?

Selling them a whole new set of core books is a good start.

 

[Haplo781]

Selling them a whole new set of core books is a good start.

That's good for a one-time sales bump per player at best.

If the current pace and pricing of releases continues as it has been for the last 10 years, they'll have to triple their consumer base or sell 3x as many products.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

D&D maker Wizards of the Coast and its RPG rivals are starting to look like Apple and Amazon

Tech executives are multi-classing into tabletop gaming.

www.dicebreaker.com

Some discussion of what going on with D&D & it's changing team.

 

[Parmandur]

They want D&D to be their next Billion Dollar brand. I'm very curious how they plan to get there (I assume a cinematic universes is a big part of that).

I am going againat the grain and saying that paper Table Top is going no where, its fine, I've seen these "everything is going digital! Paper is Doomed!" panics before, most rescently with MtG.

They have access to tons of market data and they know a large portion of the market wants to keep paper D&D. Plus paper is an opportunity to sell collectibles.

So yeah they have big digital plans, but that doesn't mean they don't have big physical plans too (not just paper, but a return of novels, maybe Theme Parks and more).

I honestly think a digital monetization future can be very stabilizing for the TTRPG: not relying on book churn is healthy for the hobby.