WotC Hasbro Bets Big on D&D

During today's 'Hasbro Fireside Chat', Hasbro's Chris Cocks, chief executive officer, and Cynthia Williams, president of Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming mentioned D&D, and about betting big on its name. This was in addition to the Magic: The Gathering discussion they held on the same call.

The following are rough notes on what they said.

D&D Beyond

• Leaning heavily on D&D Beyond
• 13 million registered users
• Give them more ways to express their fandom
• Hired 350 people last year
• Low attrition

What’s next for D&D

• Never been more popular
• Brand under-monetized
• Excited about D&D Beyond possibilities
• Empower accessibility and development of the user base.
• Data driven insight
• Window into how players are playing
• Companion app on their phone
• Start future monetization starting with D&D Beyond
• DMs are 20% of the audience but lions share of purchases
• Digital game recurrent spending for post sale revenue.
• Speed of digital can expand, yearly book model to include current digital style models.
• Reach highly engaged multigenerational fans.
• Dungeons and Dragons has recognition, 10 out of 10
• Cultural phenomenon right now.
• DND strategy is a broad four quadrant strategy
• Like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or Marvel
• New books and accessories, licensed game stuff, and D&D Beyond
• Huge hopes for D&D

What is success for the D&D Movie

• First big light up oppourtunity for 4th quadrant
• Significant marketing
• They think it’ll have significant box office
• It has second most viewed trailer at Paramount, only eclipsed by Transformers
• Will be licensed video games, some on movies
• Then follow up other media, TV, other movies, etc.
• Bullish on D&D.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

ha!

I dunno.

I will say I'm getting tired of fandoms eating their own. Driven in part by cynical click bait like that video.

That's it! That's how they can monetize D&D. They need to leverage the fandom .... eating itself!


You've heard it here, first! Don't just metaphorically eat other fans .... LITERALLY eat other fans! That's right, you can now EAT other fans with new, fan-flavored D&D Meat.

If you've always been cannibal-curious, but never want to go full Armie Hammer, Hasrbo's new lab-grown FanMEAT is for you! You can buy the Happiest Meal with a FanBURGER at McDonald's, and, for a limited time, it will be Chris Pine flavored!

Are you a vegetarian? Hasbro has you covered with D&D-flavored Hufu- all the great fan flavor you expect, none of the moral issues with long pork consumption.

FanMEAT- it's .... FAN-TASTIC!

 

[Charlaquin]

Given that you can already buy the books piecemeal on DDB, what precisely will these new micro-transactions be for?

(As an aside, I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.)

Fancy 3d dice with roll physics to toss around on the mobile app? Character sheet skins? Digital miniatures to use on the VTT? Some kind of character/world organizer?

 

[Charlaquin]

Microtransactions?

That’s generally what “recurrent spending” is code for, yeah.

 

[darjr]

Hmmm... reading the tea leaves I think there is a DM for hire service in there somewhere. The D&D Digital weekends are already that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

One interesting thing is that a large purportion of ddb players play using their phone.

The D&D Beyond app is extremely OK. I'm hoping a substantial portion of the 350 folks hired by DDB are working on mobile.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

It's over a year old, so probably not the new model.

Them wanting to get more money out of D&D is about a year old. That's when we heard they were upping the frequency of books.

 

[Zaukrie]

Always assuming the worst is getting old.

Every thread. Over and Over. The same people.

This is a lot better news than "DnD sucks, we aren't investing in it and we don't think it is a long term asset." That would be a disaster.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That's in addition to other likely contractions of the play experience, as noted in this excellent video from several weeks ago:

That guy would make a negative video if he was told Hasbro was sending him $1 million tax free.

"Think of the paper cuts!"

 

[J.Quondam]

That's it! That's how they can monetize D&D. They need to leverage the fandom .... eating itself!


You've heard it here, first! Don't just metaphorically eat other fans .... LITERALLY eat other fans! That's right, you can now EAT other fans with new, fan-flavored D&D Meat.

If you've always been cannibal-curious, but never want to go full Armie Hammer, Hasrbo's new lab-grown FanMEAT is for you! You can buy the Happiest Meal with a FanBURGER at McDonald's, and, for a limited time, it will be Chris Pine flavored!

Are you a vegetarian? Hasbro has you covered with D&D-flavored Hufu- all the great fan flavor you expect, none of the moral issues with long pork consumption.

FanMEAT- it's .... FAN-TASTIC!

SOYLENT GREEN SLIME IS MADE OF... GAMERS!

 

[Zaukrie]

Ah. The micro-transations we all knew they were going to force into their VTT. Yeah, sounds like the naysayers were right. Can't wait for Professor Dungeon Master's and Baron's victory lap.

The VTT. And/or making even more piecemeal DDB purchases.

No one doubts that you'll have to pay for the VTT and have to pay for fancier stuff there. Exactly how is that bad/wrong? I'm baffled.