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.

 

[Scribe]

So ... companies are bad because they want to make money? Any company that wants to make money will automatically gouge their customers, bilking them for all their worth?

Was D&D not profitable last year? MTG every year for the last 10+ years?

 

[Oofta]

Was D&D not profitable last year? MTG every year for the last 10+ years?

Right ... and your post was that enough will never be enough. That they will always want more.

While they may be the 800 pound gorilla when it comes to TTRPGs, they are not a monopoly. They aren't charging exorbitant prices for a drug people need to survive. Hence I question why people take such a negative view of the fact that they want to make money.

As long as they don't flood the market with a book-a-month-club like they did for a while with 4E, if they're hoping to make money off of related merchandise, licensing and movies I don't see what the issue is.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

And if each user spends an average of $100 on D&D Beyond (subscription fee + additional products)?

You do the math.

Based on the comment after this about being undermonetized, you can bet they are looking at ways to get as much money from that registered userbase. Even an increase of $10 per user would be huge. Sadly, I see a bunch of microtransactions coming.

Everyone is worrying about micro transactions like you’re gonn have to buy each new subclass to $10 or something.

They’re gonna sell more stuff on DDB, and expand on what services it provides.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

I think here are people who had loved to hear: d&d is not profitable enough, so we just let it die.
We get more d&d, why do some of us hate that so much.
Why are some of us assuming the worst with no proof.
Why are some of us annyoed that MTG has a set for 999 dollars you are not allowed to use in tournaments... so a pure collectible item for people who want to spend money on such.
There are more expensive totally useless things, like cars that can achieve 300km/h...
At least you can't harm anyone with thise cards.

I really don't get it.

Would we rather not see a d&d movie that might finally not suck?
After complaining for 8 years that wotc/dnd is understaffed, we now hate that wotc is willing to employ 350 additional people to expand what we love?
I have seen dragons of stormwrack island in German in a drug store that also sells games. I can't say hiw mich I rejoyced that it actually sells to other people that hardcore rpgamers. But maybe I am just bad at gatekeeping.

 

[Oofta]

Everyone is worrying about micro transactions like you’re gonn have to buy each new subclass to $10 or something.

They’re gonna sell more stuff on DDB, and expand on what services it provides.

Personally I like the DDB model where I can just buy what I want. I'm not that interested in modules, but I'm a sucker for new monsters. The ability to buy just the monsters is a win-win in my book.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Personally I like the DDB model where I can just buy what I want. I'm not that interested in modules, but I'm a sucker for new monsters. The ability to buy just the monsters is a win-win in my book.

I have bought too much I don't need on dndbeyond... but I really want to put my money where my mouth is. I really like 5e and I want it to succeed. I want everyone to try it. So I want to give them money to expand.
Someone mentioned they are stockholder of hasbro. Maybe its time for me to invest a bit there...

Edit:
I also have an En5ider abonement, although the only thing I use is the Zeitgeist adventure path I alreay owned for pathfinder and 4e because I took part in rebuilding EnWorld.
As I said: putting money where my mouth is. And I open my mouth a lot here.

 

[Scribe]

Right ... and your post was that enough will never be enough. That they will always want more.

Exactly, so lets not misrepresent that I said they cannot have a profit.

 

[Von Ether]

Let's us also not forget a growing market that didn't even exist 10 or 15 years ago, the luxury market. Now that more geeks have grown into lawyers, realtors, and company owners, there is evidently a market for $$$ products. It a "game" were making less of thing might be better.

Getting in on that market also comes with social cachet ... I think?

When people asked me if D&D would ever go mainstream, my answer back was, "when it make enough money for people to notice." It's just how our culture works. At some point, we just might consider D&D to be the NFL and smaller game companies to be like college football.

 

[Clint_L]

See the flavour text here? Simply replace "power" with "profit" and "izzet mages" with "Hazbro executives". People understand the need for profits. There is a point where the methods to gain EVER MORE profits, is exploitive and harms the game/players.

Okay, so what specific method are you objecting to here? What is bothering me is that there seems to be a lot of negative assumptions that aren't supported by anything other than speculation. My experience with Hasbro/WotC thus far has been very positive. I think the books are very reasonably priced. And I think DnDBeyond is a bargain, frankly.

Most of my costs in this hobby have nothing to do with WotC. Now, Wizkids, on the other hand, does seem to be going out of its way to exploit its most hardcore fans.

Hasbro is mostly talking about finding more ways to use the IP beyond their hardcore fanbase, and how to get a bigger cut of the stuff that the hardcore fanbase is already buying.

 

[Zardnaar]

For those who don't get why people are concerned you're forgetting the chat was because if what has been happening on the MtG side of things.

I don't think there's a problem making money via better product but there's a difference between that and bilking your customers.

As I said it's essentially what game development studios have been doing and WotC is in this position exactly because of MtG.

And the whole thing essentially boiled down to "ya boo sucks to be you".

So it's not so much a hypothetical they may do this but "look at how they're nimg magic".