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.

 

[Micah Sweet]

TSR couldn't afford them either.

Eh. I'm glad they did what they did. Loved 2e content!

 

[Zardnaar]

Imagine if WotC did a box set like that but responsibly at a sustainable price? The outrage would be deafening.

Not really they can find a mide ground. They do cheap boxed sets after all they could do one at double or triple the price of the starter.

Not all of the TSR ones were loss leaders just the more elaborate ones.

I like Darksun but I don't need cloth fold out maps and spirial bound flip books.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This. I read dozens of those novels back in the 90s, and enjoyed the heck out of most of them.

Enjoyment != quality

The folks behind Hostess Twinkies can tell you that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

People are bringing up very valid points being concerned that the bullet point for "recurring profit" in regards to DDB MIGHT mean an appearance of predatory microtransactions. Having seen damage such things have done to other hobbies they enjoy and knowing it's a very realistic path to see a major corporation choose to take....it's valid.

Except DDB already has a recurring profit engine, its subscriptions, and it has microtransactions in the form of digital dice and selling content piecemeal.

Instead of saying, "yes, we see where that strategy is already in place," folks are inventing new strategies that DDB is not using to be upset about.

 

[Alzrius]

Except DDB already has a recurring profit engine, its subscriptions, and it has microtransactions in the form of digital dice and selling content piecemeal.

And has been described as "under-monetized" in the fireside chat.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

There is some anecdotal evidence that an attempted increase to push hardcover sales hurt TSR towards the end of the company's life, but I don't know if that was hardcover novels or hardcover game books (I suspect the latter, though). Insofar as particular products (or types of products) goes, I seem to recall that it was Dragon Dice that did the most damage to the company.

As I recall, Art & Arcana says it was a bunch of late-stage terrible ideas, with Dragon Dice, like the collectible cards before them, being a complete flop and money sink.

 

[Zardnaar]

And has been described as "under-monetized" in the fireside chat.

Monetized has negative connotations due to video games.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And has been described as "under-monetized" in the fireside chat.

Which still doesn't mean DDB staff is going to start selling their children or mugging people in alleys.

Everyone is borrowing trouble here. Surely there are enough upsetting things actually happening in the world that people don't need to conjure up imaginary ones.

 

[darjr]

And has been described as "under-monetized" in the fireside chat.

Actually no it wasn't. The fireside chat wasn't just about the future but about what they are currently trying to do. And no they didn't specifically say that.

 

[mamba]

it was the book deal that Gary Gygax worked out with Random House way back in the day that let TSR essentially borrow from RH against the future sales of the books that Random House was printing for them. This grew out of control to the point that eventually TSR were having RH print books that they could never realistically sell just to get the advance

agreed, that book deal eventually caught up with them, but one can argue that without it they would have been dead sooner rather than later. It gave them a lifeline by exploiting it as long as they could.

The books themselves did not kill TSR, it was simply bad management.