WotC Hasbro's CEO Reports OGL-Related D&D Beyond Cancellations Had Minimal Impact

Hasbro held a quarterly earnings call recently in which CEO Chris Cocks (who formerly ran WotC before being promoted) indicated that the OGL controversy had a "comparatively minor" impact on D&D's revenue due to D&D Beyond subscription cancellations. He also noted that D&D grew by 20% in 2022 (Magic: the Gathering revenues grew by an astonishing 40% in Quarter 4!)

WotC as a whole was up 22% in Q4 2022.

Lastly, on D&D, we misfired on updating our Open Gaming License, a key vehicle for creators to share or commercialize their D&D inspired content. Our best practice is to work collaboratively with our community, gather feedback, and build experiences that inspire players and creators alike - it's how we make our games among the best in the industry. We have since course corrected and are delivering a strong outcome for the community and game.

 

[bedir than]

Not only what @doctorbadwolf said above, but also since then Paizo's workers unionized and the company didn't fight it. That goes quite a bit more than simply going "sorry" and continue as usual.

They did this and still pay less than retail shift supervisors in the area earn. That's business as usual. Recognizing a union and granting none of their requests isn't a win.

 

[robus]

Well it is odd to talk about something happening in 2023 in this thing about fourth quarter and year 2022.

Seems like a classic CEO move. Point to unrelated thing to show that everything is fine. We‘re in the middle of any quarter no matter where the financial ends. Corporate doublespeak at its finest.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Liars.
I'd be okay with ENWorld not reporting on Hasbro or D&D now and in the future.

 

[Hussar]

I have a sneaking suspicion that there are quite a few folks who are emotionally invested in the idea that their actions had a real and lasting impact.

I also think such people will absolutely reject any evidence to the contrary.

 

[nyvinter]

WotC canceled the entirety of their plans for a new OGL and put the whole 5.1 SRD in Creative Commons. That’s hardly saying “sorry,” and continuing as usual.

And they insists on going "this is what we meant to do al along! All the rest was just a test/request for feedback/never meant to be sent out!" after getting caught and trying again with another OGL that was also terrible but more sneaky about it. The CC came when too many mainstream news started to report on it. (I would have guessed the DNDBeyond cancellations helped but now I'm not so sure. They might have been prepared to eat that cost.)

And they also keep up the notion in their FAQ that fan works — which includes podcasts and twitch and reddit — are theirs to mine without regard of copyright.

They did this and still pay less than retail shift supervisors in the area earn. That's business as usual. Recognizing a union and granting none of their requests isn't a win.

Which is naughty word yes. And while working class struggles are hard and frequently losing battles, there is a chance for change there because no matter how slim, there has been a slight shift in the power structure. At WotC it's still hinges on the next or the one after that CEO getting shamed when they naughty word up just as it's always been.

 

[Dungeonosophy]

Out with the liars:

 

[Oofta]

Eh people will remember, this “no one will remember in a year” refrain comes up with every controversy and is almost always false.

It not being front page news doesn’t mean people don’t remember. It just isn’t news.

Edit: don’t type in a hurry, folks

Then let me rephrase. Nobody will be talking about this on a regular basis and even then for a vast majority it will be something along the lines of "Remember when..." followed by "Yeah, I haven't really thought about that much since I'm hiding in a bunker trying to figure out how to stop Skynet.".

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Then let me rephrase. Nobody will be talking about this on a regular basis and even then for a vast majority it will be something along the lines of "Remember when..." followed by "Yeah, I haven't really thought about that much since I'm hiding in a bunker trying to figure out how to stop Skynet.".

Hey, playing with training AI seemed fun at the time!

 

[jerryrice4949]

Every place I saw discussion of Paizo, multiple people brought that up as a reminder that they are no heroes, they just benefit from wotc’s failings. Every single time.

And I still see #fireMikeMearls in the comments of tweets about D&D , videos from DDB about the game, etc.

Hardly. See above.

And people will, in every forums discussing that situation, talk about the time wotc tried to kill their competition and turn D&D into a walled garden, or whatever people think almost happened.

Thank you for making my point. Like I said people will remember hence us mentioning it here and they won’t care evidenced by Paizo’s books selling out during the OGL fiasco.

 

[Oofta]

How do you figure 2-3%? Have we ever seen actual numbers for DDB subscriptions?

The estimates we have is 2 million DDB subscribers, 50 thousand cancelled accounts. We have no clue how many re-upped.

But the numbers are just estimates and AFAIK, the 50k dropped subscriptions was from an unreliable source. I guess the real point is that WOTC can spin the truth in some contexts, flat out lying in an earnings call has all sorts of legal ramifications.

D&D forums are a bit of an echo chamber and seeing a handful of posters saying they've canceled their DDB accounts (knowing it won't actually expire until their renewal date) doesn't really mean anything.