D&D Movie/TV Dungeons & Dragons Adventures is a 24-Hour Streaming Channel Launching in Summer

This summer, a new free streaming channel will be launched by eOne, the entertainment company owned by Hasbro. It will be ad-supported and available on multiple (as yet unspecified) platforms and feature a mix of animation, third party influencers, and actual play shows.

The old 1980s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon will be available, along with shows like:

• Encounter Party is based on an existing podcast and set in the Forgotten Realms.
• Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! is a comedy game stream in each episode of which a party of 1st level characters march to their deaths against deadly monsters.
• Heroes's Feast is a cooking/talk show.

 

[Nylanfs]

Weren't they shuttering eOne? I could have swore that was one of the news bits since Jan.

Edit: Hasbro Seeing “Strong Interest” From Potential Buyers Of eOne, CEO Says, Hinting Deal Could Be Finalized By Spring

 

[jerryrice4949]

Granted this is all speculation and just how it looks to me after about 6 months of WotC's regular missteps with the community.

• The leaked early draft of the OGL sought to forbid D&D content on video - including "pantomimes" (aka TikTok). This is their opportunity to enforce that.
• Where did the fanbase organize against the OGL (and also criticism about Spelljammer and other products) - on social media platforms such as YouTube. WotC would've LOVED to shut that down. If all video creators are on their WotC's channel, that's easy.
• When they sent Kyle Brink on his goodwill tour, they put him on YouTube. Imagine having all the viewers of D&D content only watching on a D&D Channel - they can frame the message however they want.
• They recently sent private security to intimidate a YouTuber who was showing off Magic cards because they specifically wanted to control what was shown.
• Critical Role (the biggest D&D live streamers) are breaking away. If they were tied into a D&D channel, their success would be heavily monetized by Hasbro and they'd be locked into that ecosystem.
• And granted, they aren't always as antagonistic as GW, but when GW did this, they went after battle reports, painting tutorials, lore videos, and more to boost their faltering subscription channel. I would be very surprised if they're not looking at GW as a model of what to do. As a community, we need to make sure WotC knows this isn't acceptable to our community.

I don't know if I've clearly stated on here what I think of Critical Role's announcement regarding their new game releases, but I've certainly told my group and friends what I think. (I've not posted it here previously because I know many of you are big 5e fans, and I don't want to upset anybody. I'll put it in spoilers if you're curious.) I think CR just made OneD&D "DOA."

Spoiler: Critical Role RPG thoughts

I think it's dead, at least compared to what D&D has been for the past 8 years or so. It's going to be a failure of a magnitude we haven't seen in decades. It's going to drop off to levels like we saw in the TSR late 2e era.

Well that is an interesting take but I think that is likely just a projection of your own feelings about D&D/WoTC.

If I had to guess which would be more successful in 5 years I would bet on D&D.

 

[Micah Sweet]

They aren’t ’coming after’ them. It is a potential area of growth. It was inevitable when Crtiical Role indicated they were moving into streaming their own games.

I didn’t see you indicate Critical Role was coming after D&D when they jumped into publishing.

No, but they kind of are, especially now with making their own non-D&D games.

 

[sevenbastard]

I'll put it in spoilers if you're curious.) I think CR just made OneD&D "DOA."

I think maybe you are over estimating critical roles influence. D&D existed before and will exist after. Also a lot players have never even seen CR or care about it.

The biggest threat to D&D is the same as it was in the 80s trends change and people grow and change hobbies. TTRPG are hot now but will they stay hot?

Wotc wants to keep pushing the trend thus the Chanel.

Also your spoiler isn't a spoiler. You say it going to be Dead on Arival and then just expand on why you think that Basically restating the paragraph above.

 

[Retreater]

I could be wrong, but I have a feeling that Warhammer + has been struggling a bit for quality content so it will be interesting to see how this strategy plays out.

Hasbro doesn't care about quality content. They want only control of the content that's out there.

First, the arguments about the proposed changes are water under the bridge.

Not to me and many other fans.

Some people wanted to do something, they were slapped down. I don't see how that matters to what's happening now.

Those people are still in control, and it's doubtful they have simply "changed their mind" about what the goals for their corporation are. Which is, you know, to make increased money for shareholders after unprecedent years of growth in situations that no longer exist. Anything less for C-level executives is a failure.

But even if they do switch systems I think the main thing they've shown is that TTRPGs can be fun, at this point I don't think anyone knows what CR switching to a different system would do.

CR brought a lot of people to D&D. A lot of people tried Call of Cthulhu when they tried it. They have a large, passionate fanbase. I think it will be impactful IF they quit D&D and start one of their new systems.
If you start getting D&D 2024 content only on a fledgling new channel, I think that will hurt the exposure and the adoption by the community. When Nintendo did this, their sales suffered.

Maybe the 2024 edition will succeed, maybe it won't. I get that you hate WOTC, but nobody knows what the future brings.

I don't hate WotC - I love D&D. I don't like the corporate direction the game has been taking in the past few years. I think it has soulless, bad design. I think they have an anti-fan mentality.
And right, this is a thread that is very speculative. Any time we talk about the future, that's the case. What I can address is the effect that it's have on me and my games. And I don't like this direction. I think trying to bring fan content under one easily controlled umbrella gives the company too much power over something that has been traditionally nurtured in our home games.
How will this impact my friends who are streaming their game?
How will this impact the content creators I enjoy watching, who have patreons and create new classes and adventures, and provide DM tips?
What about lore channels? What about people who talk about gaming news?
WotC doesn't produce the only gaming content I enjoy. In fact, they produce less of it than others.
I'd rather watch knowledgeable streamers dissect the playtest than Jeremy Crawford's self congratulatory "this game is perfect" scripted interviews.

 

[Rabulias]

A side note to all this: I don't understand how streaming channels that are not on-demand succeed. And what benefit does it give the vendor to stream a 24-hour channel rather than on-demand? I guess there is more overhead in on-demand streaming infrastructure and software? But then there are things like Tubi, which does both for some reason? For example, I wanted to watch the last half of season one of The Nevers, which HBO licensed to Tubi. But it was on their live channel and not on-demand, and it was only a handful of times, which I could not watch (nor DVR). I was able to catch them in their (AFAICT) last run on Tubi. Maybe it's a licensing thing? If you show it a set number of times, you only pay the licensor a known amount. If you open it up to on-demand streaming, it could be viewed a greater number of times, costing more? I mean, I'm sure it's about the money. The bottom line is always the bottom line. I just don't see how this makes anyone more money than on-demand. Also, the last half of The Nevers fails to live up to the first half, IMO.

Between VCRs/DVRs and on-demand streaming, I thought the days of "appointment TV" were over (except for live events like the news, sports, the Oscars, etc.). Why is this a thing?

 

[Retreater]

Also your spoiler isn't a spoiler. You say it going to be Dead on Arival and then just expand on why you think that Basically restating the paragraph above.

That was an error in my posting. Sorry. I'll edit.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Hasbro doesn't care about quality content. They want only control of the content that's out there.

Not to me and many other fans.

Those people are still in control, and it's doubtful they have simply "changed their mind" about what the goals for their corporation are. Which is, you know, to make increased money for shareholders after unprecedent years of growth in situations that no longer exist. Anything less for C-level executives is a failure.

CR brought a lot of people to D&D. A lot of people tried Call of Cthulhu when they tried it. They have a large, passionate fanbase. I think it will be impactful IF they quit D&D and start one of their new systems.
If you start getting D&D 2024 content only on a fledgling new channel, I think that will hurt the exposure and the adoption by the community. When Nintendo did this, their sales suffered.

I don't hate WotC - I love D&D. I don't like the corporate direction the game has been taking in the past few years. I think it has soulless, bad design. I think they have an anti-fan mentality.
And right, this is a thread that is very speculative. Any time we talk about the future, that's the case. What I can address is the effect that it's have on me and my games. And I don't like this direction. I think trying to bring fan content under one easily controlled umbrella gives the company too much power over something that has been traditionally nurtured in our home games.
How will this impact my friends who are streaming their game?
How will this impact the content creators I enjoy watching, who have patreons and create new classes and adventures, and provide DM tips?
What about lore channels? What about people who talk about gaming news?
WotC doesn't produce the only gaming content I enjoy. In fact, they produce less of it than others.
I'd rather watch knowledgeable streamers dissect the playtest than Jeremy Crawford's self congratulatory "this game is perfect" scripted interviews.

This does seem to me to be more about controlling existing and forthcoming content from the community than it is about creating new content. Otherwise, you'd think they would have more new content to advertise when they made the announcement. What exactly are they filling 24-7 with?

 

[Retreater]

I think maybe you are over estimating critical roles influence. D&D existed before and will exist after. Also a lot players have never even seen CR or care about it.

You're right, there are a lot of players who don't watch it (or care about it). I don't.

But do you know who it brought in?
My wife. Her entire group that introduced her to D&D. Because my wife plays, we do it as a family activity with our foster teen, who then brought in other neighborhood teens.
And who else came in? My best friend's coworkers who asked him about D&D. He invited me to come in and run a one-shot with them. So that's like 6 players in that group, who are now all TTRPG fans.

Critical Role brought more people into the hobby than the 80s cartoon, any of the 2000s movies, or Chris Pine. I really believe that.
I don't like watching it - I don't find it entertaining.
But I can say that before CR, I couldn't find a group of 4 people to play this game. Now, I literally don't have enough time to run games for everyone who wants to play.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

This does seem to me to be more about controlling existing and forthcoming content from the community than it is about creating new content. Otherwise, you'd think they would have more new content to advertise when they made the announcement. What exactly are they filling 24-7 with?

That might take time to build up new content and some might not be ready to announce yet.