D&D General No, Hasbro Is Not Selling D&D

Might be negotiating video gaming licenses, but is not selling D&D to Chinese company Tencent.

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I wasn't going to comment on this rumour in article form--despite a 20-page-and-counting thread about it--but it seems some clarification is needed as it's all over social media and the usual click-bait YouTube channels.

First off, Dungeons & Dragons is not being sold. That's the short version.

WotC, including D&D, is Hasbro's most profitable division and, as many put it, it's 'golden goose'. Despite an article on Pandaily being entitled "Hasbro Seeks to Sell IP “DND” and Has Had Preliminary Contact with Tencent"--and much of which is a close copy of a recent YouTube video rumour--buried halfway down the article is the important paragraph:

A Tencent IEG (Interactive Entertainment Group) insider revealed that Tencent, represented by its overseas business department IEG Global, is in negotiations with the aim of acquiring a series of rights including the adaptation rights for electronic games such as DND.

That means they wish to license the D&D IP to make video games. WotC licenses the D&D IP all the time--that's why you see all those D&D lunchboxes and plushies and t-shirts and miniatures and foam dragon heads and, indeed, movies and video games. Licensing an IP is not buying an IP. Modiphius is licensing the Star Trek IP for their TTRPG; Modiphius hasn't bought Star Trek. I published the Judge Dredd TTRPG for a couple of years, but I didn't own the Judge Dredd IP.

Tencent, incidentally, owns 30% of Larian Studios, who made the recent Baldur's Gate 3 video game--under license, of course (Larian didn't buy D&D either). Tencent is a massive Chinese company known for venture capital, social media, mobile games, internet services, and more, and is one of the world's largest companies. Tencent Games is a division of the company. It has stakes in a lot of companies.

So what does WotC have to say? "We are not looking to sell our D&D IP". The following statement was sent to outlets who reached out for clarification:

We regularly talk to Tencent and enjoy multiple partnerships with them across a number of our IPs. We don't make a habit of commenting on internet rumors, but to be clear: we are not looking to sell our D&D IP. We will keep talking to partners about how we bring the best digital experiences to our fans. We won't comment any further on speculation or rumors about potential M&A or licensing deals."

So, to be clear, Hasbro is not selling D&D to a Chinese company. They are in--as always--talks to license their IP to various companies for various purposes, including electronic games, movies, and lunchboxes.
 

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It's getting ridiculous. There's so much good D&D stuff on YouTube but it's starting to get buried under this extreme negative clickbait. At this rate, eventually, it's just going to be useless.
The reason it's as bad as it is now though is because we've had multiple WotC incidents which were real, so I hope you're not suggesting the YouTubers are really "to blame" for that.

That's why this didn't happen with D&D content on YouTube earlier. The essential inducements from YouTube/Google are the same now as they were, say, three years go. You want clicks. You want eyes on your video. You want people seeing your Patreon or Kofi links or the like. Going negative and jumping on every rumour has always been a way to get some clicks, but generally when a product/IP is avoiding controversy, it's not that successful, and indeed, if people keep manufacturing fake negative stories, those get fewer and fewer clicks over time, and so people become less likely to promote.

But again, Hasbro/WotC has screwed up repeatedly and significantly, with the truly incredible OGL incident about a year ago (not long, even on the internet). Most recently of course we have Hasbro seemingly firing just as large a percentage of employees in WotC, which is making a ton of money, as in their actual loss-making divisions. Because of this, negative stories re: Hasbro/WotC are very unfortunately highly credible and attract a lot of clicks.

If WotC do well and Hasbro can avoid undermining them, this will eventually die down. People will make up fake stories or misunderstand things, they'll get clicks, but when people find out it wasn't true, they're less likely to click next time. Give it another year or two of WotC doing good, assuming the 2024 edition is really solid (let's hope - the last two playtests were not - or were at least a mixed bag) and we'll probably be back to where we were re: positive D&D content.

But if 2024 sucks or is poorly marketed, or if WotC or Hasbro do something horrible, well, it'll keep going, because it's being fuelled by negative stories that actually happend.
 






jgsugden

Legend
Man, you folks get a little honest facts thrown up on you and you give up your conspiracy theory 'just like that'?

You don't jump to claiming Morrus is in on it, that they have to say there is nothing to it in case it doesn't pan out (or contractually WotC has to say it to discourage other bidders during a negotiated exclusive bid process), or that they're saying they "are not looking to sell" because they already sold it in a secret sale?

You have no place in modern society. Or ... did you just want me to think you'd given up on the story?
 



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