2024 D&D Core Rulebooks Off to "Strongest-Ever" Start for D&D Books

Dungeons & Dragons got a rare shoutout during Hasbro's 3rd quarter earnings report, with Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks stating that the 2024 Core Rulebooks were off to a record start. Today, Hasbro released its third quarter 2025 earnings report, with Wizards of the Coast propping up the overall revenue for the company. Wizards of the Coast is up 33% YTD, with Magic: The Gathering having a 40% jump compared to last year. However, Cocks also called out Dungeons & Dragons in his comments, speaking to both the Core Rulebooks and D&D Beyond's Maps VTT.

Cocks' full comments (which are admittedly very brief) can be found below:

The refreshed 2024 editions of D&D’s Monster Manual, Players Handbook, and DM Guide are off to the strongest-ever start for D&D books. D&DBEYOND’S new, accessible virtual tabletop has driven weekly traffic up nearly 50% since its September launch.

Hasbro is having a good year, with total revenue up 7% compared to last year. Wizards is expected to be up 36-38% for 2025, largely due to the performance of Magic: The Gathering.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Hasbro will be earning money thanks the royalties of the movies even those that could have been a bomb.

Now toys are the main source of incomes for Hasbro but the digital sales and entertaiment (movies and TV content) is growing.

* Don't you worry D&D Beyond could offer in the future free content but with advertising? For example stats from monsters or characters from a new novel, manga or videogame.

 

[Clint_L]

I'm a big proponent of the updated rules and a massive fan of DDB. I'm not shocked that it seems to be doing well. At the same time, I'm not sure that these vague statements really tell us much of anything. You'll note, for example, that they make a point of glossing up the positive impact of the VTT (Maps)...but neglect to say much about that other VTT that was originally announced as one of the three pillars of the OneD&D project.

 

[Imaro]

But yeah WotC statements are basically worthless. Latestest call isnt saying anything they didnt say 11 months ago.

I dont think theyre lying but theyre pushing the BS fairly hard.

Okay Im trying to understand this statement better... what specifically is the BS they are pushing? Will they paint sales of D&D in the best light possible...sure, but we've seen them choose not to mention it at all when its not doing great... so if it wasn't doing well, why bring attention to it at all?

 

[Imaro]

I'm a big proponent of the updated rules and a massive fan of DDB. I'm not shocked that it seems to be doing well. At the same time, I'm not sure that these vague statements really tell us much of anything. You'll note, for example, that they make a point of glossing up the positive impact of the VTT (Maps)...but neglect to say much about that other VTT that was originally announced as one of the three pillars of the OneD&D project.

Why would they bring it up... it did poorly. That isnt what you want to focus investors on... which again gives some credence to... if they bring it up, its probably meeting and more likely exceeding expectations.

 

[GreyLord]

Okay Im trying to understand this statement better... what specifically is the BS they are pushing? Will they paint sales of D&D in the best light possible...sure, but we've seen them choose not to mention it at all when its not doing great... so if it wasn't doing well, why bring attention to it at all?

I think what they mean is that their words on D&D do not really mean anything.

For example, I knew before the Core books were even released that they would boost Hasbro Sales of D&D for at least the next. year (I believe if you look far enough back you can even see my predictions on it in these very forums). That was predictable. With the numbers that had been shown prior and stated about the increasing numbers of players, if it had not boosted sales it would have indicated something had gone seriously wrong (as in absolutely disastrous).

It's going to be over the next year or two that tells the investors healthy D&D really is. Any heavy (or serious) investor in Hasbro already knew this. It was obvious. Hasbro didn't state anything that had not been obvious to these types of investors for months prior to the actual corebooks release (so, literally, this has been known for over a year, even before it actually occurred). It would only be news to a casual investor or someone not really doing their homework or really serious about these things.

I'm far more worried about this Christmas season and the impact certain things occurring (which I cannot talk about here as these are forbidden topics) in the world will have on sales. Currently, things look like they may not be as bad as many have been worried about (Halloween, for example, seems to be having good sales right now). However, there are many that are predicting a great deal of doom and gloom on the Horizon and due to the way Hasbro publishes (not just games, toys, etc) and ships, they may be in the very heart of the storm.

Nothing they said in the call or otherwise has reassured me in that arena of concern yet. It's more a wait and see what happens type of situation, or I feel it's that way.

Hopefully it's over fears of what could happen, and it turns out that instead the Consumer spends a lot more money and we have a record breaking Christmas, but there are also indications that there is an incoming hurricane of trouble on the horizon that will break either this Christmas or sometime next year.

 

[AlViking]

Why would they bring it up... it did poorly. That isnt what you want to focus investors on... which again gives some credence to... if they bring it up, its probably meeting and more likely exceeding expectations.

Companies try out products that don't succeed all the time, software projects, in particular, fail on a regular basis.. Unless it has a significant impact on their bottom line or was a major strategy focus of the company, there's not really a need to discuss it. Companies are run by people, people make mistakes all the time. In this case they made some bad investments but it wasn't a significant enough boondoggle to significantly impact the bottom line.

 

[bedir than]

I didn't read the article but is MTG actually making any money compared to Monopoly Go? I thought Monopoly Go dwarfed everything else Hasbro owns combined

Hasbro's revenue from Monopoly Go! last quarter was about 125 million (I'm not looking it up again). The game itself makes more money than that, but it's a licensed game. Hasbro only gets a cut.
D&D almost certainly outearned Monopoly Go! last quarter for Hasbro (but it didn't out profit it).

 

[TerraDave]

I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure every set of core books has outsold the previous set. The more important question is by how much, and if growth met projections or not.

Lifetime? No. 1e was the peak and each edition was less (maybe 4e did better then 3.5 but that is it) until the great 5eing. There has been several confirmations of this.

Now comparing the first year of one to the first year of another is a different story. I am sure 2024 sales have great. Will they ever 2014 lifetime sales? Unclear.

 

[Imaro]

I think what they mean is that their words on D&D do not really mean anything.

For example, I knew before the Core books were even released that they would boost Hasbro Sales of D&D for at least the next. year (I believe if you look far enough back you can even see my predictions on it in these very forums). That was predictable. With the numbers that had been shown prior and stated about the increasing numbers of players, if it had not boosted sales it would have indicated something had gone seriously wrong (as in absolutely disastrous).

It's going to be over the next year or two that tells the investors healthy D&D really is. Any heavy (or serious) investor in Hasbro already knew this. It was obvious. Hasbro didn't state anything that had not been obvious to these types of investors for months prior to the actual corebooks release (so, literally, this has been known for over a year, even before it actually occurred). It would only be news to a casual investor or someone not really doing their homework or really serious about these things.

I'm far more worried about this Christmas season and the impact certain things occurring (which I cannot talk about here as these are forbidden topics) in the world will have on sales. Currently, things look like they may not be as bad as many have been worried about (Halloween, for example, seems to be having good sales right now). However, there are many that are predicting a great deal of doom and gloom on the Horizon and due to the way Hasbro publishes (not just games, toys, etc) and ships, they may be in the very heart of the storm.

Nothing they said in the call or otherwise has reassured me in that arena of concern yet. It's more a wait and see what happens type of situation, or I feel it's that way.

Hopefully it's over fears of what could happen, and it turns out that instead the Consumer spends a lot more money and we have a record breaking Christmas, but there are also indications that there is an incoming hurricane of trouble on the horizon that will break either this Christmas or sometime next year.

So not BS... just obvious and if it's obvious it would appear successful at this stage in its release...why is anyone trying to push the narrative of '24 being a failure at this point... wouldn't that mean for many it's not obvious?

 

[Lazybones]

I think comparing sales to past editions is difficult due to the way that digital has changed everything in the tabletop space. I bought the 2024 core books in both hardcover and for my VTT of choice, and I'll probably do the same for future books that have player-facing options (e.g., "Everything"-style books). I've also gotten a ton of adventure books and supplements for that VTT that I otherwise wouldn't have bought at all in previous generations because of sales and bundle offers; that's basically free money for WotC, since the cost of moving bits is nothing compared to the cost of printing hardbound volumes. I don't personally use Beyond but most of the people I've played in-person games with do; I've never asked how many are subscribers, but the answer is obviously greater than it was for the first few decades of D&D (i.e., zero).

As long as I'm never compelled to subscribe to something to play D&D, and as long as I have the option to buy a physical book at my FLGS, I have no problem with Hasbro focusing on digital as their primary strategy. I know some folks see the current situation as presaging such a worst-case scenario (mandatory pay-to-play) being inevitable, but I just don't think that's likely.