Part 2 has been published. Discusses Pokeman Jr Adventure Game being their best seller in 1999, discusses WOTC's success and plans for new series, movies and so on. Nothing truly revelatory but an interesting read and some details I wasn't aware of.
Yeah, but using the pandemic years in overall analysis is a sketchy proposition, because public behaviors differed so much from normal. While it would be awesome if that strength held afterwards, it would probably be wise to consider recent gains to be a short-term phenomenon, until proven otherwise.
There are dangers in using FYs 2020 and 2021 as any benchmark for future revenue projections. They are anomalous and, frankly, quite a few companies have been pulled from the brink thanks to lockdown.
Hobbies boomed during lockdown. Case in point - musical instruments.
Shifts in musical trends away from traditional forms of instrumentation, coupled with bad management decisions (fueled in no small part by declining sales) saw major companies founder, chief among them being Guitar Center, the largest musical instrument retailer in the US, and Gibson Guitars.
Guitar Center, seeing its sales flag, tried to shift to a GameStop model - pushing memberships and subscription plans, all while hemorrhaging cash through overhead (inventory and rent). It wound up filing for bankruptcy protection.
Gibson had several decades of mismanagement. This resulted in introducing products hated by its extremely loyal customer base, corner-cutting in QC that led to its main product line being viewed as inferior, and poor operations management that led to the company's factory being raided by inspectors over potential wood import violations, and poorly thought-out shifts away from the core mission to "becoming a lifestyle brand."
Both of these companies were the 800 lb gorilla in their space. Both of them wound up almost failing.
When COVID hit, resulting in lockdowns, a whole lot of people had idle time inside and idle money in their bank accounts. Many people spent it on playing the guitar. As a result, virtually every guitar retailer had boom years and all manufacturers have sold through their inventory for the next few years. Additionally, values on the second-hand market spiked, leading to higher resale values.
One company that benefitted was Etsy. Yes, Etsy.
In 2019, Etsy bought Reverb, the leading site for selling musical instruments and equipment. When the lockdown happened, sales on the site skyrocketed, leading to huge revenues for Etsy because of commissions charged.
2020 & 2021 have been anomalies. I read "non-book sales" to mean that WOTC figured that MTG was going to be its main revenue driver. But its hard to play MTG when there's a lockdown. So D&D became the main revenue driver. And D&D is, ultimately, book sales.
That's not to say that MTG is dead. One thing that will never die is speculation. If something can be collected, speculators will buy it and flip it. It was that way with sports cards and memorabilia. It's that way with guitars (and amps and effects pedals). And it's that way with CCGs.
I think the real question is whether MTG or D&D is going to be WOTCs main driver going forward. I don't think WOTC liked the news about Omicron in the least. I think that nothing scares them more than the headlines that read "New COVID Variant Spreads At Hobby Convention."
There are dangers in using FYs 2020 and 2021 as any benchmark for future revenue projections. They are anomalous and, frankly, quite a few companies have been pulled from the brink thanks to lockdown.
Hobbies boomed during lockdown. Case in point - musical instruments.
Shifts in musical trends away from traditional forms of instrumentation, coupled with bad management decisions (fueled in no small part by declining sales) saw major companies founder, chief among them being Guitar Center, the largest musical instrument retailer in the US, and Gibson Guitars.
Guitar Center, seeing its sales flag, tried to shift to a GameStop model - pushing memberships and subscription plans, all while hemorrhaging cash through overhead (inventory and rent). It wound up filing for bankruptcy protection.
Gibson had several decades of mismanagement. This resulted in introducing products hated by its extremely loyal customer base, corner-cutting in QC that led to its main product line being viewed as inferior, and poor operations management that led to the company's factory being raided by inspectors over potential wood import violations, and poorly thought-out shifts away from the core mission to "becoming a lifestyle brand."
Both of these companies were the 800 lb gorilla in their space. Both of them wound up almost failing.
When COVID hit, resulting in lockdowns, a whole lot of people had idle time inside and idle money in their bank accounts. Many people spent it on playing the guitar. As a result, virtually every guitar retailer had boom years and all manufacturers have sold through their inventory for the next few years. Additionally, values on the second-hand market spiked, leading to higher resale values.
One company that benefitted was Etsy. Yes, Etsy.
In 2019, Etsy bought Reverb, the leading site for selling musical instruments and equipment. When the lockdown happened, sales on the site skyrocketed, leading to huge revenues for Etsy because of commissions charged.
2020 & 2021 have been anomalies. I read "non-book sales" to mean that WOTC figured that MTG was going to be its main revenue driver. But its hard to play MTG when there's a lockdown. So D&D became the main revenue driver. And D&D is, ultimately, book sales.
That's not to say that MTG is dead. One thing that will never die is speculation. If something can be collected, speculators will buy it and flip it. It was that way with sports cards and memorabilia. It's that way with guitars (and amps and effects pedals). And it's that way with CCGs.
I think the real question is whether MTG or D&D is going to be WOTCs main driver going forward. I don't think WOTC liked the news about Omicron in the least. I think that nothing scares them more than the headlines that read "New COVID Variant Spreads At Hobby Convention."
Except, MTG sold like hot cakes during the pandemic. It had MTG Arena as a huge success, but even in the physical space, it broke record after record. Tournament play is not and never was the main source of revenue for MTG. Kitchen Table Magic is big of a behemoth as ever.
If I recall correctly, the exact quote is that it was the best summer salve ever. That's great, but that's the slot normally occupied by the core sets, that were focused on newer players and don't have a big track record on sales. That's not to say AFR didn't do very well. But I don't know how accurate it is to say it was on of their best sales ever. (I think it was, but the data was not really conffirmed)
If I recall correctly, the exact quote is that it was the best summer salve ever. That's great, but that's the slot normally occupied by the core sets, that were focused on newer players and don't have a big track record on sales. That's not to say AFR didn't do very well. But I don't know how accurate it is to say it was on of their best sales ever. (I think it was, but the data was not really conffirmed)
1. Nobody competes with the D&D RPG.
2. CR COULD compete, as a multifaceted media presence based on an RPG base level.
3. D&D is competing against its own success.
1. Nobody competes with the D&D RPG.
2. CR COULD compete, as a multifaceted media presence based on an RPG base level.
3. D&D is competing against its own success.
1. Nobody competes with the D&D RPG.
2. CR COULD compete, as a multifaceted media presence based on an RPG base level.
3. D&D is competing against its own success.
More or less with the addition that Hasbro/WoTC is trying the leverage D&D brand recognition to horn in on the multimedia franchise pie occupied by Disney/Marvel
I wonder about how would be a d20 Pokemon RPG. I am not kidding. It is a powerful franchise and without firearms. I guess Nintendo will want total controll and maybe to create a mash-up setting mixing all their franchises. Some 3PP have created their own version of monster-tamer setting.
My opinion is Disney wants to publish their own Marvel RPG not to sell more books, not even comics, but other licenced products. But I support the idea, because here the fandom has got total controll and they can, for example, the romance between Captain America and Black Widow become possible, or "recover forgotten" characters as Peter Parker's lost sister and daughter.
Hasbro could become a media empire as Disney or Warner, but not yet. A good franchise is not enough to earn with the movies. Not even the cinema studios know totally the secret to make money with the blockbusters, or maybe they are now too focused with other goals. And if they grow too much, the other companies will not renew the partnership deals. Hasbro can be very proud with WotC, not their blue-eyed boy, but their strategy is the digital market, the videogames.
A lot of things can happen in the year 2022, and here we should't speculate about future merger and acquisitions, although you know I love this thread. Here Hasbro should get ready for possible surprises in the economic world. Some RPG publishers could be acquired for the value of their IPs, and it wouldn't be strange because Hasbro bought WotC for the Pokemon licence. Maybe Hasbro chooses to buy some 3PP for its original IPs only to avoid other to do it before (and then produce a cartoon serie..and Mattel selling the toys).
In a future Onyx Path's franchises could be a decent rival for D&D, but they also will need time and the right choices. I mean not only World of Darkness but other titles as Pugmire, Exalted, they came from.. and Trinity Continium.
Lovecraft's myhtology is now too "public domain" and then the brand "Call of Chulthu" is not necessary. The serie "Lovecraft Country" and "In the mouth of the fear" are two examples. "7th Sea" could be adapted into an action-live production by somebody who wanted to launch an alternative of Disney's Pirates of the Caribean Sea.
www.forbes.com
