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Brand New D&D Video Game from WotC's New Acquisition Tuque Games
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<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 7842782" data-attributes="member: 58197"><p>It makes me less hopeful. Licensing was a good strategy. It was working well for Wizards.</p><p></p><p>Take 5E's electronic tools, for example: They gave that license to Trapdoor Technologies. Trapdoor Technologies failed to deliver. So Wizards yanked the license and gave it to Curse, and Curse delivered D&D Beyond, which has evolved into the best official* suite of electronic tools D&D has ever had.</p><p></p><p>If Wizards had signed a deal with Trapdoor, with money changing hands, it would have been tougher to do that--there would be pressure to justify the investment. You can call that a sunk cost fallacy, and you'd be right, but it's still a big thing in corporate decision-making. And if Wizards had bought Trapdoor, lock, stock, and barrel? You can't just walk away from that kind of investment if it turns sour.</p><p></p><p>Now, any time some studio wants to license the D&D IP, the decision will be colored by "Is this going to compete with our in-house offerings?" And WotC's track record for in-house offerings is not exactly stellar. This has the feel of empire-building: D&D is going like gangbusters, the money is rolling in after the long winter of yearly layoffs, and folks are looking for ways to spend that cash... not always well-considered ones.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 12px">*I emphasize "official." I'm not picking on your favorite indie offering!</span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 7842782, member: 58197"] It makes me less hopeful. Licensing was a good strategy. It was working well for Wizards. Take 5E's electronic tools, for example: They gave that license to Trapdoor Technologies. Trapdoor Technologies failed to deliver. So Wizards yanked the license and gave it to Curse, and Curse delivered D&D Beyond, which has evolved into the best official* suite of electronic tools D&D has ever had. If Wizards had signed a deal with Trapdoor, with money changing hands, it would have been tougher to do that--there would be pressure to justify the investment. You can call that a sunk cost fallacy, and you'd be right, but it's still a big thing in corporate decision-making. And if Wizards had bought Trapdoor, lock, stock, and barrel? You can't just walk away from that kind of investment if it turns sour. Now, any time some studio wants to license the D&D IP, the decision will be colored by "Is this going to compete with our in-house offerings?" And WotC's track record for in-house offerings is not exactly stellar. This has the feel of empire-building: D&D is going like gangbusters, the money is rolling in after the long winter of yearly layoffs, and folks are looking for ways to spend that cash... not always well-considered ones. [SIZE=3]*I emphasize "official." I'm not picking on your favorite indie offering![/SIZE] [/QUOTE]
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