Chris Cocks says it makes sense to move D&D to a "live service" model, but Hasbro will always make physical books

Chris Cocks isn't shy about plans to move Dungeons & Dragons to a more live service model of gaming. In a recent interview with GamesRadar, Cocks explicitly said that "it makes sense" for players to shift their mindset towards a live service due to the high amount of players using digital services, but assured the interviewer that books will still be produced by Hasbro. When asked if Wizards was moving away from books in favor of a more piecemeal release schedule, following the announcement of D&D Beyond's new Drops service. "Books will always be an important part of D&D," Cocks said. "It will always be kind of like a special totem that you can collect. I have a big bookshelf of D&D books myself."

"But we see what's happening – almost everyone who plays D&D uses D&D Beyond, like a super high percentage uses it," Cocks continued. "A very high percentage use Foundry VTT or Roll20, and so it just makes sense that you should start to migrate your thinking about the way you play to more of a live service where you don't have to wait 18 months for us to build a book. We can start to release components or aspects of that book over time, and you don't have to buy everything all at once. You can buy chapters or segments of it over time. That makes a ton of sense to me. That said we will still have big moments. We will still have like, 'hey, ta da, here's a huge campaign.' You can expect there'll be more around that, both from us and from all the creators in the world that can leverage a platform like D&D Beyond to share their content as well."

Broadly speaking, Dungeons & Dragons has always been a "live service" game, as the game's core business model involves continuously releasing new content in the form of new rulebooks or campaigns. However, it seems that Cocks is principally interested in shifting this model around more frequent releases. We'll note that the business model suggested by Cocks was already rolled out in a manner of speaking. The Dhampir species rules were released as a "digital DLC" for D&D Beyond subscribers who digitally ordered a Forgotten Realms book bundle, but a physical version of the rules are being released via the upcoming Ravenloft: The Horrors Within book. However, a la carte purchases were removed from D&D Beyond several years ago in order to force users to purchase entire books instead.

 

[payn]

Its not 'live service' in the same way if its physical media you can hold and it doesnt go poof once you stop paying for it.

I mean I have sympathy for the folks who dont seem to understand this, but its a fact that corporations have done this on purpose. I was trained on this.

They WANT you to have to pay forever. Something like oh...the Shadowdark book that you can buy and be 100% done and play forever? Thats just not great business in the modern sense.

"Oh its like Netflix, whats the problem?" Its ALL a problem, but just like a whole lot of things, I'm not going to be able to convince or save folks who have bought in. The frog is boiled at this point.

Frog aint boiled its hypnotoad!

Seriously though, I couldnt be happier with my subs.

 

[DEFCON 1]

I somewhat agree.

Though, I think it's worth mentioning that the average 15-year-old in 2026 and beyond may have less disposable income.

Yeah, but that's not our concern, that's WotC's. They are the ones for whom disposal income and where it gets spent matters and they'll be the ones needing to worry about and figure it out.

The rest of us? None of us should care (nor have any right to care) where people spend their disposable income. So if people want to get Master or Hero Tier subscriptions to DDB in order to have access to various D&D product? (General) you just have to deal with it. (General) you are going to see things (general) you won't have access to because (general) you are choosing not to spend (general) your money in that way. And if that means (general) you don't get to have as much stuff as someone else? That's just too bad. (General) you already own a crapton of D&D stuff already... just use that. Make do with what (general) you have or spend (general) your money elsewhere. WotC's doesn't care. Because the money (general) you are not spending is going to be made up several times over by all the other people who are perfectly fine with it.

Of course... that'll just results in the myriad of "I'm being left behind!" complaints... but whatever. Shake (general) your fist that the D&D sun isn't shining directly upon (general) you like (general) you should be the center of the D&D universe... go ahead, get it out of (general) your system. That's why EN World is here. The rest of us will just roll our eyes and WotC will just make their hay elsewhere.

 

[Scribe]

Seriously though, I couldnt be happier with my subs.

Hey, thats great. I think its crazy, but I grew up poor and the idea that I would pay for things which I do not own when I could just as easily own them, is just nonsense to me.

 

[payn]

Hey, thats great. I think its crazy, but I grew up poor and the idea that I would pay for things which I do not own when I could just as easily own them, is just nonsense to me.

At one point id agree with ya, but not any longer. Looking over the piles of stuff in my home I realized it was landfill mass leasing space in my abode. The Paizo AP example, sure I still have them and I could run them again, but chances are pretty slim I ever will. If I lost them it wouldnt be detrimental. I sure wouldnt mind if I paid a pittance for access in comparison.

Put it this way, if I cant afford a fast food lunch a month for access to media subs, or none of it is available anymore, something went majorly wrong. Worrying about the middle seasons of Law and Order will be the least of my worries.

 

[Argyle King]

Yeah, but that's not our concern, that's WotC's. They are the ones for whom disposal income and where it gets spent matters and they'll be the ones needing to worry about and figure it out.

The rest of us? None of us should care...

That's true. I think there are reasons why it may be a questionable business model, but it's not my job to figure that out.

There were times in the past when I felt like the game was leaving me behind or I was upset that the 'official' version was doing a different direction. But, over the years, I have become more cognizant that other games exist.

One of the things that I actually do find to be a benefit of online gaming is that it's easier now to find other people with whom to play DCC, GURPS, or whatever else it is that I enjoy than it has been in the past.

Also, a lot of smaller publishers and developers are more able to provide polished products and a steady product line with modern crowdsourcing.

I still comment and participate in conversations (like I am right now,) but I find that my time is better spent enjoying the games that I like than being upset about the ones I don't.

 

[Maxperson]

As long as I can get the content in dead tree format sometime down the line. I don't really care

When they decide to go full digital only GaS route, I'll decide if I check out or give in.

I don't think they will ever go completely digital. The moment they do is the moment third party content creators have the entire physical D&D market.

 

[Scribe]

At one point id agree with ya, but not any longer. Looking over the piles of stuff in my home I realized it was landfill mass leasing space in my abode. The Paizo AP example, sure I still have them and I could run them again, but chances are pretty slim I ever will. If I lost them it wouldnt be detrimental. I sure wouldnt mind if I paid a pittance for access in comparison.

Put it this way, if I cant afford a fast food lunch a month for access to media subs, or none of it is available anymore, something went majorly wrong. Worrying about the middle seasons of Law and Order will be the least of my worries.

I've just moved a ton of stuff into storage, or yes the landfill, and I downsized a few years ago the vast majority of hobby stuff.

I dont think its great to have stuff enter the territory of disposable but you could also resell, donate, whatever those real products to either recover costs or fund something else.

I don't know, for me I know why it doesn't make a lot of sense, and I do believe it's detrimental to the hobby, but it's also not really relevant since D&D wasn't going to get my dollar anyway.

 

[Zaukrie]

At one point id agree with ya, but not any longer. Looking over the piles of stuff in my home I realized it was landfill mass leasing space in my abode. The Paizo AP example, sure I still have them and I could run them again, but chances are pretty slim I ever will. If I lost them it wouldnt be detrimental. I sure wouldnt mind if I paid a pittance for access in comparison.

Put it this way, if I cant afford a fast food lunch a month for access to media subs, or none of it is available anymore, something went majorly wrong. Worrying about the middle seasons of Law and Order will be the least of my worries.

My kids don't want my stuff.... It's all going to be donated or in a landfill. I think people really underestimate that impact.

Sure, at some point people saying books will be gone will be right, but everyone saying that now will be long dead....I mean, I'm sure you can go back to 4e days and read about how WotC won't publish books anymore....

 

[AlViking]

That's true. I think there are reasons why it may be a questionable business model, but it's not my job to figure that out.

...

D&D is still one of the most affordable hobbies there is. I enjoy the extra bells and whistles we have now but they still aren't and they will never be required to play the game. Growing up I didn't have a lot of extra money or easy access for things like modules but that never stopped us from playing. I don't see things being much different now.

 

[Warpiglet-7]

I am not their target anymore.

Very big collection of minis and terrain…all of D&D 2014 and shadowdark.

If it’s fun for others, I get it. But I am out.

Realistically, this is where it will head and ultimately most of the player base in a decade or 15 years will all be with it.

Not how I like it but it is coming. And all the digital assets with AI…you know it’s coming.