D&D General Dan Rawson Named New Head Of D&D

Hasbro has announced a former Microsoft digital commerce is the new senior vice president in charge of Dungeons & Dragons. Dan Rawson was the COO of Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Hasbro also hired Cynthia Williams earlier this year; she too, came from Microsoft. Of Rawson, she said "We couldn’t be bringing on Dan at a better time. With the acquisition of D&D Beyond earlier this year, the digital capabilities and opportunities for Dungeons & Dragons are accelerating faster than ever. I am excited to partner with Dan to explore the global potential of the brand while maintaining Hasbro’s core value as a player-first company.”

Rawson himself says that "Leading D&D is the realization of a childhood dream. I’m excited to work with Cynthia once again, and I’m thrilled to work with a talented team to expand the global reach of D&D, a game I grew up with and now play with my own kids.”

Interestingly, Ray Wininger -- who has been running D&D for the last couple of years -- has removed mention of WotC and Hasbro from his Twitter bio.

 

[Mark Craddock]

Deb Thomas, CFO of Hasbro after pointing out the plan to double Wizards from the 1.29 billion of 2021 by 2027. (And yes, that means D&D was 100+million in 2021)





It's time to stop pretending D&D is small. It's a major line item for a huge business.

There seems to be hints that Honor Among Thieves will have a release in greater than 4000 theaters too (but I'm too lazy to look up all the partner relationships)

The issue is how Hasbro/WotC is making that money. Magic has spent the last 2 years focusing on high ticket items to a much smaller audience and it is working but the game itself is hurting. There are quality control issues and even well produced sets like Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty and Dominaria United aren't selling or carrying the value they should. WotC relies on items like the upcoming 30th Anniversary set which is 4 boosters of reprints from Beta with different backs that cost $1000 a box and they aren't tournament legal.
Is DnD Bigger than ever? Yeah it is. But Hasbro once to double profits and deeply cut costs to get to their 2027 target and their stock lost money after the M:tG 30th anniversary announcement. Players who want to reprint the reserve list and players who don't want to reprint the reserve list actually agree that this product is terrible for everyone. The kicker is that why WPN stores get 1 to 3 boxes for free a consumer can pay $1k directly to WotC for their boxes. This is a house of cards and it won't last forever.

 

[Mark Craddock]

No. It was not. It might have taken some inspirations here and there, but it was an RPG. It was neither massive, nor online.

Character gen could be done online.

 

[Cadence]

Character gen could be done online.

Basic DNDBeyond accounts are free now, and if the DM buys exapansion stuff all the players can use it.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Which would be a good way to create a serious split in the community, and create even more of an opening for a 5E Pathfinder analogue that's a fully playable physical product.

I still wouldn't be entirely surprised if Wizards tried it, though.

Well indeed. They ignored all the indications that elements of 4E, especially the deletion of the OGL and replacement with a GSL might create a split in the community or even an alternate D&D, even though they must have considered it.

And I notice rumours that they're considering ditching the OGL again are also back. Probably just that, surely WotC learned that at least, right? But... Dawson here doesn't seem like the sort of dude to pay too much attention to company/product history, only forward-looking goals.

Basic DNDBeyond accounts are free now, and if the DM buys exapansion stuff all the players can use it.

So long as the DM is paying for a non-cheap subscription, yes.

But that's how they "get ya". That's how they got me lol.

 

[DarkCrisis]

No. It was not. It might have taken some inspirations here and there, but it was an RPG. It was neither massive, nor online.

Yeah i know that. I'm simply using MMO for its mechanics and feel of the game. Much like Dragon Age Inquisition isnt an MMO but feels like one.

As i said, MMOs were the inspiration for the game.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Based on what? Really? You have no idea, but have already decided. I hate the internet.

I literally said what it was based on lol, and you are asking me what it's based on, and saying you "hate the internet", I mean, the irony is pretty funny at least.

 

[Mark Craddock]

Basic DNDBeyond accounts are free now, and if the DM buys exapansion stuff all the players can use it.

Respectfully, my reply was about DnD 4E.

 

[Blue]

I wonder if that is why the push for a new edition, if Hasbro is pushing to be a billion dollar line they need a BIG boost, and the edition changes always are,

We've been expecting something big for the 50th Anniversary of D&D in 2024 for quite a number of years. Won't say that growing the line isn't an aspect, but the timing of this was pretty set already.

 

[Cadence]

Respectfully, my reply was about DnD 4E.

Doh! Sorry about that.

 

[Maxperson]

"Edition change" hasn't meant what you apparently think it means for quite some time now. All of the "full edition changes" in the past 20ish years have been way more substantially different from the previous editions than the OneD&D playtest is from original 5e.

Which is why it's a .5 like 3e--->3.5. 5.5 isn't a new edition, though a lot of people will call it that, but it's also not still 5e.