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.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

WotC has already said they want people to use their phones more easily. Why have a physical book when the Beyond version is right there in your phone? Everyone has a phon now.

WotC/Hasbro will do what makes the most financial sense. And not having to print and ship physical books might be a mighty big plus for them.

This how it has been for many years now.
I buy the book in German. I buy the rules on dndbeyond.
Why in hell should they change it if it works.
And if they find a good way to deliver a digital/physical bundle, I will gladly buy in.

 

[Parmandur]

WotC has already said they want people to use their phones more easily. Why have a physical book when the Beyond version is right there in your phone? Everyone has a phon now.

WotC/Hasbro will do what makes the most financial sense. And not having to print and ship physical books might be a mighty big plus for them.

The books are a boutique item, yes, but they are profitable and prestigous.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

The books are a boutique item, yes, but they are profitable and prestigous.

I just wonder how much longer WotC will consider it worth their while to do it themselves, rather than licenses it out to someone like Beadle and Grimm. A "Bronze Edition" of every product, as it were.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

Everyone has a phon now.

this is very class dependent. there are plenty of poor people who don't have smart phones... especially kids (aka the next generation you want to attract) Getting a PHB for birthday or Christmas seems a lot more likely then a smart phone. At the gaming store that closed we had 2 players 1 had an emergency government issue phone and the other had no phone. In my regular group right now we all have them but 2 players only got them in last few years.

My niece and nephew have had smart phones since 5th grade... my fiancés has 2 nieces and a nephew and none of them have them and only 1 isn't in HS.

 

[HammerMan]

this is very class dependent. there are plenty of poor people who don't have smart phones... especially kids (aka the next generation you want to attract) Getting a PHB for birthday or Christmas seems a lot more likely then a smart phone. At the gaming store that closed we had 2 players 1 had an emergency government issue phone and the other had no phone. In my regular group right now we all have them but 2 players only got them in last few years.

My niece and nephew have had smart phones since 5th grade... my fiancés has 2 nieces and a nephew and none of them have them and only 1 isn't in HS.

I have known many people in the last 5 years that don’t have tablets laptops or smart phones but still want to play. Most have a single family computer that is old.

 

[darjr]

WotC just sponsored an event for hobby stores to run in their game spaces. They shipped hardcopy printed material that you can't get from them digitally. DNDBeyond advertised the event several times in their email.

DNDBeyond is selling a special edition book and board game set.

Physical books are not going away anytime soon.

 

[Burnside]

I don’t think there is any, any chance of official WotC print books going away anytime soon or probably ever.

I do think there is a lot of evidence that WotC over the next few years does intend to prioritize digital content and digital play over analog play - and you do (or should) design differently if you view the user experience as primarily digital vs primarily physical.

There will always be physical books. But analog DMs and players who suspect their experience is likely to be increasingly de-emphasized by WotC, at least for the next few years, are probably correct.

 

[Waller]

this is very class dependent. there are plenty of poor people who don't have smart phones...

It's very country dependent. The US has the highest smartphone penetration in the world, with 83% in 2021, and most of those without are very young kids or the elderly (who are resistant to them). India, by comparison, has 25%. Even China is only in the 50s.

List of countries by smartphone penetration - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[darjr]

I don’t think there is any, any chance of official WotC print books going away anytime soon or probably ever.

I do think there is a lot of evidence that WotC over the next few years does intend to prioritize digital content and digital play over analog play - and you do (or should) design differently if you view the user experience as primarily digital vs primarily physical.

There will always be physical books. But analog DMs and players who suspect their experience is likely to be increasingly de-emphasized by WotC, at least for the next few years, are probably correct.

This is raw speculation. Based on things, IMHO, taken out of proportion.

Is digital a big market for them? Yes, they'd be nuts to ignore it. But that's not "ignoring" the table top.

Do they ignore tabletop magic? No. Not at all.

Do they shift away from it? No. Not at all.

It's not a zero sum game, the market of D&D.

 

[Parmandur]

This is raw speculation. Based on little that isn't taken out of proportion.

Is digital a big market for them? Yes. They'd be nuts to ignore it. But that's not "ignoring" the table top desktop.

Do they ignore tabletop magic? No. Not at all.

Do they shift away from it? No. Not at all.

It's not a zero sum game the market of D&D.

I mean, for goodness sake, they've been increasing the number of books they print.