Dungeons & Dragons Shifts to Franchise Model, Dan Ayoub Named as Head

Wizards of the Coast has shifted Dungeons & Dragons to a "franchise model," with former Senior VP of Digital Games Dan Ayoub named as the new VP of Franchise for the game. Ayoub made the announcement on LinkedIn late yesterday, announcing the shift in franchise. In Ayoub's words, the new model means that everything related to Dungeons & Dragons - books, video games, film, and TV - will now live under one roof. Ayoub stated that this model will allow for a "strong, coordinated, and well-funded approach for the franchise.

Ayoub comes from the video game industry, having worked at Microsoft for 11 years prior to jumping over to Wizards of the Coast. He notably worked on the Halo video game franchise for years, working as a Studio Head and Executive Producer of 343 Industries. He also worked as an executive producer for Ubisoft and a Game Director for The Walt Disney Company.

When first announcing his move to Wizards of the Coast back in 2022, Ayoub stated that he was a fan of both D&D and Magic: The Gathering, having played both as a child.

 

[SlyFlourish]

Some more details here:

Dungeons & Dragons Group Shifts to 'Franchise Model' Internally, Will Be Led by Ex Halo Veteran

Dungeons & Dragons has shifted to a 'franchise model' internally and will be headed by former Halo veteran Dan Ayoub.

wccftech.com

 

[Anthro78]

I don't fully understand what this means, but it being Hasbro, I await the inevitable downside.

 

[TerraDave]

Subtle choice.

 

[AlViking]

Sounds like they want to license out more official D&D products to third parties instead of trying to do things in house. I don't see that as good, bad, or even really much of a change other than giving one person a specific title. They've been franchising video games with mixed success and of course there's the mythical TV series that's in limbo because of the chaos in streaming. We also see them working more closely with third parties in DndBeyond which makes me wonder if they'll allow other companies to officially put the D&D label on books and modules.

 

[Umbran]

Sounds like they want to license out more official D&D products to third parties instead of trying to do things in house.

Well, being in traditional publishing, it isn't like they have the expertise to do TV, movies, or video games in-house. Managing those sorts of thing centrally makes a goodly amount of sense.

The title is a bit misleading, as it sounds like the brand is having the model applied, not so much the ttrpg itself.

 

[Koloth]

My early take on this is Hasbro wants a consistent brand image for all aspects of D&D going forward. What this means for existing products may prove entertaining.

 

[werecorpse]

So does that make me a Franchisee instead of a DM?

 

[DarkCrisis]

Honestly shocked they didn't do this almost immediately upon acquisition.

 

[robowieland]

Seems like they might go back to what they did at the top of 5e where they contracted out work to publishers like Green Robin and Kobold Press and then release them under their official branding.