Ginny Di interviews WotC's Kyle Brink

Continuing the D&D executive producer's interview tour, gaming influencer Ginny Di asks a WotC's Kyle Brink about the OGL and other things.

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[Umbran]

There was no live action movie last year and still the Hasbro end of year meeting said Transformers is closest to being a billion dollar brand after MtG.

With respect, "closest to" does not mean it is actually close, or expected to be over that mark without a movie in the market that year.

 

[darjr]

You seemed to mention the costs of production, but seemed to leave out that there's another company in the middle that expect to make outright profit beyond those costs.

Ah.

I meant to add to the list of folks in line expecting a payout.

 

[Haplo781]

That assertion really calls for a reliable citation.

Hasbro unveils blueprint to increase profits by 50% in three years

The toyco is investing heavily in its portfolio of franchise brands, DTC business expansions and a packed 2023 entertainment lineup to reach this goal.

kidscreen.com

In addition, franchises including Dungeons & Dragons, Transformers, Peppa Pig and NERF will each execute brand plans designed to generate more than US$500 million in annual revenue by 2027. These IPs alone are expected to account for more than 50% of the toyco’s revenue each year.

 

[teitan]

Hasbro unveils blueprint to increase profits by 50% in three years

The toyco is investing heavily in its portfolio of franchise brands, DTC business expansions and a packed 2023 entertainment lineup to reach this goal.

kidscreen.com

So this implies that counter to the speculation in this thread that Transformers is NOT a 500m brand at this time except when a movie is out. The studio series toy line is not film dependent because it exists independent of a particular movie so it wouldn’t count towards revenue generated in a given year from a film release. The last film, Bumblebee, didn’t break 500 million on its own but was much smaller in budget than the first five. That was about 4 years ago. That was a much lower amount than the heyday of 500m years of the first two films. Maybe Rise of the Beasts will be a massive hit? I’m not seeing it doing well but could be. The movie does have a toyline that looks pretty cool.

 

[Parmandur]

So this implies that counter to the speculation in this thread that Transformers is NOT a 500m brand at this time except when a movie is out. The studio series toy line is not film dependent because it exists independent of a particular movie so it wouldn’t count towards revenue generated in a given year from a film release. The last film, Bumblebee, didn’t break 500 million on its own but was much smaller in budget than the first five. That was about 4 years ago. That was a much lower amount than the heyday of 500m years of the first two films. Maybe Rise of the Beasts will be a massive hit? I’m not seeing it doing well but could be. The movie does have a toyline that looks pretty cool.

The toys are perennially cool, so I'm sure they are fine.