WotC Hasbro Bets Big on D&D

During today's 'Hasbro Fireside Chat', Hasbro's Chris Cocks, chief executive officer, and Cynthia Williams, president of Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming mentioned D&D, and about betting big on its name. This was in addition to the Magic: The Gathering discussion they held on the same call.

The following are rough notes on what they said.

D&D Beyond

• Leaning heavily on D&D Beyond
• 13 million registered users
• Give them more ways to express their fandom
• Hired 350 people last year
• Low attrition

What’s next for D&D

• Never been more popular
• Brand under-monetized
• Excited about D&D Beyond possibilities
• Empower accessibility and development of the user base.
• Data driven insight
• Window into how players are playing
• Companion app on their phone
• Start future monetization starting with D&D Beyond
• DMs are 20% of the audience but lions share of purchases
• Digital game recurrent spending for post sale revenue.
• Speed of digital can expand, yearly book model to include current digital style models.
• Reach highly engaged multigenerational fans.
• Dungeons and Dragons has recognition, 10 out of 10
• Cultural phenomenon right now.
• DND strategy is a broad four quadrant strategy
• Like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings or Marvel
• New books and accessories, licensed game stuff, and D&D Beyond
• Huge hopes for D&D

What is success for the D&D Movie

• First big light up oppourtunity for 4th quadrant
• Significant marketing
• They think it’ll have significant box office
• It has second most viewed trailer at Paramount, only eclipsed by Transformers
• Will be licensed video games, some on movies
• Then follow up other media, TV, other movies, etc.
• Bullish on D&D.

 

[Nikosandros]

If they say that the brand has been under-monetized, and just recently showcased how they wanted to put out a high-end 3D VTT, then while I'll admit that there's nothing directly connecting the two, it doesn't seem like a stretch to suggest that the point of intersection is (increased) micro-transactions.

It could, but it could also mean other things. I'll admit that I've become a bit skeptical of WotC in the recent times, but it is far too early (IMHO) to say what will happen. They could just intend to push brander items, hope for the launch of a successful media franchise and have a fancy integrated VTT, while still maintaining 5e as it is currently. We'll see. A they say, hope for the best and prepare for the worse...

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

enjoyment matters more to me than quality.

Yeah, my original post explicitly said the novels might be enjoyable and no one should feel about about that.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

A lot of people don't fully appreciate just how difficult it is to produce a consistant product over the course of a year let alone over the course of many years. Hostess puts in a lot of effort into making sure the Twinkie you ate in February is just as good, in fact, identical, to the one you will eat in May, August, or in November. If you tell a Hostess food engineer (or scientist or whatever they call themselves) that they don't care about quality they'll probably be offended.

I also don't think a Hostess food engineer will assert that Twinkies are high quality pastries. They are an enjoyable food product that no one, inside Hostess or without, confuses with the best pastries on the planet.

And that's OK.

You are allowed to like things of low quality. My body is 10% Hostess cupcake.

But enjoying things shouldn't blind anyone to the fact that said things could be better. Often, a lot better.

Oh, come on, let's not go down the "there are more important things to worry about" path. Yes, there are more important things to worry about, but for people who like D&D, they can worry about this and those other more important thigns simultaneously. It's not an either/or proposition here. Second, with the monetization we've seen in other industries, video games in particular, but automobile makers who want me to buy a subscription to use the #%#%# heated seats in the car I bought from them, concerns over what WotC might do to monetize D&D are valid. And finally, we're talking about our magical pretend elf games here, if you want to go down the "aren't there more important things to worry about," yes, you're right, but there's much more important things we could be doing but that doesn't invalidate the conversation.

We're on page 32 of people largely scaring themselves about something that they have no real reason to believe is happening. The word "monetization" can mean a lot of things, but we have a cadre of folks who insist that it has to mean the worst is going to happen.

When is it going to happen? They don't know!

What are they going to do about it? No idea!

But let's be very, very upset about it!

 

[Jaeger]

Except DDB already has a recurring profit engine, its subscriptions, and it has microtransactions in the form of digital dice and selling content piecemeal.

And has been described as "under-monetized" in the fireside chat.

Actually no it wasn't. The fireside chat wasn't just about the future but about what they are currently trying to do. And no they didn't specifically say that.

Well, here is an except of what was actually said beyond the first clickbait line:

Dungeons & Dragons executives think “the brand is really under monetised”

Dungeons & Dragons' owners think the brand is "really under monetised" and have a plan to fix that in the future.

www.dicebreaker.com

“D&D has never been more popular, and we have really great fans and engagement,” Williams began. “But the brand is really under monetised.”
...
"The executives are less worried about design than installing more on-ramps for players to spend their money. Williams mentioned that while dungeon masters comprise roughly 20% of the D&D player base, they make up “the largest share of our paying players”. An investment in digital, she posits, will allow Wizards of the Coast to “unlock the type of recurrent spending you see in digital games”.

This is not mysterious.

In full for context:
Specifically at 34:08 in:

Hasbro, Inc. Webinar

December 8th, 2022 11:00am-11:45am

kvgo.com

"...digital will allow us options to create rewarding experiences post-sale that helps us unlock the type of recurrent spending you see in digital games, where more than 70% of revenue in digital games comes post-sale. The speed of digital means that we are able to expand from what is essentially a yearly book publishing model, to a reoccurring spending environment, and we're offering content that we know fans want."

Microtran$action$ for the win are in...

 

[Dire Bare]

As I recall, Art & Arcana says it was a bunch of late-stage terrible ideas, with Dragon Dice, like the collectible cards before them, being a complete flop and money sink.

Dragon Dice itself, the game, wasn't a terrible idea. It was actually a really cool game, and initially it did really well. It's how TSR managed the game, that created the problem.

This story is repeated over and over again. TSR had some amazingly talented artists and designers working and freelancing for them, creating Dungeons and Dragons, Dragon Dice, writing novels, and creating tons of fun, well-designed, popular games. TSR mismanaged just about every product they produced at some point, in some way. That's what's so frustrating about it . . . they released and then managed to kill an awful lot of good stuff over the years.

 

[darjr]

Dragon Dice itself, the game, wasn't a terrible idea. It was actually a really cool game, and initially it did really well. It's how TSR managed the game, that created the problem.

This story is repeated over and over again. TSR had some amazingly talented artists and designers working and freelancing for them, creating Dungeons and Dragons, Dragon Dice, writing novels, and creating tons of fun, well-designed, popular games. TSR mismanaged just about every product they produced at some point, in some way. That's what's so frustrating about it . . . they released and then managed to kill an awful lot of good stuff over the years.

I think a company purchased the rights and backstock a while back. I think they are not only making new dice but still selling backstock.

 

[darjr]

I think this is them and I don't see old dice on their site for sale. But they do have some of the "screens". I'm not actually sure if they are a going concern.

SFR, Inc.

SFR, owner of Dragon Dice and Daemon Dice games

sfr-inc.com

 

[Dire Bare]

I think a company purchased the rights and backstock a while back. I think they are not only making new dice but still selling backstock.

Yup. SFR. They managed to purchase the rights from WotC around 2000 or so, and they are still going! I doubt Dragon Dice has a large audience today, but they definitely have a dedicated fan base still supporting the game!

I think this is them and I don't see old dice on their site for sale. But they do have some of the "screens". I'm not actually sure if they are a going concern.

SFR, Inc.

SFR, owner of Dragon Dice and Daemon Dice games

sfr-inc.com

There is a store on their site, and yes, they are still selling Dragon Dice!

 

[GreyLord]

I also don't think a Hostess food engineer will assert that Twinkies are high quality pastries. They are an enjoyable food product that no one, inside Hostess or without, confuses with the best pastries on the planet.

And that's OK.

You are allowed to like things of low quality. My body is 10% Hostess cupcake.

But enjoying things shouldn't blind anyone to the fact that said things could be better. Often, a lot better.

We're on page 32 of people largely scaring themselves about something that they have no real reason to believe is happening. The word "monetization" can mean a lot of things, but we have a cadre of folks who insist that it has to mean the worst is going to happen.

When is it going to happen? They don't know!

What are they going to do about it? No idea!

But let's be very, very upset about it!

I AM NOT a twinkie engineer.

I can't say how high the quality is of a yellow angel food cake with a cream filling is...but if the commercials from a few years ago are to be believed...if we survive a thermonuclear war, the last food on earth to eat will be twinkies.

Good reason to store them...

 

[GDGD]

Microtran$action$ for the win are in...

Would this be much different than it's ever been? Since '74, D&D players have been given the option of buying the core rules and stopping there. OR, they could keep spending money on additional rulebooks, adventures, miniatures, dice, novels, et cetera ad infinitum. But nothing beyond the core rulebooks has ever been required. If they broaden that into a smorgasbord of (presumably) digital microtransactions, they're really just continuing a trend that's always been there.
It sounds to me like the only real differences are that (a) digital platforms allow for a much wider range of microtransactions, specifically making very small transactions feasible, and (b) they're recognizing that they want to generate more revenue from the non-DM 80% of the consumer base who isn't spending very much on the hobby.
So in the near future I can see players showing up to the table saying things like "hey, I splurged and spent 65 cents to give my character glowing red eyes", which is totally fine and in fact is great if it helps the hobby grow and thrive.