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]

We'll see.

I doubt it. But I'll protest if they do.

They might keep selling their materials on other VTTs or they might not. However, I don't think they will allow to transfer the data for free on another VTT once they have one running and expecting to make revenue on it.

 

[tenkar]

WotC is betting BIG on digital. They are also betting big on direct-to-consumer, as the profit margins are larger by far than selling via traditional distributors.

As for FLGSs, I always hear of closings, not new openings. It's a tough market for any retailer in today's environment.

Now that OneBookShelf and Roll20 have merged, it will be interesting to see what happens with the DMs Guild in 2024.

 

[Steel_Wind]

They might keep selling their materials on other VTTs or they might not. However, I don't think they will allow to transfer the data for free on another VTT once they have one running and expecting to make revenue on it.

They don't allow that now. Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds purchases are unique to those platforms.

Foundry VTT avoids that by letting a community member's patreon importer just import it all directly from DDB without additional cost (well, other than to that patreon's modest monthly cost $3 or $6 a month - which adds up.) Mr. Primate is making GOOD MONEY on that patreon sub, I promise you - he has thousands of patreon supporters. If he had a full-time job before that patreon took off? Well, he doesn't need one now. [ To be clear, I am entirely okay with that!]

 

[darjr]

They don't allow that now. Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds purchases are unique to those platforms.

Foundry VTT avoids that by letting a community member's patreon importer just import it all directly from DDB without additional cost (well, other than to that patreon's modest monthly cost $3 or $6 a month - which adds up.) Mr. Primate is making GOOD MONEY on that patreon sub, I promise you - he has thousands of patreon supporters. If he had a full-time job before that patreon took off? Well, he doesn't need one now. [ To be clear, I am entirely okay with that!]

This is something definitely worth investigating.

edit: erk I can't word this properly.

 

[Nikosandros]

They don't allow that now. Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds purchases are unique to those platforms.

Foundry VTT avoids that by letting a community member's patreon importer just import it all directly from DDB without additional cost (well, other than to that patreon's modest monthly cost $3 or $6 a month - which adds up.) Mr. Primate is making GOOD MONEY on that patreon sub, I promise you - he has thousands of patreon supporters. If he had a full-time job before that patreon took off? Well, he doesn't need one now. [ To be clear, I am entirely okay with that!]

Yes, I'm aware of all of that. I was specifically talking about that patreon. I think that it is not unlikely that once WotC VTT will be up & running, it will be hit with C&D letter. At the beginning of 5e, WotC tolerated the existence of Forged Anvil, a very powerful free Excel sheet. When DDB begun, they very quickly shut it down.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Yes cause that's going to work so well. Implementing that would burn through any value those trinkets make. Do you really think they'll implement a reporting system solely to report DM's who won't let players use cheater items?

Not cheater items. Items that don't match the tone of the campaign.

 

[Malmuria]

I would agree that monetization for dnd won't work the same way as it does in video games. One similarity is the issue of ownership. If you buy digital terrain, minis, dice etc, your ownership of them a) could be revoked at any time and b) your ownership of them ends when your subscription ends (or if the service goes under).

 

[darjr]

Not cheater items. Items that don't match the tone of the campaign.

Didn’t we already have this debate with orcs and Dragonlance? It’s the same answer. Talk to them and if it comes to it ask them to leave or find a different group.

 

[Staffan]

Do we need to use pejoratives like labeling shareholders as "greedy"? I wish we could move away from the notion that being a profitable company somehow makes you evil. D&D used to be owned by an unprofitable company. That was not a better scenario.

I'd need to double check the composition of my mutuals, but I'm pretty sure I'm a shareholder of Hasbro. And yes, I expect them to be profitable or I'll take my investment dollars elsewhere. I don't think that makes me greedy.

Wanting a company to be profitable is one thing. Wanting it to maximize profitability is another. Profit always comes at someone's expense – usually customers being overcharged, workers being underpaid, or costs being externalized.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Didn’t we already have this debate with orcs and Dragonlance? It’s the same answer. Talk to them and if it comes to it ask them to leave or find a different group.

VTT is a different beast. People aren't paying extra money to play an orc.