WotC Hasbro Earnings Call: WotC/BG3 carrying Hasbro

[Parmandur]

D&D is a weird brand. It has enormous name recognition, far more than, say, Magic the Gathering, which despite much higher sales remains very much a niche hobby (ask most folks about D&D and they'll have an opinion or at least know vaguely what it is, ask them about MtG and you will likely get a blank stare). I can totally see why Hasbro think that it is under-monetized, especially when they see the sales for BG3.

The good news is I don't think D&D is in any danger, regardless of what happens to Hasbro. It remains a strong and coveted brand, and even if Hasbro went under, WotC/D&D would be immediately snatched up by someone else.

I mean, worst case for Hasbro itself is that those guys who wanted to spin out WotC and turbo boost it take over. Which will probaby mean TSR substance-fueled levels of D&D product.

 

[bedir than]

I mean, worst case for Hasbro itself is that those guys who wanted to spin out WotC and turbovoost it take over. Which will probsvly mean TSR cochise fueled levels of D&D product.

This would be very bad for fans of the games, as the group that wanted to do this knows almost nothing about business or games

 

[Scribe]

So despite beating expectations for Q3 Hasbro stock went down.

Because why did it beat expectations?

 

[Parmandur]

This would be very bad for fans of the games, as the group that wanted to do this knows almost nothing about business or games

I agree.

 

[occam]

It's low page-count clearly hurt sales. Not a disaster, but enough that they increased it significantly for Planescape.

Do you have evidence to support that the low page count hurt sales of what is apparently the fastest-selling adventure product for 5th Edition?

 

[mamba]

Being forced into an abject and public apology, for racism no less, is a disaster. Far more so than if the product had simply flopped - at least then the losses would have been financial, and relatively easy to recover. But reputational damage, that's much harder to fix.

I guess we disagree on the severity of the faux pas… and going by how ‘severely’ the OGL drama still affects them to this very day, I’d argue they have recovered from the SJ one long ago already, if it ever caused any in the first place

 

[Nikosandros]

It was probably a disaster for individuals in the company, considering that there were shake-ups in leadership pretty immediately.

Do you think that Winninger paid for this mistake? Then why not Perkins as well?

 

[delericho]

Do you thing that Winninger paid for this mistake? Then why not Perkins as well?

I thought the received wisdom was that Winninger resigned in protest at the OGL thing?

 

[Scribe]

I thought the received wisdom was that Winninger resigned in protest at the OGL thing?

O believe that was the assumption.

 

[billd91]

dancing while playing the lute, like Chris Pine in the movie?

I get it, some people just look for things to be outraged about, and if you try hard enough, you will find some…

Not the same. The image was uncomfortably similar to images of minstrelsy. It was almost certainly done innocently or at least ignorantly of the possible connotation. That doesn't make it OK to include nor make the people complaining about it creating a tempest in a teapot. These are real concerns for people, even if they aren't concerns for you.