WotC Hasbro Earnings Call: WotC/BG3 carrying Hasbro

[mamba]

Larian hasn't released that many games, nothing previously with a huge budget, and nothing previously that has been a massive blockbuster hit. They where far from a sure thing.

they released 7 games before that, 3 or 4 of that since they have been on my radar, all critical and commercial successes. BG3 was a bigger scale, but they have been building up to that with every release being bigger than the one before it.

This is an indie studio working its way up to scale, with no missteps along the way. BG3 is following that trend, but due to Larian’s newfound size at a bigger scale than before, and even then it exceeded expectations, as I said. I do not think a flop was at all likely however, given Larian’s track record

If BG3 had launched three weeks later, no one would have noticed it because of Starfield.

I doubt that very much, plenty of people are still playing BG3, it did not just disappear because of Starfield. Chances are BG3 is still ahead in total sales today

 

[Oofta]

Larian hasn't released that many games, nothing previously with a huge budget, and nothing previously that has been a massive blockbuster hit. They where far from a sure thing.

If BG3 had launched three weeks later, no one would have noticed it because of Starfield.

Have you read what people are saying about Starfield? It was supposed to be massive and according to a lot of people it's just "okay" and doesn't have that much depth. According to Metacritic Starfield is 83 critics review, 6.9 player. BG3 is 96 critics review, 8.9 player.

It's not that Starfield is a bad game, but it's not living up to the hype. I will never understand why it seems some people insist on anything D&D related being successful is due to outside factors or luck. Larian simply put out a good game.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I doubt that very much, plenty of people are still playing BG3, it did not just disappear because of Starfield.

BG3 benefitted massively from word of mouth. If people had been playing Starfield, they would not have played BG3, so the word of mouth would not have been generated. This is irrespective of the quality of the games themselves. Starfield had the benefit of big-developer expectations, people would have bought it and played it anyway. It's better to be lucky than good.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Have you read what people are saying about Starfield? It was supposed to be massive and according to a lot of people it's just "okay" and doesn't have that much depth.

Because they where comparing it to BG3, which came out just a couple of weeks earlier.

 

[Oofta]

Because they where comparing it to BG3, which came out just a couple of weeks earlier.

Or ... they're giving it a lower score because the game just doesn't have interesting NPCs or long term legs. I'm not going in depth on the reviews but a lot of people were dissapointed by the game. One example is that there's the appearance of consequences to your actions, but there really isn't. Told to get money from another NPC without harming them and then killing the target? No problems! How'd you like another fetch-and-carry task!

Obviously they're comparing it to other games, that's how games are rated. Doesn't mean it lived up to the hype.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Or ... they're giving it a lower score because the game just doesn't have interesting NPCs or long term legs.

Exactly like the massively successful Skyrim. Which is what it would have been compared to, if BG3 hadn't come out first and moved the goalposts. And didn't the Starfield developers howl!

 

[Oofta]

Exactly like the massively successful Skyrim. Which is what it would have been compared to, if BG3 hadn't come out first and moved the goalposts. And didn't the Starfield developers howl!

But if both had been released at the same time or if BG3 had been released after Starfield then it likely would have had the same impact.

In any case, we don't have a crystal ball. According to critics, BG3 is a slightly better game, according to user reviews BG3 is a significantly better game. If they're released relatively close to each other that comparison is still going to be made. Larian published a game that's been better received by the consumer.

 

[Parmandur]

I wasn't aware, its not something I follow closely if at all, so youre probably right. Does Hasbro distribute Star Wars and Marvel toys nowadays?

I remember in the mid 1990s probably 1996-97 when neither GI Joe or Star Wars toys were very relevant at the time, a friend of mine and I were walking through a store and saw that Kenner was releasing GI Joe and Hasbro was releasing Star Wars 3-1/2" figures which looked like cheap knock offs from the early 80s lines. It was the oddest thing and I only saw it the one time, so its weird how these deals can work I'd assume.

I do not believe that they have exclusive licenses for either, but yup, a ton of licensed Disney product coming from Hasbro. So itnis not too weird.

 

[TwoSix]

But if both had been released at the same time or if BG3 had been released after Starfield then it likely would have had the same impact.

In any case, we don't have a crystal ball. According to critics, BG3 is a slightly better game, according to user reviews BG3 is a significantly better game. If they're released relatively close to each other that comparison is still going to be made. Larian published a game that's been better received by the consumer.

Even absent BG3, no one was going to talk about Starfield as a GOTY candidate. It's simply not memorable enough. It's a finely polished Skyrim in Space, and certainly enjoyable as that. But it's been 12 years since Skyrim, and "another Skyrim" simply isn't enough to create "generational game" buzz.

BG3 was good enough that it managed to steal GOTY thunder from the title that seemed to have it in the bag, Zelda:TotK.

 

[Hussar]

Heh, it's funny how it's so "obvious" that a game will be a smash hit, AFTER it's become a smash hit. Funny how I don't recall a single whisper about how BG3 was going to be an incredible smash hit in the, what, two year run up of beta testing that it had been doing.