D&D Movie/TV Hasbro Getting Out Of The Movie Business

While Hasbro is forging ahead with its own Dungeons & Dragons video game, following the massive success of Baldur's Gate 3, the future of its film involvement is less rosy. In an article with Bloomberg featuring Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks, it was revealed that the company won't be co-financing future movies following the underperformance of Honor Among Thieves and Transformers One.

The focus is moving towards video games. Cocks said to Bloomberg, "We want to reach fans where they want to play, and increasingly that is through digital expressions of their favorite brands".

Sony and Lions Gate will continue to make movies based on Hasbro properties, but Hasbro won't be involved in the financing.

Hasbro Confirms New Unannounced Dungeons & Dragons Video Game in Development

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks has confirmed that an in-house studio is developing an unannounced Dungeons & Dragons video game. In a feature posted today on Bloomberg News, Cocks stated that Hasbro was actively developing a Dungeons & Dragons video game via one of its in-house studios. No further...

www.enworld.org

 

[mamba]

Well, no, it is actually "easier" to get a decent hit ratio in video games...and the hits are bigger! Thing is, the logistics for films are absurd, and have tight time and physical constraints. Video games can get delayed a year for polishing, go through years of iteration...movie cannot.

movies frequently get delayed and iterated, starting with the script getting multiple rewrites to the movie getting several edits / cuts and some reshoots even months after filming got wrapped.

As to a better hit ratio, that too is at least debatable, there is a reason why so many game development studios close their doors or get sold, and it’s not all the predictable successes they keep accumulating

AAA games and blockbuster movies very much have the same dynamics and have both reached the point where they are not sustainable in their current form and environment

 

[Parmandur]

movies frequently get delayed and iterated, starting with the script getting multiple rewrites to the movie getting several edits and some reshoots even months after filming got wrapped.

As to a better hit ratio, that too is at least debatable, there is a reason why so many game development studios close their doors or get sold.

Right, they get delayed, but they xannot be worked on as functionally as a game can. The video game industry is 5 times the size of the film industry, precisely because they are more feasible. Just as a cold-blooded business move, this makes a lot of sense: better ROI, less risk, it has been much easier to set up multihigh level software studios than it would have been fir movie production (and they tried both).

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Well, I believe I had dispelled the idea that the content of the movie was the problem.

I said it was likely marketing, or market dynamics - not "poor advertising" specifically. For example, noting that it was sandwiched between two other big movies, at a time in which folks were not going to the movies often, would be market dynamics.

I am not sure what else we might look to other than content, marketing, or market dynamics. If you have another idea, I'm happy to hear it.

I agree it was a marketing failure, plus bad timing.

The emasculating a male character statement in an interview didn't help, especially since that didn't happen, but I know folks who refused to watch the movie because of that.

 

[Henadic Theologian]

Well, no, it is actually "easier" to get a decent hit ratio in video games...and the hits are bigger! Thing is, the logistics for films are absurd, and have tight time and physical constraints. Video games can get delayed a year for polishing, go through years of iteration...movie cannot.

That because of how they are making these movies, Godzilla Minus 0ne looks as good as any Hollywood multi hundred million dollar movies, better then many, yet cost 15 million.

There is so much waste it's crazy. They don't need to spend as much as they are. Look at Agatha All Along, something like 30 million dollars and it's the second most popular MCU Disney+ series for a fraction of the cost and one of the higher espode counts, beaten only by X-Men 97 l's 10 episodes I believe.

Personally I'd hire the Godzilla director to do the next D&D movie.

 

[mamba]

Just as a cold-blooded business move, this makes a lot of sense: better ROI, less risk

I disagree with that take, similar expenses, similar risk, it’s a wash. Neither blockbusters nor AAA games are sustainable in their current form.

As to the respective sizes, half of the computer games market is mobile games, various consoles 60% of the rest and the PC the remaining 20% of the market. You can make a movie once and reach ‘everyone’, that is not true for computer games (though things like Unity help with porting)

 

[Parmandur]

I disagree with that take, similar expenses, similar risk, it’s a wash. Neither blockbusters nor AAA games are sustainable in their current form.

As to the respective sizes, half of the computer games market is mobile games, various consoles 60% of the rest and the PC the remaining 20% of the market. You can make a movie once and reach ‘everyone’, that is not true for computer games (though things like Unity help with porting)

No, the costs are still lower, the profits higher, and the reach wider at this point. Video games assorted passing movies as a money investment a long time ago, and since Ocarina of Time simply make more money. And again, theybhave been able to get 6 fully operational video game studios internally (including at least one that is mobile, two of we lump in Magic Arena), whereas their attempt at an internal movie studio ended up as a tax write-off with not.much to show.

 

[mamba]

No, the costs are still lower, the profits higher, and the reach wider at this point.

wanted to edit my post, but since you replied already

“A modern AAA game with a recently approved development budget and a launch window of 2024–2025 typically costs $200 million or more, according to the CMA’s report.”

“According to the CMA report, the development budget for the next Call of Duty game has already surpassed $300 million, while the budget for Grand Theft Auto 6 is also cited as being over $250 million.”

The Costs of AAA Game Development: A Financial Analysis

Explore the financial landscape of AAA game development, analyzing the soaring budgets in notable titles. Discover the industry's strategies to cope with rising costs and ensure sustainable growth.

ejaw.net

Movies got there a little earlier, but games have caught up.

And again, theybhave been able to get 6 fully operational video game studios internally (including at least one that is mobile, two of we lump in Magic Arena), whereas their attempt at an internal movie studio ended up as a tax write-off with not.much to show.

let’s see where those 6 studios are in a handful of years. So far they are where the movie studio was a few years ago

 

[Parmandur]

wanted to edit my post, but since you replied already

“A modern AAA game with a recently approved development budget and a launch window of 2024–2025 typically costs $200 million or more, according to the CMA’s report.”

“According to the CMA report, the development budget for the next Call of Duty game has already surpassed $300 million, while the budget for Grand Theft Auto 6 is also cited as being over $250 million.”

The Costs of AAA Game Development: A Financial Analysis

Explore the financial landscape of AAA game development, analyzing the soaring budgets in notable titles. Discover the industry's strategies to cope with rising costs and ensure sustainable growth.

ejaw.net

Movies got there a little earlier, but games have caught up.


let’s see where those 6 studios are in a handful of years. So far they are where the movie studio was a few years ago

True, that exiats...but there are other examples at the top tier, like Breath of the Wild had a budget in the $50-100 million range...and keeps selling briskly today after crossing into profitability in 2017. Whereas

Honestly, the mistake is that Hasbro didn't get into video games in the 80s, not getting into them now.

 

[mamba]

crossing into profitability in 2017.

that right there is why it was cheaper than today’s games

Honestly, the mistake is that Hasbro didn't get into video games in the 80s, not getting into them now.

the first one probably was one, the jury is very much still out on the second one. I am not saying they have to fail, I do not even know what they are working on, but it is about as risky as movies

 

[Parmandur]

that right there is why it was cheaper than today’s games

Tears of the Kingdom probably had a similar budget, or smaller, and still had a gross well over a billion dollars. The thing is, some games cost as much as big Hollywood movies...but a lot that don't still make big Hollywood movie money.

Admittedly, we know that Hasbro is putting those big Hollywood numbers into their productions...and taking advantage of those recent studio closures and firings in their hiring practices.

the first one probably was one, the jury is very much still out on the second one. I am not saying they have to fail, I do not even know what they are working on, but it is about as risky as movies

No, that's the thing: it ijuat sn't as risky as movies. It often involves similar levels of big numbers, but the ROI is consistently better, barring disaster, like going after GAAS for a model.