WotC Hasbro selling D&D IP?

[greymist]

I have no idea if pandaily.com is a legitimate news source, so please take this with a large grain of salt.

Hasbro Seeks to Sell IP "DND" and Has Had Preliminary Contact with Tencent - Pandaily

American toy company Hasbro is seeking to sell its well-known IP "Dungeons & Dragons", and Tencent is one of the potential buyers.

pandaily.com

The site is reporting that Hasbro is looking to sell the D&D IP, they approached Larian Studios (creators of BG3) but Larian did not have the cash but brought in Tencent which apparently owns a piece of Larian.

Again, no way to confirm the veracity of the source.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

This sounds like a repackaging of Steven Glicker's speculations (pulled straight from his ass) on Roll for Combat YouTube recently. There is no real sourcing.

 

[WisdomOfWombats]

So Hasbro has financial troubles and decides that the best way to deal with them is by selling one of the cash cows? On the fifties anniversary of that property no less? I highly doubt that. That makes sense in the very short term only, but in the long run.

 

[aco175]

Explains the delay in releasing the PHB, if they are doing it at all now.

 

[Osgood]

I find the whole thing pretty suspect. Selling off one of your best money makers seems like a pretty bad idea... of course shareholders don't tend to think past the next quarter's earnings, so I guess it's possible.

I'm sure there are some who would welcome the idea of anyone other than Hasbro having D&D, but I'd say be careful what you wish for; I'm not so sure the Chinese conglomerate that the article names (or any company with the money to buy D&D) would be a better steward of the brand.

 

[jgsugden]

So Hasbro has financial troubles and decides that the best way to deal with them is by selling one of the cash cows? On the fifties anniversary of that property no less? I highly doubt that. That makes sense in the very short term only, but in the long run.

Most companies act on short term over long term. It is bad for the company, but all the decision makers benefit from short term performance more. Investors want to pump the price of stock and then sell. Executives want their bonus. Lots of companies kill themselves in the long term so that they can nova their income now.

Toy companies do this often. They know that it one brand fails, they can just buy the one that replaces it.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

Toy companies do this often. They know that it one brand fails, they can just buy the one that replaces it.

When has Hasbro done this?

 

[Oofta]

This is likely based on a clickbait video that has no basis in fact and no evidence as @UngainlyTitan said. It's just a recycled rumor. Is it theoretically possible? Sure! Is there any evidence? None.

As far as Larian and Tencent, Larian is [EDIT] publicly traded and Tencent is a minority shareholder that holds around 30% of the stock. Tencent is an investor that owns about 30% of the company. The founder of Larian, Swen Vincke, is still the majority owner. Once again, the article makes it sound like Tencent funded BG3, it did not.

 

[Alzrius]

As far as Larian and Tencent, Larian is publicly traded and Tencent is a minority shareholder that holds around 30% of the stock.

I believe that Larian Studios is privately held, not publicly traded.

 

[Morrus]

Ugh, not this nonsense again.