WotC Hasbro selling D&D IP?

[Distracted DM]

Videogame rights != the complete IP

Very very true. I think the article title was clickbait (jeez, what isn't these days?)- the first sentence states video game rights. (edit: it's further down in the article)

What I don't like, however, is that people immediately dismissed the very IDEA that Hasbro might sell the Dungeons & Dragons intellectual property. Because it's possible- but 99% of people, including myself, now equate the IP with WotC... but it's an IP. They CAN sell it. The ramifications of something like that are staggering- the majority of folks on the D&D team at WotC, for one- talk about layoffs .
All the things that are attached to the playing of the D&D- DnDBeyond, DMsGuild, etc. all disrupted or ended if another company acquires it and wants to make it their own.

The reason that I don't like the "preposterous!" reaction is because I think we equate D&D, this giant of the hobby, with the hobby itself. Part of me HOPED that this would actually turn into something legit- because I thought it could be for the betterment of the hobby itself, TTRPGs, to decouple the "tabletop roleplaying is D&D" monolith. This MASSIVE new player base that has sprung up in 5e, to many of them 5e is D&D, D&D is WotC, D&D is THE TTRPG. It might just be a sliver of anarchist in me? I don't know.

I'm not stuck to this idea, but I didn't like that I realized that I equated WotC with D&D; even though I started in AD&D, by the time I was buying books it was 3e and WotC D&D.

It's an IP- that's all it is to Hasbro; if it makes sense to them to sell it, and they had a buyer, they would. Hell, Hasbro's not even sure how to make money from it- they've been planning and making moves, hiring lootbox/battlepass-experienced video game executives for WotC positions etc. but it's all still in the works. They might feel like D&D's value is at an all-time high, and that luster might fade sooner than later.

So to dismiss the idea because it just seems ludicrous because in the back of our heads WotC=D&D=TTRPG, that bothers me.

 

[mamba]

D&D is at a critical point. For the first time it has serious competition on three fronts as it releases a new edition.

three fronts? what 3 fronts? the 3 TTRPGs below? that is at best one front

They have to worry about the largest existing competitor, Pathfinder, but also new entrants Tales of the Valiant and Daggerheart.

eh, PF2 is not suddenly taking over the world, ToV is pretty much a known quantity, WotC won’t lose sleep over either

That leaves Daggerheart, personally I am not expecting much there either, ymmv

If WotC sees this as a real threat, and believes the sale of new One D&D might underperform in 2024 and the future, they might be better off selling the IP at a higher value and putting their efforts into less vulnerable options.

after investing millions in DDB and VTT? nah… also, no, Daggerheart is no real threat either

 

[Timespike]

My personal goalpost these days isn't so much "Hasbro crumbles to dust" (cathartic though that would be) but "more people are willing to play other games along with D&D."

That would be good for the hobby as a whole, I think. And some of the more popular influencers like Mike Shea, Bob World Builder, and Ginni Di are definitely nudging their audiences in that direction.

 

[Alzrius]

Very very true. I think the article title was clickbait (jeez, what isn't these days?)- the first sentence states video game rights.

It does? Because this looks like the first sentence of the article:

Speed Daily exclusively learned that the American toy company Hasbro is seeking to sell its well-known IP “Dungeons & Dragons” (referred to as “DND” below), and Tencent is one of the potential buyers.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If it sounds like a wrong strategy, when there are better options.

Maybe there are some reasons because Hasbro should talk with Tencent. Tencent is heavy metal within Epic Games and Hasbro could use Fortnite to promote not only D&D but also other franchises.

If Tencent wanted a TTRPG, they could create their own retroclone.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

1) PanDaily is a legit news site if you care about Asian tech news. That doesn't mean they're necessarily the best news site out there, but they're not some random dude in their basement or AI generated misinformation.

2) Tencent purchases video game rights to IP that other people own. As far as I know, they haven't bought up any full IPs. Even if Hasbro was willing to sell D&D wholesale, Tencent is unlikely to be in the market for such a thing.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This is a really good point. And WotC got rid of their videogame people almost entirely, correct? I know they have hired a lot of technical people (and I know one of them from back in college who is not saying anything about this at all) but those are VTT people.

They certainly dumped a bunch of them.

Lurching back and forth from "we need to be all-in on videogames" to "oh, our videogames aren't selling, get out of them" to "look at how well BG3 is doing; start pushing the videogame rights harder" is a pretty plausible scenario, given how many businesses function and how WotC has often behaved over the years.

 

[Distracted DM]

It does? Because this looks like the first sentence of the article:

Oh wow. The article's been edited. It used to read

A Tencent IEG (Interactive Entertainment Group) insider revealed that Tencent, represented by its overseas business department IEG Global, is in negotiations with the aim of acquiring a series of rights including the adaptation rights for electronic games such as DND.

OK my bad, that line is still there. It's just further down in the article- it's not the first sentence.

 

[jgsugden]

..., Daggerheart is no real threat either.

If Critical Role goes to Campaign 4 and runs it on Daggerheart - when it releases - it will be a big swing. You're underestimating the potential here. The Venn Diagram around the newest D&D players and Critical Role fans has a lot of overlap - and the newest players are the best source for expanding the brand. If you cut that smaller and spread it into Daggerheart instead....

 

[jgsugden]

To be valuable, preparation needs to be based on real data, not speculation and qualitative statements.

Right. Wait for the fire before buying that fire extinguisher. Got it. You need to know the house is on fire, not speculate it could happen. I mean - they'll let you buy the health insurance after you know you're sick, right? And life insurance should never be purchased until right before you die. No sense using flame retardant materials in construction ... there may never be a fire!

Just using basic economics and game theory: Preparation should be performed when it is cost effective. You rate probability and potential impact and then determine the cost of preparation and determine where you're best served. Especially where the cost of preparation is cheap, preparing based upon speculation is often quite sensible.