WotC Hasbro's CEO Reports OGL-Related D&D Beyond Cancellations Had Minimal Impact

Hasbro held a quarterly earnings call recently in which CEO Chris Cocks (who formerly ran WotC before being promoted) indicated that the OGL controversy had a "comparatively minor" impact on D&D's revenue due to D&D Beyond subscription cancellations. He also noted that D&D grew by 20% in 2022 (Magic: the Gathering revenues grew by an astonishing 40% in Quarter 4!)

WotC as a whole was up 22% in Q4 2022.

Lastly, on D&D, we misfired on updating our Open Gaming License, a key vehicle for creators to share or commercialize their D&D inspired content. Our best practice is to work collaboratively with our community, gather feedback, and build experiences that inspire players and creators alike - it's how we make our games among the best in the industry. We have since course corrected and are delivering a strong outcome for the community and game.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

So…would that be malice or incompetence?

In any event, I made a mistake trying to talk you in off the ledge of outrage. Carry on, if that’s what you like.

As a support to your statement. I knew I heard that one before:

Hanlon's razor is an adage or rule of thumb that states, "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Known in several other forms, it is a philosophical razor that suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior.

 

[Bill Zebub]

But we do know they wanted to go from $150M profits to $1B. I'd say that their modeling said that would be difficult if they didn't take full control of their market. But also, it was their choice to make such sky-high projections. They could have said they'd double or even triple profits in that timespan and that'd still be astounding.

So…would that be malice or incompetence?

In any event, I made a mistake trying to talk you in off the ledge of outrage. Carry on, if that’s what you like.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Double post

 

[Velderan]

Fair. I believe it was more to do with the stock + main stream press + getting roasted by the twitter mob they normally depend on. /shrug

I'd argue the mainstream press had the most to do with it. They have a movie coming out, they don't want bad press distracting from the movie hype train.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

In the corporate world, they are often hand-in-hand.



The mistake your making is thinking that I'm on a "ledge" and that this is just "outrage". Rather, it's just lost trust and a tiredness with seeing people try to gaslight others on what went down and how they went down. We're less than a month removed from this, and yet I see people going hard on justifying the exact stuff Wizards did. I wouldn't talk about it if I didn't see people basically trying to rewrite what we just went through.

I think the problem is that people use incomplete information to guess what the truth is. I think we should all admit, that we still not know what exactly went on behint the curtains.

Also I think that adding meme pictures to mock people is not helping your case.

 

[Bill Zebub]

what we just went through.

If I knew where to find/make memes, I would post “The horror…the horror…” from Apocalypse Now.

 

[Teemu]

The new OGL they tried to force on 3PP's was such an obvious trap that it seems screamingly obvious that it was an attempt to destroy them.

That absurdly open-ended content approval clause, where they could revoke the license for any publisher at any time on their judgment of the content alone (supposedly hate-based, but again, solely their judgment) and waiving any right at an outside oversight or judicial review of that would be a blank check for them to shut anyone down at any time, for any reason, with no recourse.

Then there was the explicit ability to amend or revoke the license at any time for any reason. Why would you put time and effort into producing products your company relied on when they were based on a license that could be cancelled at any time, for any reason, with no recourse whatsoever? The very fact they had rescinded the d20 STL in 2008 and that in this scenario they would have "de authorized" OGL 1.0a (after saying for ~20 years they could never do that) would mean no business in their right mind would trust WotC with a license like that.

I believe it was an attempt to protect their IP and brand instead of a clause that would've allowed them to crush competition. They don't have major competition in the tabletop RPG market because 5e is so big compared to everything else. But the stringent protection clauses make sense if you think about the fragility of brands that outside companies can make use of, even if indirectly. Hasbro owns the D&D brand and they make a lot of money off it -- yet other companies can use elements of your brand, so you have less control over it. The ability to control your brand is valuable, even if the latest attempt was shortsighted and ignored the larger context.

 

[Justice and Rule]

As a support to your statement. I knew I heard that one before:

Hanlon's razor is an adage or rule of thumb that states, "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." Known in several other forms, it is a philosophical razor that suggests a way of eliminating unlikely explanations for human behavior.

Hanlon's Razor is not a catch-all excuse for bad behavior, nor does it preclude malice done via incompetence. The outlines of what Wizards wanted to do were obvious in their strategies, and I feel it's getting harder and harder to deny it. That they backed out is a good first step, but trust is easy to lose, hard to earn. I don't think things go back to the way they were just because they were deterred, and that it'll take long-term good behavior to get me to look at Wizards positively again.

I think the problem is that people use incomplete information to guess what the truth is. I think we should all admit, that we still not know what exactly went on behint the curtains.

Also I think that adding meme pictures to mock people is not helping your case.

I'm not sure how I'm mocking him by posting the kid from the El Paso ad. Just felt appropriate. I was going to post the "Don't make me tap the sign" meme for the previous quote, but I guess that would be interpreted wrong.

If I knew where to find/make memes, I would post “The horror…the horror…” from Apocalypse Now.

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Flip through memes, gifs, and other funny images. Make your own images with our Meme Generator or Animated GIF Maker.

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[Faolyn]

If I knew where to find/make memes, I would post “The horror…the horror…” from Apocalypse Now.

 

[Bill Zebub]

You laugh, but I haven’t been this traumatized since I learned that the scarcity of some collectible Beanie Babies was intentional.