D&D (2024) How will WOTC monetize One D&D?

[FrogReaver]

True that but not everyone that is using D&DBeyond will be playing on the VTT. Many are tabletop players.

Sure. But IMO there’s nothing they can do to further monetize tabletop non online tables other than hoping they use/subscribe to beyond and buy the physical books.

So imo The focus will be on monetizing beyond.

 

[Reynard]

If I had to go out on a limb and guess, I'd say they would sell things people want to buy. Books for one. Maybe some minis and maps or map tiles. Dice, too. They will sell these things in physical and digital form.

Just like they have been.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I said they take away Sharing.

Part of this is as he reminded - they want to monetize D&D One like a video game with reoccurring spending.

The other part is they talked about 80% of the player base not being monetized or being under monetized. So they will do something to try to monetize that segment. Eliminating sharing or requiring a paid subscription from players for it and micro transactions are the only real paths to monetize these players.

Not the only path. They may for instance offer a basic version of the VTT for free but with a time of premium access up front. (Sort of like World of Tanks does things), to give you a taste for the shiny. You can then buy certain elements of the shiny for microtransactions but some stuff is only available to subscribers. Or the Subscribers get some of the shiny for less money.
Every couple of months they give you a reminder that there is more shiny in the form of some limited time access to shiny (pay up if you want to keep it).

 

[UngainlyTitan]

They can also sell more toys and have Hasbro make them not just licence to third parties.

 

[FrogReaver]

Not the only path. They may for instance offer a basic version of the VTT for free but with a time of premium access up front. (Sort of like World of Tanks does things), to give you a taste for the shiny. You can then buy certain elements of the shiny for microtransactions but some stuff is only available to subscribers. Or the Subscribers get some of the shiny for less money.
Every couple of months they give you a reminder that there is more shiny in the form of some limited time access to shiny (pay up if you want to keep it).

World of tanks it micro transactions with pay to win. And I said micro transactions were one path - though I see them trying both paths they could potentially just do that one.

 

[FrogReaver]

They can also sell more toys and have Hasbro make them not just licence to third parties.

They will do that too but most likely in addition to monetizing the online platform.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

World of tanks it micro transactions with pay to win. And I said micro transactions were one path - though I see them trying both paths they could potentially just do that one.

Actually I would argue that WoT is pay to reduce grind. The most effective way to spend money in Wot is to subscribe.

I think there are some very strong limits to how aggressive WoTC can be in monetisation. The game is relatively cloneable and by people other than WoTC. WoTC depends a lot on the brand image. This is a difference with video game. You can kill a game in the video game world by aggressive monetisation but come back with a near identical tile and start the process again with a different studio.
If WoTC does too much damage to the brand image it is pretty much dead.

 

[Oofta]

They will try to sell things that people want. The horror.

They're still going to sell books and swag just like they do now. DndBeyond is already a subscription model with so-called microtransactions in the form of buying new content and customized dice or cool looking character sheets. I could potentially see some more options there, things like a customized character portrait generated by an AI or other things we haven't thought of yet. I don't see dramatic changes there though.

The VTT will be where they see the most opportunity to sell people small shiny bits. There will probably a free version, a subscription version, visual add-ons and map packs. Just like every other VTT out there. They've already stated that there will be map packs with assets (that you can reuse) for published modules. You'll likely be able to just purchase the map packs and assets without purchasing the module just like you can buy just parts of books on DDB now.

Most of the new revenue is going to be game adjacent with movies, toys, other related products. When it comes to the physical game product, I could see them giving people DDB with the physical product although how that would work is still open to speculation.

 

[FrogReaver]

Actually I would argue that WoT is pay to reduce grind. The most effective way to spend money in Wot is to subscribe.

I think there are some very strong limits to how aggressive WoTC can be in monetisation. The game is relatively cloneable and by people other than WoTC. WoTC depends a lot on the brand image. This is a difference with video game. You can kill a game in the video game world by aggressive monetisation but come back with a near identical tile and start the process again with a different studio.
If WoTC does too much damage to the brand image it is pretty much dead.

It’s also pay for less grind. Then there’s the paid ammo that is pay to win.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Pay 99 cents for a +1 on that d20 roll, or $2.00 for a natural 20.