D&D 5E Hypothetical: WotC goes under and Hasbro vaults D&D. Now What?

[Burnside]

What I was asking was: can WotC shut it down? They don’t own it, but lt since it is their IP I assume so?

The thread assumes WotC/Hasbro folds completely and some sort of bankruptcy litigation fiasco ensues wherein the rights to the D&D brand are locked in legal limbo and nobody can effectively own/control/use them. That would necessarily mean DMsGuild shuts down. WotC doesn't own the site, but they do have rights to all the products on it, which means those products would become inaccessible/unsellable along with the rest of anything that has the D&D brand, and no new products could be published through it.

All of the tons of 5E material published on DriveThruRPG using SRD and 3rd party content would remain available.

I think the answer to the main question asked here is that TTRPGs would go on, and there would be D&D-alikes created by various third parties, and the ones that are already prominent in the market would be best positioned to grow. But no one of them would ever dominate the market in the way that D&D has, and there would no longer be Dungeons & Dragons as the gateway drug/lingua franca of TTRPGs as we've known it.

That said, it won't happen. "Dungeons & Dragons" the brand is valuable enough that if Hasbro folded and there was an ensuing rights fiasco, a large company (think Disney-level) would step in and pay enough to unravel it and own the brand. Just like there will always be a Spider-man. Even if the company that owns it dies, "Dungeons & Dragons" has enough cultural currency at this point that SOMEBODY would pay enough to pull the brand out of legal limbo and get it into market again - though what the product attached to the name D&D would be or look like would be up for grabs.

 

[Koloth]

Initially, not much would change. All books already purchased would continue to exist. Most groups that run D&D have a decent backlog of stuff already purchased to keep things going for months if not years. New players could download copies of the recently released SRD 5.2 or purchase a printed copy of same from vendors printing hard copies(which would probably happen if WOTC branded versions became unobtainium). Used D&D book values would rise. Possible some FLGS would hang on to the last copy or so of each book as an reference library for D&D players to use.

If the vaulting lasted decades, very likely that D&D would fade to a fondly remembered niche product as other game systems took over. Most hard core "D&D or Death" type players would probably relent and play something else as the number of folks in their group slowly dwindled.

 

[mamba]

Probably but that's a WotC problem.

not really, since they canned it first

 

[overgeeked]

What happens if WotC is shuttered tomorrow and D&D the brand disappears?

We'd likely see a much bigger version of the OGL fiasco play out. Lots of fans not caring and continuing on. Most hardcore fans have shelves filled with more books than they'll be able to use in a lifetime of playing. Lots of fans who want a current, in-print version of the game will flock to other publishers and they'll bounce around a while until they find the version of the game that suits them best. Lots of fans will bow out of the hobby entirely. Lots of fans will discover the OSR and related games.

One thing that likely won't happen is a single company dominating the space. Too many creators have either used open licenses or created their own open licenses. The genie is out of the bottle as it were and won't be going back in. D&D-likes will probably always dominate, but that dominance will be split between several companies of various sizes.

 

[Zardnaar]

not really, since they canned it first

Well in that event it's because they pooped the bed.

So it really depends. If the whole economy system comes crashing down and people aren't interested in playing? It's functionally dead move on do something else.

If you can still find players keep going using existing material. I've got 3 editions I'm happy to run two or three clones and I woukd look at Pathfinder or 3.5 again if it got really dire.

 

[Uni-the-Unicorn!]

Probably but that's a WotC problem.

Not really, the premise is they have left the market or no longer exist. It is right there in the OP. So it is everyone else’s problem really

 

[Imaro]

The TTRPG hobby shrinks year after year, eventually going the way of something like model trains, as no company has the market power, brand recognition or budget to attract casual players and grow the community in the same way WotC/Hasbro did.

Hard-core ttrpg players would continue with old D&D books or move on to other games...those with an established group would be fine(at least in the short term) but those searching for players or groups will find the prospects have shrunk and continue to shrink as the amount of players replacing those that age out would diminish greatly from the D&D era.

 

[Spellslinging Sellsword]

I think Paizo would publish Pathfinder 3rd Edition which would be 5e CC SRD based.

 

[Reynard]

I think Paizo would publish Pathfinder 3rd Edition which would be 5e CC SRD based.

I bet not. I can see them deciding to dedicate resources to converting some of their most well regarded APs to 5E though, and maybe even put out a "5E Guide to Golarion".

 

[mamba]

I bet not. I can see them deciding to dedicate resources to converting some of their most well regarded APs to 5E though, and maybe even put out a "5E Guide to Golarion".

why would they wait with that until 5e is bagged, the time to do this would be right now