WotC ICv2 Has A Theory That WotC Will Be Sold

[Oofta]

Hasbro bought WotC sometime around 2002-2003 I think, so more like 18 years.

This raises an interesting-if-unlikely possibility: rather than just WotC, are the contractual decks being cleared for Hasbro to be sold?

Well, Disney hasn't quite acquired every entertainment related company yet, so ... maybe?

 

[TheSword]

Hasbro bought WotC sometime around 2002-2003 I think, so more like 18 years.

This raises an interesting-if-unlikely possibility: rather than just WotC, are the contractual decks being cleared for Hasbro to be sold?

It was 1999. According to WOC’s Wikipedia site. Not that this changes my point in any way.

As to the second point... do you have any evidence for this... like... any at all?

 

[Nikosandros]

Hasbro bought WotC sometime around 2002-2003 I think, so more like 18 years.

Wizards was bought in 1999.

 

[Nikosandros]

As for the OP, it looks quite a wild hypothesis to me. As others have said, the evidence is sketchy at best.

 

[Lanefan]

It was 1999. According to WOC’s Wikipedia site. Not that this changes my point in any way.

Was it really as early as that? I stand corrected.

As to the second point... do you have any evidence for this... like... any at all?

Of course not - it's just pure conjecture on my part. That said, if it turns out that other branches of Hasbro are doing any similar contract-clearing maybe it moves beyond the realm of pure conjecture, who knows?

 

[Shiroiken]

It is very unlikely to occur, but never say never when large sums of money are involved. If someone came up with enough money, Hasbro would sell WotC in a heartbeat. However, I can't imagine anyone feeling that right now it's worth it. This kind of sale only works if the IP is in a state of flux, where the host company doesn't want the risk anymore and the purchaser is willing to take on the risk, but WotC is anything but in a state of flux. Theoretically if Hasbro was suffering from severe cash-flow issues (unlikely) they might sell off some companies, but they're much more likely to sell ones that aren't doing well, rather than ones that are almost certainly cash cows.

 

[TheSword]

Was it really as early as that? I stand corrected.

Of course not - it's just pure conjecture on my part. That said, if it turns out that other branches of Hasbro are doing any similar contract-clearing maybe it moves beyond the realm of pure conjecture, who knows?

I think what they have done is the opposite of contract clearing. It’s contract obfuscating.

 

[Lanefan]

I think what they have done is the opposite of contract clearing. It’s contract obfuscating.

At the moment. If in the end it allows WotC to get those contracts off the books sooner than they otherwise would have been able to, then it's contract clearing.

 

[tetrasodium]

Issue may be that d&d lends so much from other fantasy settings that a movie would just be generic. Also d&d's strength is its weakness, everyone is the hero in their story; sounds awful but a lot of the time I get bored listening to peoples d&d stories in real world conversations, I don't doubt for a second that for the group at the time (and if I were in on it) it would be great but as a conversation its hard to attach yourself to anything being said (even with the knowledge of how d&d is played).

I agree with this. FR & planescape don't really bring anything meaningful to a licensing agreemet for anime/tv show/movie that can't just be replaced with something else generic & undeveloped. Some of the other settings like eberron darksun & mayyybe ravenloft have enough unique specificity to them if they were more developed as something that brings meaningful value to a license if wotc quit trying to shove greyhawk/fr/planescape into them & developed them as something unique, but they haven't done that. You only need to look at how many anime series are d&d in all but name as evidence.

With that said... Unless jeff bezos has decided to launch amazon dragon I don't see d&d getting sold

 

[TheSword]

I agree with this. FR & planescape don't really bring anything meaningful to a licensing agreemet for anime/tv show/movie that can't just be replaced with something else generic & undeveloped. Some of the other settings like eberron darksun & mayyybe ravenloft have enough unique specificity to them if they were more developed as something that brings meaningful value to a license if wotc quit trying to shove greyhawk/fr/planescape into them & developed them as something unique, but they haven't done that. You only need to look at how many anime series are d&d in all but name as evidence.

With that said... Unless jeff bezos has decided to launch amazon dragon I don't see d&d getting sold

D&D is derivative by nature. What were you expecting originality? All the original things about D&D were in the original cartoon and even a lot of that was derivative.