D&D General io9: 2023 Should Have Been D&D's Best Year, Until It Wasn't

[mamba]

These Kickstarted options all have 10-15 thousand takers: the latest number suggests thst D&D has 60 million players.

no it doesn’t, that is anyone who ever played D&D during the last 50 years, the active number is probably more like 15-20M. Still puts things into perspective.

 

[SteveC]

Is it really controversial to say that WotC didn't have the best year? About this time in 2022 we were talking about the upcoming movie and what the new edition would be about. How many self-inflicted injuries would come up this year? I know there are a number of different posters here who came into 2023 excited about the new edition who are absolutely off of it. And how many 5E compatible systems that will compete with them have come out? How much did the OGL fiasco impact a really good movie's box office? How many D&D Beyond subscriptions are being lost?

And worst of all, how many great people are no longer there? Who is actually going to make sure the new edition's rules are finalized?

 

[nevin]

I think anytime your division had a 40% boost in revenue and you still have to take the same layoff pain as the Parent company who didn't do as well, calling it a terrible year is absolutely fair.

 

[bedir than]

They are not using generative AI to create all their articles. I don't know where you heard that, but it's simply not true.

I haven't suggested that all of their articles are generative AI

So, because Gizmodo/io9, which reports on geek stuff, is a company with problems, it's not allowed to report on problems at geek companies? When they run into issues, is the proper response for them to stop covering these issues generally?

I have suggested that a company that's done much worse than Hasbro should be honest about themselves, yes

 

[EzekielRaiden]

It's also spin.

Don't think anyone knows yet how 2023 has turned out.

May be big hit financially PR wise not so much.

I think we can pretty confidently say that 2023, while it most likely turned a profit because of BG3, was not a good year for WotC. They've been made to look tone-deaf not once but twice, weakened customer confidence, and courted entirely unnecessary and self-inflicted controversy. All the while, they're (in effect) asking users to trust them about how the game is going to grow going forward, what with 5.5e coming out next year. (Not by that name, of course; they're too cowardly to admit that that's exactly what it is.)

Companies that think their customer goodwill is an inexhaustible supply pay for their foolishness, sooner or later. With the narrow margins of TTRPG profits? I wouldn't bet on WotC remaining one of the few profitable parts of Hasbro if they continue this trend. Activision-Blizzard has already learned this painful lesson and it quite clearly hurt the company dearly, even if they're still struggling on. Hasbro does not have the coffers, nor the power, to weather the same kind of storm.

Or, in a movie quote appropriated by the Language Log, "Once is cool; twice is queer." This is now a pattern. You cannot write it off as a single fluke. They'd better get their act together and demonstrate that it is not a pattern, consistently, for a good while to come.

Because the flipside of a game that is easy to get into is that it is also easy to get out of. The legions of new fans aren't attached to D&D, they're attached to the experience of playing it. And experiences very much like "playing D&D" can be acquired from other companies.

 

[Zardnaar]

I think we can pretty confidently say that 2023, while it most likely turned a profit because of BG3, was not a good year for WotC. They've been made to look tone-deaf not once but twice, weakened customer confidence, and courted entirely unnecessary and self-inflicted controversy. All the while, they're (in effect) asking users to trust them about how the game is going to grow going forward, what with 5.5e coming out next year. (Not by that name, of course; they're too cowardly to admit that that's exactly what it is.)

Companies that think their customer goodwill is an inexhaustible supply pay for their foolishness, sooner or later. With the narrow margins of TTRPG profits? I wouldn't bet on WotC remaining one of the few profitable parts of Hasbro if they continue this trend. Activision-Blizzard has already learned this painful lesson and it quite clearly hurt the company dearly, even if they're still struggling on. Hasbro does not have the coffers, nor the power, to weather the same kind of storm.

Or, in a movie quote appropriated by the Language Log, "Once is cool; twice is queer." This is now a pattern. You cannot write it off as a single fluke. They'd better get their act together and demonstrate that it is not a pattern, consistently, for a good while to come.

Because the flipside of a game that is easy to get into is that it is also easy to get out of. The legions of new fans aren't attached to D&D, they're attached to the experience of playing it. And experiences very much like "playing D&D" can be acquired from other companies.

What I'm saying is it probably hasn't hurt them much financially this year.

Might bite them in the arse next year. Not much enthusiasm online for new edition it seems.

 

[jerryrice4949]

I certainly lost interest in 7th Sea 2e as soon as I actually read the books I paid for.

Me too. I was pretty disappointed. I liked the concept and hated the execution. My group played it for less than 2 months and then abandoned it.

 

[mamba]

With the narrow margins of TTRPG profits? I wouldn't bet on WotC remaining one of the few profitable parts of Hasbro if they continue this trend.

their ‘narrow margin’ is around 40 to 50%….

 

[jerryrice4949]

their ‘narrow margin’ is around 50%….

Yes. At the volume they sell it is pretty huge. Not to mention all the revenue they get from other things like licenses with Wizkids etc.

 

[Umbran]

So, they shouldn't report on news in their coverage area, because their company isn't run well?

Oh, please, don't get hyperbolic at me.

I gave a criticism. That implies I feel they ought to do better in some way, not that they shouldn't do it.

Mind you, there's a really big question as to whether that piece counts as "reporting". It reads mostly as review and OpEd, to be honest. As an OpEd, it is kind of a person in the glass house throwing stones.