Interesting. I look forward to seeing what comes of this - some thrilling ideas, no doubt, but I'm keeping myself reserved so as not to be let down should those thrilling ideas be brought into less-than-thrilling existence.
This has already been done. Go watch a video of Fantasy Grounds. I think Roll20 does it ok too.
Whatever they come up with, don't expect this aspect to change. No way they'll be giving away the AP related content for a price that is not anywhere near the price for the AP itselfcost a fortune for every AP,
They could probably do a good DnD game if they subcontracted. BeamDog is proving adept at handling the Baldur's Gate series, and Harebrained Schemes is increasingly proving capable of delivering games massively above the quality standard you'd expect from a studio so small and has proven themselves adept at using Kickstarter to fund their projects.
I would definitely suggest they add Harebrained and do more with BeamDog.
But if I were them, I'd definitely nix their own games department. Hasbro just doesn't understand video game development.
The problem with subcontracting now a days is that studios mainly use their own IP because they get to keep all the money they make. Most companies don't subcon anymore.
I am looking forward to see what D&D augmented-reality game is about and to what unexpected settings D&D will be brought for sure!!We will bring our characters and worlds to other games and experiences. What would it be like to throw fireballs as a Planeswalker in an MMO, or quest for treasure with your friends in a D&D augmented-reality game? We want to play games like this too, so we hired David Schwartz, an industry veteran with 25 years of experience leading projects at Microsoft, Electronic Arts, THQ, LeapFrog Enterprises, and Midway Games. He is building a publishing team to explore partnerships and collaborations that will bring Magic and D&D to unexpected settings, genres, and platforms
Well, no. Those are VTTs, which won't work on my ipad at the table, cost a fortune for every AP, and are full of features that I absolutely don't want like, you know, the VTT part of them. This is like me saying, "I want a mountain bike to go cycling in the woods", and someone replying, "Buy a Ducati motorbike, it is really good on motorways".