WotC Some Takeaways From Hasbro's Latest Reports

Hasbro's latest quarterly conference call included a number of interesting details regarding Wizards of the Coast and Dungeon & Dragons.

CEO Chris Cocks reported a successful quarter, with the 2024 Player's Handbook selling 50% more copies than anticipated.

He also talked about D&D Beyond, the official D&D online platform. With 19 million registered users, he reported that a massive 60% of D&D's revenue was direct to consumer sales--as recently as 2022 when Hasbro purchased D&D Beyond from Fandom, that figure was 0%.

However, WotC's revenue was down 5% from the same period last year--and this despite Magic: the Gathering reporting a 3% increase. Tabletop sales overall were up 2%, but digital sales have dropped by a whopping 19%. Cocks attributed WotC's drop to the high peak caused by Baldur's Gate 3 last year.

• WotC down 5%
• Magic: the Gathering up 3%
• Tabletop up 2%
• Digital sales down 19%
• Total Hasbro gaming down 6%
• Toys down 10%
• Entertainment down 17% (not counting the eOne sale)

Hasbro's profit for this quarter was $223.2 million; the same period last year saw a $171.1 million loss.

 

[Morrus]

When they say digital sales are down, does that mean DNDBeyond sales are down? If so, could that have anything to do with the decision to remove a la carte sales?

I assumed it was because they’re not launching a Baldur’s Gate 3 this year, but I don’t know.

 

[mamba]

But, since licensing is not actually called out - then what would be the option here?

them not calling it out is the issue… that is like saying ‘since they were robbing a bank, what choice did they have but to bring guns’

You expect them to split out everything like Fantasy Grounds, Roll20, the various D&D game apps, and who knows how many other digital licensing deals

no, VTTs can go either way, that is essentially D&D books, I am talking about plushies, toasters, etc., and those can all be grouped together

 

[Parmandur]

them not calling it out is the issue… that is like saying ‘since they were robbing a bank, what choice did they have but to bring guns’

They...did...call it out...?

 

[Oofta]

hiding how things are really doing

When they reported things last year they were very clear about the positive impact of BG3. They aren't hiding anything.

 

[mamba]

They...did...call it out...?

no, they are not listing licenses separately, that would be calling it out. All they did is explain that digital sales are down because of BG3. The Hasbro quarterly report is designed to be inscrutable, if they wanted transparency they could be a lot clearer with next to no effort, probably even with less effort as the obfuscation adds effort on top

 

[mamba]

When they reported things last year they were very clear about the positive impact of BG3. They aren't hiding anything.

they are hiding the magnitude. If they had no intention of hiding things, they could easily be a lot more transparent in their reporting

 

[Parmandur]

no, they are not listing licenses separately, that would be calling it out. All they did is explain that digital sales are down because of BG3. The Hasbro quarterly report is designed to be inscrutable, if they wanted transparency they could be a lot clearer with next to no effort.

The income is for the division as a whole: licensing is part of that. They broke that out and explained it, particulalry to emphaiize that the TTRPG is still growing. This is all quite transparent...?

 

[mamba]

The income is for the division as a whole: licensing is part of that. They broke that out and explained it, particulalry to emphaiize that the TTRPG is still growing. This is all quite transparent...?

So let's see how far you get... what are the D&D figures and how much of that is licensing? You cannot even really get to the D&D figures the way Hasbro reports, this is intentional obfuscation

Also, when D&D was shrinking last year and could only show growth because of BG3 licensing fees they did not call that out quite as loudly, so much for transparency... they tell the story they want to tell and can get away with based on how they present the numbers

 

[Oofta]

they are hiding the magnitude. If they had no intention of hiding things, they could easily be a lot more transparent in their reporting

Why would they? The investors only care about the topline numbers, they explain the basics of what's going on if they want. But your accusation that they "hid" the BG3 numbers is simply false, they explained last year that BG3 had a significant impact.

At some point they could split off things like game licenses into a separate category but there's no reason to now for a one time occurrence. Seems to me that the only ones who see a conspiracy to deceive are people looking for any excuse to call WotC terrible.

 

[Oofta]

So let's see how far you get... what are the D&D figures and how much of that is licensing? You cannot even really get to the D&D figures the way Hasbro reports, this is intentional obfuscation

Also, when D&D was shrinking last year and could only show growth because of BG3 licensing fees they did not call that out quite as loudly, so much for transparency... they tell the story they want to tell and can get away with based on how they present the numbers

Investors don't care how D&D is doing. They really don't. They don't split out TONKA vs Playskool, they just report on how well the toy division is doing. They may call out a specific product line if it makes sense, but there is no reason for them to go into the detail you personally want.