[Updated] Chris Sims & Jennifer Clarke Wilkes Let Go From WotC

The details are unclear, but D&D editor Chris Sims has reported that he is now in need of a job, and is willing to relocate. He was hired by WotC in 2005 after working for them as a freelance editor. Part of the D&D 5E launch, he was one of the editors for the Player's Handbook and Dungeon Master's Guide, and was responsible for stat block development in the Monster Manual. The reasons have not been revealed, nor is it clear whether he left or was laid off.

Whether this is an isolated thing or part of more layoffs if unclear right now. More if I hear anything! In the meantime, if you can hire an excellent writer and editor, please do!

For more on ex-WotC employees, please check my list here!

UPDATE: Jennifer Clarke Wilkes is also in the same boat. She has worked on both D&D as an editor and on Magic: the Gathering, and has been working for WotC for many years.

UPDATE 2: Chris Sims confirms here that he and Jennifer were both laid off.

 

[Chocolategravy]

This is how companies reward you for a highly successful product launch.

 

[Sacrosanct]

This is how companies reward you for a highly successful product launch.

How many 5e products have you bought?

 

[Mistwell]

I've gotten confirmation now from at least one former WOTC employee that this was a layoff.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

These things happen. Hopefully they can find stable work.

 

[Mark CMG]

And you know this how? All three of the core rulebooks have been in the Amazon top 100 at one point, with the PHB still there 5 months after launch. They also sold out for a period at all local shops around here, and I've heard that was true most places. No official numbers, but everything points to a successful 5e launch.

Yeah, I think every D&D edition launch has been a success. I don't think the brand owner is ever satisfied with the numbers and I don't think anyone associated with the brand would ever say it wasn't a great success. But what are the particulars leading any one person to see something as a success, or not as successful as expected? I'm going by the events listings at conventions and gamedays I monitor, mostly around the US but some abroad. Nothing compiled but it is simple enough for anyone to go to a handful of sites (like Warhorn.net), look around and come to their own conclusions.

I was talking to a gamestore guy this last week that told me he was having trouble moving 5E though PF was still doing brisk business (and he clearly keeps the doors open and lights on due to MtG). He told me the PF Starter still does better than the 5E Starter. I told him to push the price difference if he wanted to sell more of one than the other.

I don't know that we can judge 5E as a success or not overall until we see how it is doing one year in or so. PF continues to be successful because it has tons of support from all quarters, in-house and out, lots of oars rowing in the same direction. Thus far, 5E has very limited support, even from WotC. Unless that changes a great deal, more 5E products from somewhere and a more extensive presence for the Adventurer's League, and a lot more grassroots games being run at conventions and gamedays by fans, I'm not sure this will rise to the level where it can be called much of a success.

A success, but not much of one, is still a success. But then we start to look at other things. Is WotC still the undisputed industry leader? (I think so for now.) Is 5E's limited success a sign of industry wide failure? (Naw. All signs are that the RPG industry is doing very well with no slowing down.)

 

[Sir Brennen]

as an aspiring writer those numbers scare me a lot. How much do you need to live in a year? lets put it at a modest 25-30k (and to be honest that is still pretty poor living) how many words do you have to sell... well even at 0.05 per word that is 500,000+ words per year 9,615 words per week, or if you assume a 40hr work week 240 words per hour...

There's a quote (I think it was Stephen King) who said something like the number of writers in America who make a living off of just writing would all fit on a couch.

 

[Gecko85]

I was talking to a gamestore guy this last week that told me he was having trouble moving 5E though PF was still doing brisk business (and he clearly keeps the doors open and lights on due to MtG). He told me the PF Starter still does better than the 5E Starter. I told him to push the price difference if he wanted to sell more of one than the other.

Fair enough, but my experiences have been different. My local shops sold out of both the PHB and DMG in quick order, and their restock is now getting low as well.

And like I said before, online sales have been huge. The PHB has been in or around the top 100 on Amazon for 5 months. That's huge. That's top 100 books sold...any books. Children's books, cook books, self-help books, thrillers, you name it. And the PHB has been among the top. The DMB and MM have also done quite well.

As of right this moment, on Amazon:

PHB:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #79 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Starter Set:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #644 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

DMG:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

MM:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #244 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

DM Screen:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Amazon sells a LOT of books. For these books to be in and around the top 250 for months means a lot. I don't think the PHB has been out of the top 100 much at all (unless it was sold out for a short period, as the DMG was very recently) in the 5 months since it launched. That's huge.

Here are the current Amazon numbers for Pathfinder:

Pathfinder Core Rulebook:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Pathfinder Beginner Box:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Pathfinder GameMastery Guide:

Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #38,224 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

This is not posted to start an edition war, just to show that even though one brick and mortar store owner might say that Pathfinder is selling well, but 5e is not, doesn't mean it's that way everywhere.

The one Pathfinder campaign I'm still in is winding down. We have one session left. Almost all have moved on to 5e, so that group will not be starting up another Pathfinder campaign. (Two people in the group are already in another 5e campaign...) I think a lot of people who may be thinking about trying 5e are waiting until existing campaigns wind down. That's not going to happen overnight.

 

[Sacrosanct]

There's a quote (I think it was Stephen King) who said something like the number of writers in America who make a living off of just writing would all fit on a couch.

Yeah, you've got to view writing as one of those jobs like a professional athlete or entertainer. 99.9% of the people who want to do that barely squeak by, if that.

It's one of those jobs you do because you love it, not because you want to make a good living at it. I'm speaking of very niche writing, like RPGs. It's true in general, but for niche writing, it's especially true.

 

[Sailor Moon]

Fair enough, but my experiences have been different. My local shops sold out of both the PHB and DMG in quick order, and their restock is now getting low as well.

And like I said before, online sales have been huge. The PHB has been in or around the top 100 on Amazon for 5 months. That's huge. That's top 100 books sold...any books. Children's books, cook books, self-help books, thrillers, you name it. And the PHB has been among the top. The DMB and MM have also done quite well.

As of right this moment, on Amazon:

PHB:


Starter Set:


DMG:


MM:


DM Screen:


Amazon sells a LOT of books. For these books to be in and around the top 250 for months means a lot. I don't think the PHB has been out of the top 100 much at all (unless it was sold out for a short period, as the DMG was very recently) in the 5 months since it launched. That's huge.

Here are the current Amazon numbers for Pathfinder:

Pathfinder Core Rulebook:


Pathfinder Beginner Box:


Pathfinder Advanced Player's Guide:


Pathfinder GameMastery Guide:


This is not posted to start an edition war, just to show that even though one brick and mortar store owner might say that Pathfinder is selling well, but 5e is not, doesn't mean it's that way everywhere.

The one Pathfinder campaign I'm still in is winding down. We have one session left. Almost all have moved on to 5e, so that group will not be starting up another Pathfinder campaign. (Two people in the group are already in another 5e campaign...) I think a lot of people who may be thinking about trying 5e are waiting until existing campaigns wind down. That's not going to happen overnight.

You seem to forget that a lot of people buy directly from Paizo in the form of books and PDF's.

Amazon is not a "success" measuring tool.

 

[Sacrosanct]

You seem to forget that a lot of people buy directly from Paizo in the form of books and PDF's.

Amazon is not a "success" measuring tool.

Well, it is, just not so much when making this particular comparison, for reasons you point out.



But back on topic, I think it's also worth pointing that in most businesses, you get paid for the work you're doing, not the work you did. So while 5e seems to have a had a really good release, it makes zero sense to retain all of the employees now that the work is done. You "reward" the employees by paying them a good wage and benefits for the work they are doing. But they aren't on a royalty contract to my knowledge, so if there's no work for them to do now, it doesn't make sense to keep everyone.

Anyone who's worked for a corporation usually can see this stuff coming a mile away. I work in banking, and when the market crashed in 2008, everyone knew that new applications were dropping significantly and thus there was no need to keep a huge staff of underwriters and loan processors. The work simply wasn't there. Can't blame the company for that, nor the inevitable layoffs that occured. It's no secret that WoTC was going to a light release schedule, so after the big 3 books were done, it should have been pretty clear to the WoTC employees that there would be a restructure. Especially since it appears they are outsourcing much of their adventure path stuff.

Not taking away or belittling how much it sucks for the employee, of course. Just trying to keep things in the proper perspective.