D&D General WotC Continues D&D's Advance To Digital First Brand

It's been apparent for some time that Dungeons & Dragons is moving towards a digital-first brand, centered around D&D Beyond, accompanied by a larger a shift into IP and lifestyle property.

D&D has had cartoons, toys, comics, and so on for decades, so this is not new, but the focus on these IP-based licenses appears to be gowing.

In Hasbro's latest earnings call, CEO Chris Cocks notes that the company -- by which he is referring to Hasbro, WotC, and their digital studio teams -- "delighted more than 1 billion kids, families and fans, secured partnerships that further underwrite future growth, advanced our evolution to a digital-first play and IP company and delivered record profits for our shareholders."

As we enter 2026, we view playing to Win and more importantly, the execution behind it by our Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast and digital studio teams as a clear success. Despite market volatility and a shift in consumer environment, we returned this company to growth in a meaningful way. We delighted more than 1 billion kids, families and fans, secured partnerships that further underwrite future growth, advanced our evolution to a digital-first play and IP company and delivered record profits for our shareholders.

As previously mentioned, this isn't really new information, but it is informative to see it clearly laid out by Hasbro's CEO. In the last couple of years, the company has had massive success with Baldur's Gate 3, and critical (if not commercial) success with the movie Honor Amongst Thieves. At least two D&D TV shows are currently in development--one from HBO as a sequel to Baldur's Gate 3, and another from Netflix, also set in the Forgotten Realms. In the eanrings call, Cocks notes that they have "top-tier creative partners across more than 60 active entertainment projects."

Digital sales currently make up 60% of D&D's revenue. With digital-exclusive expansions being sold on D&D Beyond, a robust virtual tabletop integration, and the bringing in of the larger third-party D&D content creators as partnered content, D&D's move towards digital-first is well underway. While there is no indication that the physical books will go away, they are slowly becoming secondary or collector's items rather than the primary product.

 

[Distracted DM]

Chaosium did this with a 5E Cthulhu sourcebook. A book I would buy in print, PDF and even on Roll20 but cannot because it is only on D&D Beyond.

Wow yeah I forgot about that one- I was bummed that it was digital-DnDB only.

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

I mean....for some people that would be a loss. I'd much prefer a 6E that did not require I log in to D&D Beyond.

How can you lose access to an edition of the game that doesn't yet exist?

 

[mamba]

Just a reminder that there have been some 1pp 5e supplements that were released as digital-only on DnDBeyond. I think the biggest drag with those is that since they're not even released on PDF, getting them in print is kind of a pain, even with the fan-made chrome extension that lets you PDF-ify your owned DDB stuff.

yeah, I am pretty much at the point where I will ignore their non-PDF digital offerings despite buying digital, just means I will get less from WotC and more for other TTRPGs…

I am fine with getting a PDF, in many ways I prefer that, but just some pages on DDB… not so much

 

[Distracted DM]

And, to a degree, I also don't feel it's a loss if the materials to play older editions of D&D are still available. No one is taking a paper-based 5th edition away, and if a theoretical 6e requires a computer to play, that's not really a loss.

I mean....for some people that would be a loss. I'd much prefer a 6E that did not require I log in to D&D Beyond.

How can you lose access to an edition of the game that doesn't yet exist?

You were talking about a hypothetical 6e, I don't really see your confusion?

 

[Artamo]

I prefer physical books to read but at the table, I still prefer D&D Beyond for general character sheet management. I’m not sure that I’m particularly worried that they’ll stop print books one day, in part because I think there’s always going to be a market segment that wants the physical book, just as there are audiophiles who want vinyl records. I’m not sure that the continued existence of physical books threatens their move to digital.

 

[SteveC]

This is really interesting. We went right from "this isn't the strategy" to "the strategy is doing wonders." I think there were a lot of people talking about this for a long time who had some really unpleasant conversations about how wrong they were.

Personally, I'd love to see WotC continue to bring in partners from VTT sites. I'd love to be able to pick things up, but D&D Beyond isn't in my future. Hopefully they'll keep partnerships going forward.

I would really like to see 5.0 released, since that's what my group is playing. We're doing it on Roll20, and I'd love to have it available elsewhere.

And yeah, I'd really love to have this available as a PDF too, but I know that's not going to happen.

I hope D&D Beyond continues to do what they hope it will but I'd say that this emphasis on digital only boxes out older customers. And when there are tech issues, I think WotC will want those books to still sell.

I am going to stay off of YouTube for a while now as I'm sure this will be all a lot of folks are talking about.

 

[Dire Bare]

I'm sorry but in terms of "best of both worlds", are you referring to this 140€ bundle of maps and DM Screen that doesn't contain the original 50-55€ book?

View attachment 429255

Yes.

You don't need this map product to enjoy the new 2024 rules. It's an add-on, an accessory. It's awesome it's available for those who want it and can afford it.