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 earnings 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.

 

[Echohawk]

There's also the Greenwood clause, if WotC doesn't publish at least one physical Forgotten Realms book per year, the IP rights to Forgotten Realms reverts to Ed Greenwood (its the entire reason why the book Ed Greenwood Presents Elminsters Forgotten Realms exists). Just like Sony and Spider-Man rights, they will obviously never allow that to happen.

The lack of a Forgotten Realms print book in 2009 makes me question the existence (or at least details) of this clause.

 

[Zardnaar]

If you read the free preview Adventure of Adventures in Faerun and the other adventures in the final hardcover it seems obvious that they're designing some of them digital first.

Claim Forgotten Realms: The Tenebrous Stone now! - D&D Beyond

www.dndbeyond.com

If you look at the map it is pretty obvious this was made for VTTs, this is quite obvious for a bunch of "modules" in the book featuring either extremely detailed or large maps that wouldn't even fit on the ginormous dry-erase Flip-Mat. There's no way in hell this makes any sense by mapping it by hand.

View attachment 429253

It feels like $HAS wants you to buy the stuff on dndbeyond and play on Maps, even if it is in-person. This shuts out piracy and secondary market sales.

I ran that on a fold out map. Didn't need to map all of it just the section/encounter.

 

[Gambit42]

The lack of a Forgotten Realms print book in 2009 makes me question the existence (or at least details) of this clause.

If I remember correctly from my days on Candlekeep, novels count, and The Ghost King (among others) was published in 2009.

 

[Echohawk]

If I remember correctly from my days on Candlekeep, novels count, and The Ghost King (among others) was published in 2009.

That's quite possible, but then this cannot also be true:

(its the entire reason why the book Ed Greenwood Presents Elminsters Forgotten Realms exists).

since there were several Forgotten Realms novels published that year too.

 

[AstroCat]

So glad we bailed on wotc neo-"d&d" at this point, my goodness what a disaster. There are so many legit better games and publishers out there, which I am very grateful that will continue the hobby for years/generations to come long after hasbro/wotc crash out totally.