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.

 

[Gambit42]

the number is so small

You have no way of accurately ascertaining this.

 

[Scott Christian]

You have no way of accurately ascertaining this.

I do. How many D&D games do you see happening in game shops compared to PF2? How many online posts are about D&D as opposed to PF2? How many online tables are there for D&D as opposed to PF2? This is one of those times where you look up at the sky yell: "No one knows the real numbers!" When, quite literally, if you stopped looking up and looked around, you would have your "numbers."

 

[Gambit42]

I do. How many D&D games do you see happening in game shops compared to PF2? How many online posts are about D&D as opposed to PF2? How many online tables are there for D&D as opposed to PF2? This is one of those times where you look up at the sky yell: "No one knows the real numbers!" When, quite literally, if you stopped looking up and looked around, you would have your "numbers."

Where are you looking, if you traverse only 5E heavy spaces you will engage in confirmation bias. Go to RPG.net, go to r/rpg, go to Tabletop Simulator, go onto Foundry. Also my FLGS has a good number of non-5E games, and just as large of shelf space for non-D&D RPGs as they do for 5E. And in this matter its not 5E vs PF2, its 5E vs every other RPG in existence.

 

[Dire Bare]

Where are you looking, if you traverse only 5E heavy spaces you will engage in confirmation bias. Go to RPG.net, go to r/rpg, go to Tabletop Simulator, go onto Foundry. Also my FLGS has a good number of non-5E games, and just as large of shelf space for non-D&D RPGs as they do for 5E. And in this matter its not 5E vs PF2, its 5E vs every other RPG in existence.

I might be missing something here, but . . . are you arguing that D&D 5E play and interest DOESN'T dwarf all other tabletop RPG games? Because it does, by a long mile.

There are tons of other wonderful TTRPGs out there with passionate player communities . . . but in numbers, none of them hold a candle to D&D 5E, not even collectively. Not even Pathfinder.

 

[TheSword]

Wow. Two people have now posted that ENworld is the current Headquarters of We-Love-WotC-Inc.

I nearly fell of my chair. The general sentiment I see repeated is down-with-WotC and Vive La Revolution!

Sly Flourish has generated 20 pages of shock horror simply for having the temerity to suggest things aren’t quite as bad as they were presumed they would be 3 years ago.

 

[mamba]

Wow. Two people have now posted that ENworld is the current Headquarters of We-Love-WotC-Inc.

I nearly fell of my chair. The general sentiment I see repeated is down-with-WotC and Vive La Revolution!

different posters…

Sly Flourish has generated 20 pages of shock horror simply for having the temerity to suggest things aren’t quite as bad as they were presumed they would be 3 years ago.

you must be reading a different thread…

 

[GreyLord]

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

??

Revenge of the Giants was released hardcover which in theory...could be in the FR (though you would assume Greyhawk, I think FR was at that point...the default for the most part)

Living Forgotten Realms was active and released books

 

[GreyLord]

On the topic...

It's a smart move to focus on digital offerings. More people are probably on their Cell Phones than reading hard copy books regularly these days (though assuredly, there are still those who read those books in hard copy, and WotC still offers books in hardcopy, so no one has lost anything in that regard).

At first I admit doubt (money spent on acquisition, how would it turn out with so much effort and money being spent on Beyond), and though I'm still not convinced it was a great move, I am beginning to see glimmers of hope in a good direction.

Regardless of whether you like the game in print, use it online, or a combination, proffering it in as many outreaches as possible should be a good idea of spreading the brand.

 

[MichaelSomething]

Wow. Two people have now posted that ENworld is the current Headquarters of We-Love-WotC-Inc.

I nearly fell of my chair. The general sentiment I see repeated is down-with-WotC and Vive La Revolution!

Sly Flourish has generated 20 pages of shock horror simply for having the temerity to suggest things aren’t quite as bad as they were presumed they would be 3 years ago.

Well my attempts to rally the anti WOTC forces never seem to work D:

D&D General Thread 'Why Enworld should liberate D&D from Hasbro'

Oct 18, 2025

I studied this market.
Dungeons and Dragons has less then an eighteen percent chance of surviving the next two decades without the loss of millions of games.
This is not a threat; this is the truth.
The powerful of this game destroy their own past time, stripping its resources for themselves.
Many unique playstyles will soon be unplayable due to corporate greed.

Yet here some are, posts and arguments worried about stopping me instead of stopping Hasbro.
Enworld has the knowledge to repair the rules, run the games, and punish the munchkins.
Enworld could save more games in a single year...

• MichaelSomething
• Replies: 641
• Forum: *Dungeons & Dragons

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