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.

 

[ersatzphil]

Really? I actually find that hard to believe. Probably more like, a few, very outspoken people, are mad at the OGL saga.

I mean, I get it. It was a big deal. But there are few places on the internet more seeped in D&D than ENWorld. And I haven't seen one post about it in ages.

Speaking as someone who remains bigmad about the OGL, it’s not like there are new updates to discuss.

 

[Dire Bare]

I am not stating that D&D 5E is not the 800 lb gorilla, that is just logical common sense. Tis rather simple my ursine friend, I am stating that more people have left WotC and 5E behind than the tiny .02% pittance that Scott Christian tried to claim, between the OGL fiasco, the Pinkertons, Spelljammer, the edition change, and even those who dont like what "modern D&D" entails (regardless of whether such is with or without merit). I am also stating that the non-5E RPG scene is healthy, vibrant, and thriving, which Scott tried to insinuate was not the case. I then suggested they visit other locales within the RPG scene, which will paint a different picture and expand their horizons.

Got it. Sorry I misunderstood.

But neither of you know the numbers of folks who have decided to leave D&D 5E for another game. Certainly people have, but listening to folks kvetch on online forums is anecdotal at best.

I agree that the communities for other games are healthy, vibrant, and thriving, if they are much smaller than the community playing 5E. Lots of great games being actively supported by publishers and played by gamers today, it's a beautiful thing.

 

[Azzy]

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

There are people that for one reason or another (whether rational or irrational) hate wotc and/or current D&D and they just can't conceive that there are people different from themselves that actually like the current game. So to them, anyone that likes the current game is engaged in badwrongun and must be corporate shills or whatever and are obviously wrong and must be told so. Never mind the fact that this section of this very forum is about discussing the current D&D version and that if they wanted to discuss their favorite game, there are different sections of this forum and other forums in which to do so without trying to make everyone as miserable as they seem to be. If they want more people to play the games that they personally like, they're going about it the wrong way and instead push people away.