WotC WotC Makes Over $1B In 2021!

Burnside · Feb 8, 2022

Hot take: I feel that WotC's creative talent should make slightly more money than they do.

embee · Feb 8, 2022

qstor said:
This might be sour grapes but I think this gives more "fuel to the fire" that WotC and 5e are the 900 lb gorilla of the RPG community.

I don't think that anyone can reasonably disagree with that assessment.

Being the 800 lb. gorilla is, in actuality, a value-neutral assessment of the marketplace. The gorilla is simply the dominant player in the space who must be reckoned with in order to compete. Microsoft is the 800 lb gorilla. Adobe is an 800 lb gorilla.

Say what you will about 5e, whether you like its features or if you find it flawed, etc. The fact remains that it sells, far and away, more product than the rest of its competition.

Morrus · Feb 8, 2022

Burnside said:
Hot take: I feel that WotC's creative talent should make slightly more money than they do.

How much do they make?

Willie the Duck · Feb 8, 2022

qstor said:
This might be sour grapes but I think this gives more "fuel to the fire" that WotC and 5e are the 900 lb gorilla of the RPG community.

I mean, yes and no. They were the 900 lb gorilla of the RPG community when they were 100 M. Either way, the question then becomes, 'yes, and?' Such and such other TTRPG is or isn't a fruitful endeavor regardless of how well WotC is doing. In all honesty, D&D succeeding probably helps the other systems by increasing the number of gamers (a static percentage of-which, I feel, branch off into non-D&D games).

Jer · Feb 8, 2022

embee said:
I don't think that anyone can reasonably disagree with that assessment.

Being the 800 lb. gorilla is, in actuality, a value-neutral assessment of the marketplace. The gorilla is simply the dominant player in the space who must be reckoned with in order to compete. Microsoft is the 800 lb gorilla. Adobe is an 800 lb gorilla.

Say what you will about 5e, whether you like its features or if you find it flawed, etc. The fact remains that it sells, far and away, more product than the rest of its competition.

@qstor used the word "community" not "market", which gives the statement a slightly different context. As far as the market is concerned, D&D is the market. Anyone with a game in print gets it onto game store shelves only because they already sell D&D. When D&D is performing poorly historically the whole RPG market is down. D&D is the only game that is large enough and mainstream enough to pull new players into the market these days - and honestly one of the only ones in a position to even try.

But the RPG community as a whole - that's a bit different. That includes not just publishers but players and small publishers who can't get onto store shelves and even hobbyist publishers. If you're just a player and not interested in selling games it can be somewhat disheartening that the only game that folks want to play is D&D - and if you're a small enough publisher that you aren't worried about getting onto store shelves other than itch or drivethru that attitude can feel disheartening as well.

So it's a mix. D&D is actually a gentle giant these days when it comes to traditionally marketed RPGs, and as a publisher Wizards doesn't see other publishers as competition for the most part (outside of their idiocy during the 4e GSL days) but as a game D&D eclipses everything else around it, and that can be frustrating for folks who are interested in something different.

Burnside · Feb 8, 2022

Morrus said:
How much do they make?

The national average salary for a Wizards of the Coast employee in the United States is $81,242 per year. Employees in the top 10 percent can make over $128,000 per year, while employees at the bottom 10 percent earn less than $51,000 per year.

Sources:
Working At Wizards of the Coast: Employee Reviews and Culture

354 Salaries at Wizards of the Coast Shared by Employees

Umbran · Feb 8, 2022

Morrus said:
How much do they make?

When talking about this scale, factors of ten are probably sufficient - those creators make five, maybe six, figures.

Maybe some of the creative folks ought to be making high-six to seven figures, given the value of what is produced?

HammerMan · Feb 8, 2022

Burnside said:
Hot take: I feel that WotC's creative talent should make slightly more money than they do.

I normally don't talk about money (it's like politics and not really D&D related) but this gives me a chance...

summons high horse

"If a company can make a billion dollars and a good portion of that is from a small team, that small team better make a LOT of money."
"If wotC has 100 creative employees (I doubt it) and 50 support employees (janitor payroll hr goblin interns) and each of those 100 creatives got paid 1 million dollar, and half of thos support were paid 3/4 of a million with the other half being low paid 1/2 million that would be 100 mil + 18.75 mil + 12.5 mil that would make the payroll cost $132,000,000 o 13.2% of that... lets say that overhead is expensive (it is) and cost tripple that outrageous payroll cost $396,000,000... that is stil 528,000,000 or just ove HALF A BILLION..."

"Anyone want to bet no creative at wotc make $500,0000 a year (half of the above) or even $250,0000 (1/4)... what do you think the odds are they make $100,000 a year(10% of the above)? I wonder if they make the $73,000 a year magic number for happiness."

so yeah... everyone at WotC BETTER get a BIG bonus if not a HUGE raise out of this...

HammerMan · Feb 8, 2022

Burnside said:
The national average salary for a Wizards of the Coast employee in the United States is $81,242 per year. Employees in the top 10 percent can make over $128,000 per year, while employees at the bottom 10 percent earn less than $51,000 per year.

Sources:
Working At Wizards of the Coast: Employee Reviews and Culture

354 Salaries at Wizards of the Coast Shared by Employees

damn I hate that my guess was right... top 10% are making slightly over 10% of what the lower half should be if it is that profitable...