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<blockquote data-quote="Iosue" data-source="post: 7668739" data-attributes="member: 6680772">WotC and Hasbro are multi-divisional corporations.&nbsp; The divisions don't directly fund themselves, so in that sense, one can't really say that DDi or PDFs or whatever funded the 5e development and playtest.&nbsp; That was funded by whatever the budget was that WotC or Hasbro assigned to the division.That said, D&amp;D couldn't have said, &quot;Hey, we're going to go dark for a while, while we dream it all up again,&quot; and expected WotC to keep paying their salaries.&nbsp; For something like that, they would have had to make a pitch, and such a pitch would have included projected sources of revenues.&nbsp; So, DDi, reprints, edition neutral books, fiction, PDFs, and the like.&nbsp; And it wouldn't have necessarily required a huge number.&nbsp; Just enough of a steady revenue projection that the higher-ups could say, &quot;Okay, go for it.&quot;So, going into speculation about how much of that pre-5e-release revenue came from DDi versus other sources?&nbsp; I think DDi has to be a pretty strong percentage, if only because it's steady, every month.&nbsp; The reprints were limited collector's editions, so probably not quite so much.&nbsp; A fair chunk of the AD&amp;D 1e reprint revenue in particular went to the fund to build a Gygax statue in Lake Geneva.&nbsp; 4e probably began dropping steadily.&nbsp; Looking at ICv2, D&amp;D drops to 2nd place in 2nd quarter 2011, when a whole raft of Essentials products were canceled/put on hold, but maintains that position until 4th quarter 2012.&nbsp; There's brief jump back up to 2nd in 2nd quarter 2013, probably due to the AD&amp;D, Unearthed Arcana, and 3.5 reprints all being available, but afterwards D&amp;D continues to dive down to third, fourth, and eventually off the list until its triumphant return.Does that mean 4e funded 5e?&nbsp; Well, it was certainly a contributor to the D&amp;D division's revenues during that period.&nbsp; I doubt the people involved saw it that way, though.&nbsp; A while back, in a <a href="https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/564861503753318400" target="_blank">tweet</a>, Mearls said, while discussing the benefits of big companies vs. small companies:</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Iosue, post: 7668739, member: 6680772"] WotC and Hasbro are multi-divisional corporations. The divisions don't directly fund themselves, so in that sense, one can't really say that DDi or PDFs or whatever funded the 5e development and playtest. That was funded by whatever the budget was that WotC or Hasbro assigned to the division. That said, D&D couldn't have said, "Hey, we're going to go dark for a while, while we dream it all up again," and expected WotC to keep paying their salaries. For something like that, they would have had to make a pitch, and such a pitch would have included projected sources of revenues. So, DDi, reprints, edition neutral books, fiction, PDFs, and the like. And it wouldn't have necessarily required a huge number. Just enough of a steady revenue projection that the higher-ups could say, "Okay, go for it." So, going into speculation about how much of that pre-5e-release revenue came from DDi versus other sources? I think DDi has to be a pretty strong percentage, if only because it's steady, every month. The reprints were limited collector's editions, so probably not quite so much. A fair chunk of the AD&D 1e reprint revenue in particular went to the fund to build a Gygax statue in Lake Geneva. 4e probably began dropping steadily. Looking at ICv2, D&D drops to 2nd place in 2nd quarter 2011, when a whole raft of Essentials products were canceled/put on hold, but maintains that position until 4th quarter 2012. There's brief jump back up to 2nd in 2nd quarter 2013, probably due to the AD&D, Unearthed Arcana, and 3.5 reprints all being available, but afterwards D&D continues to dive down to third, fourth, and eventually off the list until its triumphant return. Does that mean 4e funded 5e? Well, it was certainly a contributor to the D&D division's revenues during that period. I doubt the people involved saw it that way, though. A while back, in a [URL="https://twitter.com/mikemearls/status/564861503753318400"]tweet[/URL], Mearls said, while discussing the benefits of big companies vs. small companies: [/QUOTE]

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