WotC Hasbro Gaming Down 17% But D&D Remains 'Bright Spot'

ICv2 reports on Hasbro's latest quarterly report, noting that "Wizards of the Coast’s Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons were two bright spots in Hasbro’s Q3, an otherwise tough quarter with sales and earnings both hit by actual and threatened tariffs on goods from China".

Other notes from ICv2:

• Hasbro Gaming, which does not include franchise brands Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering, was down 17%
• Total gaming sales, including Magic and Monopoly, were roughly flat, a big change from the 26% growth in Q2
• WotC has close to a dozen [digital] games in development for delivery over the next five to six years
• Hasbro believes that WotC sales can be doubled over the next five years, “…as we’ve accomplished over the past five years.”

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Not really. Marvel is a character centered universe. D&D is just a bunch of mechanics - with a few settings and no good well known characters that have a story to tell - thus the reason it always comes off more as generic fantasy than as D&D. There's no personal investment in those characters for anyone.

Though now that we are talking about it - if they were to make a group of characters with backstories people could personally relate to - then maybe - just maybe they could pull it off.

If they want to have a successful D&D movie, it should probably be a fantasy version of Seven Samurai/Magnificent Seven. There is enough backstory to introduce the characters. There are enough characters to represent most of the classes and races. And yes, some of them will die, but hopefully the audience will care about them the way people do about the characters in the original movies who died. They would mainly have to make sure it does not come across as a mini version of either the siege of Helm's deep or Minas Tirith from the LotR movies.

A fantasy version of The Dirty Dozen would be cool too. Backstory and even more variety of characters and many of them still die for a good cause. In a fantasy version of either, a couple more could survive than in the originals, so there could be a sequel.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

They player would rather a system known by everybody but ready for some little changes.

WotC needs a second d20 line but the challenge for game designers is the right balance between enough flexibility to be universal, used for all genres, where all crossovers and mash-up ideas are possible, but also a right level of power. I would bet when they were working in the cancelled project of d20 Spectaculars they noticed something wasn't easy to work.

D20 isn't ready for a mixture of genres as fantasy vs high-tech nor anything like Mark Twain's Connecticut yankee in king Arthur's Court or GATE: Japanese Self-Defense forces fought here. I say it again: d20 isn't ready for the Magic vs Technology War.

Try to imagine this scene: a videogame studio working in an adaptation of Spelljammers, and also a real-time-strategy game and they notice firearms are cheaper than magic item, but this breaks the balance of power if some playable faction is a low-tech-level tribe (barbarians or wild elves, for example). This can be fixed if it's only PvE, but not when it is PvP with factions using different levels of magic and technology. Then everybody want to be gunslingers or spellcasters but not barbarians or paladins without ranged weapons.

 

[Hussar]

Ok. Put it this way.

Why would WotC develop a d20 game now? Granted, they did do d20 Modern and d20 Star Wars? But, for the past 20 years, that's about it. The WHOLE POINT of D20 is that 3rd party producers make games for it.

So, why would they suddenly decide that NOW is the time to get into the d20 market?

@LuisCarlos17f - I have to say, your creating some really baffling theories here without a lot to support them.

Note, d20 has NOTHING to do with video games. The OGL is NOT a video gaming license. You cannot produce an OGL video game.

 

[ssvegeta555]

There are two video games I can think of that uses OGL. Pathfinder: Kingmaker based off well, Pathfinder, and one currently in development, Realms Beyond: Ashes of the Fallen (that one is 3.5 surprisedly)

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The answer is easy. To sell a G.I.Joe d20, Transformers d20, a new Star Wars d20 or Marvel Superheroes d20, among adapting other franchises from videogames or movies.

Why Paizo published Starfinder, and why not? If Mattel sells Barbie dolls, why also Monster High, DC Superhero girls or Enchanimals? You can ask a good work, but you can't close those doors.

D20 is right for sword and sorcery but it isn't ready for a crossover mixing different genres. You can't use the d20 version of the characters from Street Fighters (Mortal Kombat, Dead or Alive, King of Fighters, Tekken or another beat'em game) to fight Decepticons, Necromorphs from Dead Space or Zerg from Starcraft.

* Sometimes I imagine WotC game designers playtesting with computer simulations new ideas for firearms and skyships for Spelljammer.

* I have thought about PCs with firearms are worse "attuned" to use magic item for a better balance of power. Characters from low level-tech civilization would enjoy better attunement to "primal magic" to can use "cheaper" primal magic. Magictek would be more expensive but characters would be attuned to more ordinary magic item.

 

[Morrus]

You cannot produce an OGL video game.

You most certainly can. There's no language in the OGL which prohibits any product type. In fact Solasta, being developed right now, is a 5E-based OGL video game.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister

Solasta : Crown of the Magister is an upcoming original turn-based Computer RPG by Tactical Adventures, based on a deep tactical system.

www.solasta-game.com

 

[Urriak Uruk]

D&D is not Star Wars or marvel.

I'll quote you;

I'm not saying it's true but generally a company that is doing poorly with one good product is looking at every way they can to monetize anything they can. Could be good for us though as it means they will be more willing to take risks.

Star Wars and Marvel are literally the exact proof to the opposite, in every respect. No reason why D&D can't make money by further monetizing something that's already making money; you're building on previous success, it's smart business.

 

[Zardnaar]

I'll quote you;

I'm not saying it's true but generally a company that is doing poorly with one good product is looking at every way they can to monetize anything they can. Could be good for us though as it means they will be more willing to take risks.

Star Wars and Marvel are literally the exact proof to the opposite, in every respect. No reason why D&D can't make money by further monetizing something that's already making money; you're building on previous success, it's smart business.

It's the scale of RPGs though. D&D has 80 or 90% of the markets.

Even in d20 era they had high production values. RPGs are still niche, there's not a vast number if people out there wanting to play d20 Space Adventures.

D&D did attract new players because it's D&D not an RPG in general.

Of the small% of RPG sales that's not D&D it's split among everything else. There's gonna be a huge difference between number 1 rpg and 4&5. Not saying you can't make money but there's probably not enough money in it. A few publishers are also essentially a one man band or a very small number.

 

[Urriak Uruk]

It's the scale of RPGs though. D&D has 80 or 90% of the markets.

Even in d20 era they had high production values. RPGs are still niche, there's not a vast number if people out there wanting to play d20 Space Adventures.

D&D did attract new players because it's D&D not an RPG in general.

Of the small% of RPG sales that's not D&D it's split among everything else. There's gonna be a huge difference between number 1 rpg and 4&5. Not saying you can't make money but there's probably not enough money in it. A few publishers are also essentially a one man band or a very small number.

Not sure how this relates as we are talking about D&D and not the number 3 or 4 RPG company. I'm arguing against d20 happening by the way, I just thought the comment on "monetizing = decline" was just blatantly ridiculous.

 

[Hussar]

You most certainly can. There's no language in the OGL which prohibits any product type. In fact Solasta, being developed right now, is a 5E-based OGL video game.

Solasta: Crown of the Magister

Solasta : Crown of the Magister is an upcoming original turn-based Computer RPG by Tactical Adventures, based on a deep tactical system.

www.solasta-game.com

I’m sorry but what does that even mean? What open content is being used in a video game?

How do you write a section 15 for a video game?