Issue #002: Wizards Still on Top

THIS WEEK IN TTRPGS:

• Wizards of the Coast President Cynthia Williams announced her plans to resign last week, leaving the position of the central leader empty for now. Details were left vague, although additional information were revealed at the quarterly report (which is discussed below). It’s an interesting development considering the upcoming revamp of DnD 5th Edition. Its hard to say if it is a net positive or negative yet since details about her successor are unavailable.

• On a funnier note, Twitter/X’s AI summarization tool heard about this drama and decided to attempt to summarize the conversation. The results were as bonkers as you might expect.

  

Wizards of the Coast still a profit machine for Hasbro

TTRPG and Dungeons and Dragons sales continue to be on the rise, based on the quarterly report from one of the largest makers.

Hasbro, the owner of Wizards of the Coast, published their First Quarter results on Wednesday detailing their ongoing profit. While the company struggled to make a profit, Dungeons and Dragons continued to be a spark of life in the company’s arsenal. This surge of profitability was announced a week after WOTC leadership decided to step down.

Wizards of the Coast saw its revenue increase by 7% in the first quarter of 2024 that appeared to be connected to the popularity of Baldur’s Gate 3 and Monopoly Go! Revenue from tabletop games like Magic the Gathering also saw 5% increase in revenue due to the Fallout Commander set and Outlaws of Thunder Junction. No details were shown of whether or not the latest books had successful sales or if the delayed publishing of certain texts harmed them in the long run.

Wizards has continued to be one of Hasbro’s most popular properties and more profitable than most other franchises in its collection. Part of that certainly can be connected to Williams, who resigned last week.

Williams oversaw a number of significant developments for the business. Successful products like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves were clearly net positives for the company’s bottom dollar, while the company’s handling of its third-party contractors and staffers earned Wizards the ire of fans. There was the OGL debacle, where the company threatened to cut off third-party creators’ ability to use DnD 5e rules in their products. There was also an instance of the company sending Pinkerton agents after a Magic the Gathering creator due to them receiving leaked copies of an upcoming expansion. The company also laid off more than 1100 employees in December, including several key members of the DnD and MtG teams.

What remains to be seen is whether this will continue. Williams’ replacement has not been announced, but they’ll play an important role as the company begins to introduce the new version of DnD’s rules in the fall of 2024 and help transition the game into whatever Dungeons and Dragons will look like next.

That leader will also need to do their part to help win back the trust of fans. The events around the OGL appeared to hurt some of the community’s trust, forcing the company to take action to hopefully win over more folks. The company made a multitude of promises during the April 2023 Creator’s Summit to try and ensure that creators had the tools to serve the community. Many of those promises are still unfulfilled, as noted by game designer Teos Abadia (although that lack of trust hasn’t left a massive dent in sales, it appears.)

Game Deals

1. If you’re looking to try some new indie TTRPGs and wish to support Palestinian children in the Israel/Hamas conflict, there’s two bundles out for you. The Palestinian Relief Bundle is hosted on Itch.io while TTRPGs for Palestine Charity Bundle is hosted on Tiltify. The funds for both go to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, a group that aims to address “medical and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian youths in the Middle East.” If that’s a cause that speaks to you, I urge you to give them your cash. It’s also a way to a number of games for cheap if that’s your priority.

2. Ars Magica, a Euro-centric RPG setting , has a number of bundles available if you want to give it a taste. The bundles offer the base rules, a number of supplements for populating the world with magic, myths and politics. Any and all purchases go toward the Montessori School of Duluth. Personally I’m not familiar with the setting, but having all these resources on sale is awful tempting.

On an unrelated note, I recently signed on to become a professional DM with the company Polyhedra.io. If you’re looking for some top-notch Dungeons and Dragons play and you’re willing to pay, give them a look! I’ll have more details on what games I’m running in the future.