During an investor meeting, Wizards of the Coast claimed Dungeons and Dragons is currently “under-monetized.” In the near future, it seems like Wizards of the Coast wants to capitalize on the brand to create a “recurrent spending environment” within Dungeons and Dragons.
Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks and Wizards of the Coast CEO Cynthia Williams recently participated in a fireside chat with their investors. During the presentation, Williams stated that while Dungeons and Dragons has never been more popular, and that engagement is at an all-time high, market data showed the platform itself was built to under-sell its products to the audience. This is largely because most Dungeons and Dragons books are marketed towards Dungeon Masters, who only make up about 20% of the population.
Wizards of the Coast seems intent on changing that. D&D Beyond already features individualized monetization, with purchasable cosmetic dice, avatars, and content, and Dungeons and Dragons’ in-development virtual tabletop will undoubtedly continue this. With the Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves movie and Baldur’s Gate 3 coming out in 2023, it is clear Wizards of the Coast is seeking to transform Dungeons and Dragons into a multimedia franchise, with more options for profit as it seeks to create a "recurrent spending environment" that reaches more fans.
Dungeons and Dragons is also currently developing One D&D, a new evergreen version of 5th Edition. This rules expansion claims to be backwards compatible with its predecessor while evolving the game in ways that safeguard it for future use. However, rumors of One D&D discontinuing the Open Game License has many Dungeons and Dragons homebrew content creators concerned, despite Wizards of the Coasts’ promise to “continue to support the thousands of creators making third-party D&D content.”
4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons was largely unsuccessful because Wizards of the Coast abolished the OGL and inundated its market with too many products. The possibility that Wizards of the Coast may be repeating both of these mistakes with One D&D has many players understandably alarmed. Considering Wizards of the Coast was recently called out for over-monetizing Magic: The Gathering, it is discouraging to see it may do the same with Dungeons and Dragons.
Rumors and whispers from boardroom meetings aside, Dungeons and Dragons has not made any official statements on specifics regarding any of these developments yet. Though players are rightfully concerned, they should avoid panicking until the situation becomes more clear. Nevertheless, Dungeons and Dragons players deserve to know what the future of the roleplaying game will look like. Hopefully Wizards of the Coast will provide more definitive statements soon so players and content creators can better plan for their future with the world’s most popular TTRPG.
One D&D is in development.
Source: Bell of Lost Souls