Hasbro’s CEO Says “Video Games Will Be Huge for D&D”, Despite Last Year’s Canceled Video Games
After Baldur’s Gate 3, Hasbro says the future of D&D is video games. Which is why, obviously, they canceled so many last year.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a shining example of what video games can be. It’s well thought out, full of rich textures, and is so replayable that you could spend hundreds of hours playing through just the first area without feeling like you’re repeating yourself again and again. Of course, it’s also proof that games are hard.
And that they take a while to make. Baldur’s Gate 3 was technically released in Early Access back in 2020. Only after three years of tightly focused testing and development was the game actually released. And even then, it wasn’t finished.
Just this week, a new patch is expected to drop that will feature new idle animation for your NPCs in camp, as well as better kissing, and more legendary actions. A whole lot of upgrades. The team at Larian continues to tend to Baldur’s Gate 3 with a lot of care, passion, thoughtfulness, and effort.
They captured lightning in a bottle with this game. It’s a rare game that raises the bar for what certain genres can look like. Baldur’s Gate 3 did that, which is why it’s a big success. And now it’s a big success that Hasbro’s CEO is determined can be replicated year after year as video games are the next big “leg up” for D&D at the Hasbro Earnings call.
Hasbro Earnings – A 20% Revenue Drop Means More Video Games?
Yesterday Hasbro had their Q4 of 2023 earnings call and the straits are more dire than the docks in Super Mario 64. In the quarterly “Hey look, I know the numbers are bad, but here’s why that’s a good thing and you should definitely still keep investing in us” call, Hasbro’s CEO Chris Cocks spoke about how, despite expecting an incoming dip in revenue, video games will be “a huge leg up” for D&D:
“And then, video games will clearly be a huge leg up on the D&D business. Baldur’s Gate III is one of the seminal role-playing games of all time. It’s won multiple games of the year awards. Our partners at Larian really knocked it out of the park with that and were fantastic to work with.
Baldur’s Gate III is just the first of several new video games that will be coming out over the next five to 10 years that I think will continue to power that franchise.”
Of course, Hasbro is going to just depend on making a masterpiece year after year. As Cocks put it:
“Starting in 2026, we’ll probably have one major new digital game that we’ll publish. And then, ’27 to ’30, it’ll be anywhere between one to two, depending on how the schedules kind of shake out.”
And while this may seem like exciting news, recall that last year, Hasbro reportedly canceled at least five different video games that were in development. And earlier this week, Hidden Path Entertainment, who was working on an as-yet-untitled D&D game, revealed they had been seeking funding for six months after WotC “made some changes to [their] long-term portfolio to focus on games which are strategically aligned with developing existing brands.”
Universes Beyond but for D&D
Of course, we can’t talk about the earnings call without digressing for a true look at the future of how Hasbro hopes to monetize D&D even more. And the answer for that comes with the monumental success of Universes Beyond.
Love ’em or hate ’em, your opinion doesn’t matter. The thronging masses are absolutely head over heels in love with the idea of having characters from other media in their Magic cards. While you might personally think that playing a deck that has Optimus Prime, Frodo Baggins, and Godzilla sounds like something out of the old Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny meme and breaks your immersion, money talks.
In the future, everything is going to be a Fortnite. Especially D&D, as Cocks spoke about more “universes beyond style content” which is such a hellish phrase that makes so much sense/cents for D&D Beyond:
“I think it’s an excellent platform for us to build upon and expand the ways that people can play, the ways that people can experience theater of the mind. And also for us to distribute and showcase a more diverse set of content, whether that’s Universes Beyond style content, like we do with MAGIC, or our major creators content or user-generated content.”
We’ve already seen a little of this. You can already find the Stranger Things and Rick and Morty D&D sets. This is nothing new, but rather more of the same.
Still, at least the Paramount Streaming series is still in development.
