You Can’t Buy Physical-Only D&D Books From WotC Anymore
Wizards of the Coast seems to no longer be selling solely physical copies of their books from their online store. Hybrid bundles are still up though.
Wizards of the Coast no longer lists any “physical-only” copies of their books for sale through their direct website, a move that seems aimed at furthering D&D’s move away from physical products in general. It’s also a move that comes with a price increase, especially for those who don’t pre-order the books.
Now in the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t change much. D&D books are still available by themselves from your friendly local game store. You can find them at Target, Amazon, and beyond as well. But the community seems concerned about WotC’s move towards a more digital D&D.
WotC Goes All-In On Digital+Physical Bundles
The move comes not long after an increase in price for D&D books across the board. Physical copies run $59.95 normally, and the digital + physical bundles are $10 more, putting them around the same price as most newly released video games. The digital + physical bundles work exclusively with D&D Beyond. Meaning other platforms like Roll20 and Fantasy Grounds have their own separate content they do not sell bundled together.
Presumably, all of this is designed to further strengthen WotC’s position to make its virtual tabletop the preferred place to play D&D. Which seems obvious. WotC is a company, companies want to make money and grow infinitely, an economic model that is as sustainable as it is infallible.
At any rate, Wizards of the Coast seems to be firmly fixed on the digital future of D&D. Not just with video games, though currently “several” are still in the works, even after WotC/Hasbro has shuttered some of the other, as-yet-unnamed projects. But with WotC moving to Digital + Physical through their website, it feels like digital dice and miniatures and maps are the wave of the future.
How do you prefer to play D&D? Online? In-person? When you play, what format do you prefer your books in?
