From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg
https://www.pcgamer.com/wizards-of-the-coast-dispels-rumours-that-tencent-wants-to-gobble-up-dandd-like-a-tarrasque-to-be-clear-we-are-not-looking-to-sell-our-dandd-ip/
Wizards of the Coast dispels rumours that Tencent wants to gobble up D&D
like a tarrasque: 'To be clear: We are not looking to sell our D&D IP'
By Harvey Randall
5th-level Banish Rumour (Abjuration). Casting time: 1 Action.
Components: Verbal, Material (A single public statement).
Dungeons & Dragons is in a bizarre place right now—it's on the verge of
the totally-not-a-new-edition ruleset revamp and an in-development
virtual tabletop project, riding high off the back of Baldur's Gate 3.
But Wizards of the Coast (WotC) has also suffered from a massive round
of layoffs, and the bruises of the catastrophic OGL fiasco a year ago
are still smarting.
This has laid the groundwork for a swarm of rumours regarding a
potential sale to Tencent—a massive conglomerate and holding company
with its fingers in dozens of different pies including Remedy
Entertainment, Paradox Interactive, FromSoftware, Epic Games and (most importantly to the matter at hand) Larian Studios.
Said whispers began when the Chinese news outlet Speed Daily (as
translated by Pan Daily) reported that WotC parent company Hasbro was
"seeking to sell its well-known IP 'Dungeons & Dragons'", citing
Hasbro's "financial crisis" as a reason for the speculation. That's
despite D&D being a huge earner for Hasbro, achieving record years (as
per a financial report last October) for the company.
Shucking D&D as a property entirely would be like throwing a crate of
diamonds overboard to stop your ship from sinking—not something you'd do unless you were definitely about to drown. Which isn't completely out of
the question. That same report noted Hasbro's total revenue was down
"13-15%", and repeatedly cites a difficult situation for toys across the board. Still, I'm not sure if things are dire enough for a spontaneous
bout of violin-playing. That's been confirmed in a comment provided to Dicebreaker, where Wizards of the Coast writes the following:
"We regularly talk to Tencent and enjoy multiple partnerships with them
across a number of our IPs. We don’t make a habit of commenting on
internet rumours, but to be clear: we are not looking to sell our D&D
IP. We will keep talking to partners about how we bring the best digital experiences to our fans. We won't comment any further on speculation or rumours about potential [mergers and acquisitions] or licensing deals."
So there you have it: D&D isn't being sold to anyone. What's more likely
is that Tencent—which owns a 30% stake in Larian Studios—might be
thinking about pouring money into another D&D game. That should surprise nobody, considering the meteoric success of Baldur's Gate 3. Another
licensing deal isn't just 'not out of the question', it's a plain good idea.
Under any other circumstances I'm not sure any of this would've made
waves in forums and headlines. But the environment surrounding D&D at
the moment is, understandably, one of fear. Hasbro's layoffs included
several senior members of staff. Game designers, art directors, and Liz Schuch—the company's former Head of Publishing and Licensing, who was
with Wizards of the Coast for 28 whole years.
There's a bordering-on-zero percent chance something like this would
actually happen, but the background radiation of 'strange times' has a
lot of TTRPG fans without a fuller scope of the situation willing to buy
into speculative panic, and I can't say I necessarily blame them.
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