Wizards of the Coast parent company Hasbro to purchase D&D Beyond for $146.3 million

[Cal Jeffrey]

In context: Despite hitting its peak in the 1980s, Dungeons & Dragons is still a popular tabletop roleplaying game. Although several video games are based and licensed on the brand, D&D kept up in the digital age thanks to apps and other tools to help make playing the pen-and-paper version easy and fun.

On Wednesday, Wizards of the Coast's parent company Hasbro announced that it has offered to purchase the digital toolset D&D Beyond for $146.3 million. The website and tools are currently owned by Fandom, which is more widely known for its comprehensive wiki pages like Star Wars fan site Wookieepedia.

In 2017, Fandom created a website called D&D Beyond, which features rules for the game and tools for creating characters and running campaigns. Publisher Wizards of the Coast almost immediately made the site an official toolset for D&D through a licensing agreement.

The site contains almost everything one would need to start playing D&D and has more than 10 million registered users. Many tools are free to use, but the platform operates on a subscription platform.

The free tier gives players access to the basic rules, the character creator tool, and six character slots. A $2.99 per month subscription unlocks all the tools, content, unlimited character slots, and membership perks. The top tier is $5.99 per month and includes everything in the lower subscriptions while adding the ability to share unlocked content with other players.

Having operated under a leasing arrangement for the last five years, Hasbro finally decided that it was time to purchase the platform outright.

"The acquisition of D&D Beyond will accelerate our progress in both gaming and direct to consumer, two priority areas of growth for Hasbro, providing immediate access to a loyal, growing player base," said Chief Executive Officer Chris Cocks. "Hasbro's gaming portfolio is among the largest and most profitable in the industry, and we continue to make strategic investments to grow our brands, including in digital."

Fandom is also happy with the deal, seeing it as an opportunity for growth and to help bring fans more quality content that goes beyond D&D Beyond.

"This is the perfect next step for the talented D&D Beyond team, who built a transformative digital product that engaged and delighted millions of D&D fans around the world," said Perkins Miller, CEO of Fandom. "We can't wait to see what this team will do next as an integral part of the D&D franchise, and I look forward to investing in more brands and products to super serve Fandom's 300 million+ global fans."

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https://www.techspot.com/news/94209-wizards-coast-parent-company-hasbro-purchase-dd-beyond.html

 

[Squid Surprise]

I used to play when I was a teenager… 1st edition… and 2nd edition was a godsend - think I wasted hundreds or thousands of hours with friends…

Then 3rd edition came out and it sucked… gradually stopped playing - but that probably also coincided with me growing older and getting a real life

 

[Cal Jeffrey]

I used to play when I was a teenager… 1st edition… and 2nd edition was a godsend - think I wasted hundreds or thousands of hours with friends…

Then 3rd edition came out and it sucked… gradually stopped playing - but that probably also coincided with me growing older and getting a real life

I grew up in the 80s before video games really took off, so I played a ton of D&D back then. As I got into video games though, I played less and less until finally not at all. I've tossed around the idea of playing again just for the social aspect of it, but could never find enough people to play.

 

[psycros]

I grew up in the 80s before video games really took off, so I played a ton of D&D back then. As I got into video games though, I played less and less until finally not at all. I've tossed around the idea of playing again just for the social aspect of it, but could never find enough people to play.

Its rough unless you live in a reasonably populated area with a gaming shop. COVID stole most of the face-to-face gaming but now I can't get any of the younger guys together - playing online has made them lazy. Thankfully I still have a group that's closer to my age and we get together when everyone's health allows

 

[Gezzer]

I bought the 1st edition when it first came out (in my early 20's) anticipating me and my friends spending endless hours enjoying high fantasy adventure. Bought pretty much every book and module my local game store had. I guess I was the only one too.
Problem was I lived in a isolated northern Canadian town with a definite redneck vibe to it and I couldn't find anyone who was interested. Even when I offered to smoke them up before we played. Nothing was used and half of it was in it's original shrink wrap when my Dad threw them out many years later. (sob)
I did try playing 5e a few times before Covid brought that to a grinding halt, since the town I now live in is a hotbed for D&D. Local game shop owner is actually well known to the people at WotC. I've also learned why the saying "No D&D is better then bad D&D" exists unfortunately. But at the advanced age of 60+ I've set my sights on becoming involved in a long running campaign... some how.

 

[Squid Surprise]

I bought the 1st edition when it first came out (in my early 20's) anticipating me and my friends spending endless hours enjoying high fantasy adventure. Bought pretty much every book and module my local game store had. I guess I was the only one too.
Problem was I lived in a isolated northern Canadian town with a definite redneck vibe to it and I couldn't find anyone who was interested. Even when I offered to smoke them up before we played. Nothing was used and half of it was in it's original shrink wrap when my Dad threw them out many years later. (sob)
I did try playing 5e a few times before Covid brought that to a grinding halt, since the town I now live in is a hotbed for D&D. Local game shop owner is actually well known to the people at WotC. I've also learned why the saying "No D&D is better then bad D&D" exists unfortunately. But at the advanced age of 60+ I've set my sights on becoming involved in a long running campaign... some how.

While in-person is always ideal, you can always find people online... IRC has channels where you can get a game going

 

[Gezzer]

While in-person is always ideal, you can always find people online... IRC has channels where you can get a game going

I haven't used IRC in a long long time, lol.
There's a in-person game that I was invited to join. But they had to put it on pause because 2 of the players came down with Covid. I've tried a couple of Fantasy Grounds games which kind of imploded. So I'm currently working on my own sandbox campaign to eventually use on the platform.