For the past couple of weeks, the RPG fan community has been watching the collapse of the company in real time. Wizards of the Coastwho owns the rights to Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering. The collapse was predicted several years ago, but in recent months the process has accelerated due to financial problems in the parent company Hasbro and the chaos caused by the SJW fanatics (which is worth the abandonment of races).
However, the camel’s hump was broken by the current head of WotC Cynthia Williamswhich in 2022 came from… Microsoft (conspiracy theorists, your time has come). Madame decided that the company is not actively monetizing existing brands, so it was decided to change the conditions Open gaming license (OGL), thanks to which, in principle, the DnD role-playing system has become dominant in the market.
Under the guise of a ban on the publication of “discriminatory content”, the WotC leadership tried to appropriate the rights to all fan art, as well as to force competing licensees to pay royalties for the use of game mechanics.
However, in the end, the company faced such a powerful wave of negativity that its business may not survive. In particular, one of the largest licensees represented by the publishing house Paizo (brand Pathfinder) announced the creation of an alternative version of OGL.
Judging by the latest news, WotC is now in a state of permanent panic, but it is no longer clear what to do. There is a suspicion that refusal to change OGL will not save the company’s situation – the scandal turned out to be too powerful, while the number of Paizo supporters (and this, despite the fact that this company has its own cockroaches) continues to grow.
Extra scandals WotC is clearly not needed now. Rumors that Hasbro intends to get rid of an illiquid asset, they have been going for a long time. In addition, showdowns with fans and partners can greatly harm third-party projects, only speeding up sales negotiations.
The initiative for a large-scale expansion into the video game market has already bogged down, which led to the cancellation of a whole bunch of games. Undoubtedly, the failures of the MMO have contributed Magic: Legends and rebut Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance. The only hope remains only an ambitious Baldur’s Gate III from the Belgian studio Runningwhich comes out in August 2023 on PC.
In addition, the showdown may scare off the partner in the person of the Paramount studio, which has high hopes for the success of the film “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) with Chris Pine and Michelle RodrigueWith. The tape should be released on March 2. Going forward, the studio also plans to release the series in the DnD universe, so such turbulence might have far-reaching consequences.
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