Report: Tencent Looking To Acquire The Rights To Dungeons & Dragons From Hasbro | MMORPG.com

System · January 31

Report: Tencent Looking To Acquire The Rights To Dungeons & Dragons From Hasbro | MMORPG.com

A new report has surfaced that makes it look like Hasbro is interested in shedding the Dungeons and Dragons IP, and one buyer that is reportedly lined up is Chinese juggernaut Tencent.

Read the full story here

Relampago · January 31

Oh god no, Larian now has enough money post BG3 please reapproach Larian and do not sell rights to Tencent.

lotrlore · January 31

Relampago said:

Oh god no, Larian now has enough money post BG3 please reapproach Larian and do not sell rights to Tencent.

They did. Larian reportedly didn't have the money, so they suggested Tencent.

It's in the article.

ZenJelly · January 31

I thought Wizards of the Coast owned DnD. But then saw that Hasbro bought Wizards of the Coast.

Slapshot1188 · January 31

It kind of makes sense. They are focused on Virtual Tabletop as the future and investing in developing both. 3D Unreal based version and a 2D VTT.

I could see them trying to sell the whole IP and I could also see them trying to just sell video game rights. Will be interesting to watch.

Mensur · January 31

God I hope they get a hard no!

Kallendal · January 31

....

As a older gamer (and a 80s child who grew up on D&D (like started with Chainmail)..... This woudl not bode well.

Blinkenn · January 31

Wasnt this already debunked, at least on I thought I read on reddit, as them only interested in IP rights to make games, not buying the whole IP? Maybe translation got the better of someone.

Wargfoot · January 31

What I read: Another great IP bites the dust.

ChildoftheShadows · January 31

Relampago said:

Oh god no, Larian now has enough money post BG3 please reapproach Larian and do not sell rights to Tencent.

Per the report, Hasbro reached out to Larian Studios about potentially acquiring the Dungeons & Dragons IP after the success of Baldur's Gate 3. While Larian had insufficient funds for a transaction, it served as an intermediary between Hasbro and Tencent, as Tencent is a minority

Aeander · January 31

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

ChildoftheShadows · January 31

Aeander said:

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

It’s not anti Chinese xenophobia. It’s perfectly reasonable anti CCP. Big difference.

Abimor · February 1

ChildoftheShadows said:

Aeander said:

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

It’s not anti Chinese xenophobia. It’s perfectly reasonable anti CCP. Big difference.

Ya this anti Chinese stuff needs to go they are the single biggest threat to the free world. If tencent owns the ip everything you do in any game going forward will be sent to the the ccp any thing D&D has in it that the ccp doesn't like will be stripped out. They will of course claim this stuff doesn.t happen or your info is safe but just look at the FBI warnings from today. The fact that they are paying for companies to lobby for economy hurting green energy things here shows they are willing to do anything to hurt their enemies and lets be clear their biggest enemy is freedom of speech and thought.

Relampago · February 1

lotrlore said:

Relampago said:

Oh god no, Larian now has enough money post BG3 please reapproach Larian and do not sell rights to Tencent.

They did. Larian reportedly didn't have the money, so they suggested Tencent.

It's in the article.

Yes I read it and know they did. That article also says they asked before Larian released BG3. Now that we know BG3 made over $650million on steam alone my point is now Larian has the money to buy it where they didn't before. Hence please go back to selling to Larian now that Sven got bank thanks to BG3.

Relampago · February 1

Aeander said:

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

Tencent gets hate from me not because they are Chinese. It is because of the monetization strategies they adopt in this space when they have direct control (vs just being an investor). The same strategies that Larian is actually against and Sven has spoken out against often. Those same strategies that have been leading wotc/hasbro astray. Developing with a philosophy of no live service no pay to win etc. was beneficial with what Larian did as stewards of the ip even if it was just for 1 game.

So to me Tencents direct business model has proven they would be bad stewards of the IP and Larian's have proven they would be the perfect stewards...and now they probably have the capital to take it on.

Hasbro bought WoTC for 325 mil and that included other properties such as Magic.

Terazon · February 1

Abimor said:

ChildoftheShadows said:

Aeander said:

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

It’s not anti Chinese xenophobia. It’s perfectly reasonable anti CCP. Big difference.

Ya this anti Chinese stuff needs to go they are the single biggest threat to the free world. If tencent owns the ip everything you do in any game going forward will be sent to the the ccp any thing D&D has in it that the ccp doesn't like will be stripped out. They will of course claim this stuff doesn.t happen or your info is safe but just look at the FBI warnings from today. The fact that they are paying for companies to lobby for economy hurting green energy things here shows they are willing to do anything to hurt their enemies and lets be clear their biggest enemy is freedom of speech and thought.

Relampago said:

Aeander said:

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

Tencent gets hate from me not because they are Chinese. It is because of the monetization strategies they adopt in this space when they have direct control (vs just being an investor). The same strategies that Larian is actually against and Sven has spoken out against often. Those same strategies that have been leading wotc/hasbro astray. Developing with a philosophy of no live service no pay to win etc. was beneficial with what Larian did as stewards of the ip even if it was just for 1 game.

So to me Tencents direct business model has proven they would be bad stewards of the IP and Larian's have proven they would be the perfect stewards...and now they probably have the capital to take it on.

This is all simply not true and there is not sufficient evidence to support that believe.

Abimor · February 1

Terazon said:

Abimor said:

ChildoftheShadows said:

Aeander said:

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

It’s not anti Chinese xenophobia. It’s perfectly reasonable anti CCP. Big difference.

Ya this anti Chinese stuff needs to go they are the single biggest threat to the free world. If tencent owns the ip everything you do in any game going forward will be sent to the the ccp any thing D&D has in it that the ccp doesn't like will be stripped out. They will of course claim this stuff doesn.t happen or your info is safe but just look at the FBI warnings from today. The fact that they are paying for companies to lobby for economy hurting green energy things here shows they are willing to do anything to hurt their enemies and lets be clear their biggest enemy is freedom of speech and thought.

Relampago said:

Aeander said:

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

Tencent gets hate from me not because they are Chinese. It is because of the monetization strategies they adopt in this space when they have direct control (vs just being an investor). The same strategies that Larian is actually against and Sven has spoken out against often. Those same strategies that have been leading wotc/hasbro astray. Developing with a philosophy of no live service no pay to win etc. was beneficial with what Larian did as stewards of the ip even if it was just for 1 game.

So to me Tencents direct business model has proven they would be bad stewards of the IP and Larian's have proven they would be the perfect stewards...and now they probably have the capital to take it on.

This is all simply not true and there is not sufficient evidence to support that believe.

this isn't true who owns tic toc? where does the info get sent this is an undisputed fact thats why its banned on almost every country in the worlds govt systems. Look at the changes famous IP's stronger than D&D have had to make to be in China. I am not a big cnn guy but go to their home page and the top story right now is FBI Issues dramatic warning. Are you saying the FBI doesn't know what their talking about but you do? It boils down to this to do business in China you do what the CCP tells you to do that is a simple fact. If they do not like something about the game or whatever it is you change it or you do not do biz with them.

ValdemarJ · February 1

It isn't like Hasbro/WotC has been an excellent steward of the IP or ruleset evolution. It's about as mismanaged as it can get.

Dammit, now China is going to know how much I love to play blast casters. My secret party compositions are going to be made public and I'll be an outcast for my refusal to form canonical noob parties (fighter, mage, rogue, cleric).

Abimor · February 1

ValdemarJ said:

It isn't like Hasbro/WotC has been an excellent steward of the IP or ruleset evolution. It's about as mismanaged as it can get.

Dammit, now China is going to know how much I love to play blast casters. My secret party compositions are going to be made public and I'll be an outcast for my refusal to form canonical noob parties (fighter, mage, rogue, cleric).

None of that is of really a big deal but what if your play as a gay bear lover and it ends up all over the internet that might not be a big deal to us here in the states or other more accepting places but somewhere else it could lead to an unpleasant knock at the door from some not great people. Thats my main concern. Also if you have a game from tencent installed whats to keep them from installing something the ccp wants installed on your pc to mine finacial data or any other thing? Remember the ccp doesn't believe in Muslims, Christians, Transgenders, or any other things right to exist they don't even let people use the internet without severe restrictions.
Your point about hasbro though is super valid. Their like worst stewards of the ip possible they had to be sued for a book series to be written that has done nothing but print them money it is really weird how they have mismanaged D&D to the point they have.

Kyleran · February 1

I'm thinking that last one, not letting people use the Internet without severe restrictions might be somewhat of a positive considering how much lunacy is on it these days.

Neoyoshi · February 1

Why does Hasbro even want to sell it? Does Hasbro really hate money that much? Or is it more of a matter of dwindling leadership/management structuring within Hasbro/WoTC?

Wait, nevermind, read the last bit about layoffs and Hasbro taking a hit financially? This could be a side-effect from the D&D boom that occured in previous years, and the hype/craze is starting to finally die down within the Tabletop business.

I see far less chatter and streams related to D&D then i used to roughly 4-5 years ago.

Slapshot1188 · February 1

Neoyoshi said:

Why does Hasbro even want to sell it? Does Hasbro really hate money that much? Or is it more of a matter of dwindling leadership/management structuring within Hasbro/WoTC?

Wait, nevermind, read the last bit about layoffs and Hasbro taking a hit financially? This could be a side-effect from the D&D boom that occured in previous years, and the hype/craze is starting to finally die down within the Tabletop business.

I see far less chatter and streams related to D&D then i used to roughly 4-5 years ago.

D&D had a huge spike due to COVID. Its waned since then. So from a business view the IP has passed its peak and attempts to expand it via thing like movies have been less than successful. Global box office for the movie was 208 million but it had a 150 million budget. With the way revenue is split with theaters the movie had to make over 300 million to be close to break even. Their board game attempts have been very niche with no real breakthroughs.

So faced with waning popularity and failing attempts to expand, it’s not surprising that Hasbro would look to see if they could sell off the rights or at least the digital rights. And from a buyer standpoint, the future of the IP does seem to be digital with VTTs and cRPGs being the focus.

Terazon · February 1

Abimor said:

Terazon said:

Abimor said:

ChildoftheShadows said:

Aeander said:

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

It’s not anti Chinese xenophobia. It’s perfectly reasonable anti CCP. Big difference.

Ya this anti Chinese stuff needs to go they are the single biggest threat to the free world. If tencent owns the ip everything you do in any game going forward will be sent to the the ccp any thing D&D has in it that the ccp doesn't like will be stripped out. They will of course claim this stuff doesn.t happen or your info is safe but just look at the FBI warnings from today. The fact that they are paying for companies to lobby for economy hurting green energy things here shows they are willing to do anything to hurt their enemies and lets be clear their biggest enemy is freedom of speech and thought.

Relampago said:

Aeander said:

Look, honestly, Tencent gets a lot of hate because of anti-Chinese xenophobia, and as far as publishers go, they seem to actually be pretty hands-off.

I still don't think they're a good fit for the IP. But I'm struggling to think of a publisher that can both afford it and has the dev team worthy of making it. I mean, much as I'm tempted to say Bioware, no one wants EA buying it either.

Tencent gets hate from me not because they are Chinese. It is because of the monetization strategies they adopt in this space when they have direct control (vs just being an investor). The same strategies that Larian is actually against and Sven has spoken out against often. Those same strategies that have been leading wotc/hasbro astray. Developing with a philosophy of no live service no pay to win etc. was beneficial with what Larian did as stewards of the ip even if it was just for 1 game.

So to me Tencents direct business model has proven they would be bad stewards of the IP and Larian's have proven they would be the perfect stewards...and now they probably have the capital to take it on.

This is all simply not true and there is not sufficient evidence to support that believe.

this isn't true who owns tic toc? where does the info get sent this is an undisputed fact thats why its banned on almost every country in the worlds govt systems. Look at the changes famous IP's stronger than D&D have had to make to be in China. I am not a big cnn guy but go to their home page and the top story right now is FBI Issues dramatic warning. Are you saying the FBI doesn't know what their talking about but you do? It boils down to this to do business in China you do what the CCP tells you to do that is a simple fact. If they do not like something about the game or whatever it is you change it or you do not do biz with them.

Tic Toc is not Tencent (they are a minor Invester in bytedance but not majority owner) and that is not relevant to what we are talking about. Again people are looking at CHINA and see bad. Well many see USA and see bad.
These are video games and table top games. calm down.

Terazon · February 1

Regardless of what people think this article is not true.
They addressed this rumor yesterday.

"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."

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/

Scot · February 1

Hasbro is not exactly stellar in its other concerns, they had big layoffs recently as was mentioned. Also they have said they are concentrating on their WotC area so I doubt this is going anywhere. Which is just as well, DnD has been doing really well for years so Hasbro have the right approach to managing WotC.

Slapshot1188 · February 1

Terazon said:

Regardless of what people think this article is not true.
They addressed this rumor yesterday.

"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."

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/

As I type this I might or might not be under NDA performing due diligence to acquire a company that just issued a similar statement.

Not saying they are lying but I wouldn’t put any weight behind the statement either. Or it could also be true because they were already rebuffed.

Things are rarely as they seem on the surface.

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mmorpg junkie since 1999

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV