Hasbro CEO on D&D fiasco: ‘We misfired’ on the OGL but have ‘since course corrected’

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks told investors that the organized protest against changes to the Dungeons & Dragons OGL — specifically the mass cancellation of D&D Beyond accounts — will have little to no impact on Wizards of the Coast’s bottom line in 2023. The comments were made during a previously scheduled call with investors on Thursday.

“We misfired on updating our Open Game License,” Cocks said, “We have since course corrected, and are delivering a strong outcome for the community and game.”

When a leaked version of a draft licensing agreement known as the OGL (Open Gaming License) appeared online, fans organized under the #OpenDnD hashtag. Many urged customers of D&D Beyond, the digital platform for Dungeons & Dragons, to cancel their subscriptions. The logic was that by hurting Hasbro financially — reducing revenues on a strategic digital platform expected to be the foundation of the next iteration of the seminal role-playing game — that fans would gain leverage against the proposed changes to the OGL. The controversy did make international headlines, and that pressure in part appears to have resulted in a significant portion of D&D’s lore and its ruleset entering the public domain. But, according to Cocks, it does not appear to have substantively impacted the earnings for the D&D brand in 2023.

“We had some subscription cancellations,” Cocks said, “but they were comparatively minor in the totality of both the D&D [profit and loss] and the Wizards [profit and loss].”

Cocks went on to add that, in contacting those users who did cancel their subscriptions, the company found that “a lot of them are very open to restarting their subscriptions.”

Hasbro acquired D&D Beyond in April 2022, and Cocks said Thursday that his organization has since made good on its investment with around 20% user growth in 2022 and a “commensurate” growth in revenue.

“It is a great platform,” Cocks said. “It’s a really good value, and it’s something that’s been a good growth factor for us.”

These statements was made during Hasbro’s quarterly earnings call, and on the heels of a spectacularly bad news cycle for the Rhode Island-based game and toy giant. In November, analysts at Bank of America accused the company of “destroying the long-term value” of Magic: The Gathering, “killing its golden goose” by overprinting cards — including a set of 60 random reprinted cards that retailed for $999. The whitepaper resulted in a rare double downgrade of the company’s stock.

While the OGL situation has settled down somewhat, consumer sentiment appears anecdotally to be in flux. Much of the D&D brand’s future will depend on the success of an upcoming movie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, starring Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez. Also looming large on the calendar is the release of Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 computer role-playing game, which Cocks said should boost Hasbro revenues in the fall. Meanwhile, employee discontent at Wizards is simmering, and smaller competitors are having a field day pitching themselves as more ethical alternatives to D&D.