Hasbro's D&D

Senior VP at Wizards of the Coast cheerfully states, "There are a lot
of ways to express Dungeons & Dragons beyond RPGs".*

'Cause god forbid you focus and invest on the core of your brand; if
you're not spreading the license everywhere, recklessly slapping the
brand on every piece of tat you can, it's just not worth it, right?

There was a lot to dislike about the TSR era (and they weren't immune
from making the lure of crap D&D tchotkes flooding the market), but at
least they also created a lot of content for the table-top RPG. It was
their bread-n-butter; everything else was in support of the books.

The tabletop game, to Hasbro, is just a small aspect of the brand, one
I often get the impression they wish they could do without. Hasbro's
CEO happily announced that they are "all in on becoming a digital play
company." They have 90 live games  contracts in the games market,
pushing the IP as hard as it can go, as far as it can go, regardless
if it fits. Just so long as it brings Hasbro more money, I guess.

Blech.


* source:
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/wizards-of-the-coast-there-are-lots-of-ways-to-express-dungeons-dragons-beyond-rpgs