DnD owner Hasbro is considering “Universes Beyond style content” for its online DnD platform, D&D Beyond, according to comments made in a quarterly conference call with investors.
Speaking in the Hasbro earnings call on Tuesday, CEO Chris Cocks talks about new ways the firm might make money from DnD. He describes the online DnD Beyond platform as “an excellent acquisition” through which Hasbro can “distribute and showcase a more diverse set of content” which could include “Universes Beyond style content… major creators’ content, or user generated content”.
Universes Beyond is a Hasbro initiative for Magic the Gathering, which has seen the firm release many different MtG sets, commander decks, and limited run Secret Lair products using licenses from other IPs. It has proven to be phenomenally lucrative, with the Lord of the Rings MtG set the second most profitable the firm has ever released.
According to Hasbro’s statements in the earnings call, Universes Beyond was reportedly very successful this quarter, despite licensing fees hurting profits.
Magic fans were initially hostile to Universes Beyond, as the early MtG Walking Dead release was both tonally at odds with Magic’s established vibe, and introduced powerful cards to the game’s competitive scene without a clear plan to keep them in print after the licensing deal expired.
The company has made several adjustments in how it produces Universes Beyond products, ensuring that any mechanically unique cards are available with equivalent non-licensed versions, and releasing popular themed MtG commander decks using the Doctor Who and Warhammer 40k licenses.
Universes Beyond feels like a much easier fit with DnD: the system is intrinsically modular and extensible, and encourages players to hop between ‘official’ universes, or simply invent their own. There’s also no competitive scene to disrupt
Ever since the original Open Gaming License opened up the game’s D20 engine for others to use in the ’00s, there have been DnD-compatible RPG systems, settings, and supplements set in original and licensed universes aplenty. The only difference here is that Wizards of the Coast would be the company publishing the content.
How exactly Hasbro will realise this when it has recently made large parts of its workforce at Wizards of the Coast redundant remains to be seen.
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