Revised core rulebooks for could be released in mid-2024, but the continued aim to create a never-ending edition of the game shows Wizards of the Coast has grown out of touch with ’s fans, and the tabletop RPG hobby at large. This year saw the company burn bridges with many consumers over its attempt to create a more draconian OGL that would severely impact third-party gaming products. Though this was eventually walked back, the breach of trust is difficult for many to forget. Investor-targeted statements about being “under-monetized” raised further red flags, but the ongoing push for a perpetual edition remains the biggest misstep.
Dungeons & Dragons, Magic: The Gathering Owner Hasbro Is Laying Off 1100 Employees
12.12.2023 - 15:51 / gameinformer.com
Hasbro, the parent company behind Wizards of the Coast, which itself is responsible for both Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, is laying off 1100 employees, as reported by Dicebreaker and The Wall Street Journal. The company, which is also behind the Transformers franchise (toys and other media), announced this decision yesterday, on December 11.
Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks called the need for layoffs in an email sent to staff a «lever we must pull to keep Hasbro healthy» and «a last resort.» As noted by Dicebreaker, Cocks became CEO of Hasbro in February of last year and earns roughly $1.5 million in salary in the position – his total earnings for 2022 amounted to $9.4 million, however.
«While we're confident in the future of Hasbro, the current environment demands that we do more, even if these choices are some of the hardest we have to make,» Cocks writes in the email, which The Wall Street Journal published. «I know this news is especially difficult during the holiday season. There is no sugar-coating how hard this is, particularly for the employees directly affected.»
Dicebreaker reports that laid-off employees will be notified sometime over the next six weeks and that Hasbro will vacate a Rhode Island office as a result of cost-cutting measures next month. While Hasbro is laying off 1,100 employees out of its 6,400 employees – it laid off 800 people earlier this year – it's unclear which of the company's teams, including Wizards of the Coast, are affected. Last week, Payday 3 developer Starbreeze announced a partnership with Wizards of the Coast to develop a multiplayer co-op title set in the D&D universe.
These Hasbro layoffs join an unfortunately ever-growing list of layoffs affecting workers in 2023 in the games industry and games-adjacent industries. Just yesterday, Embracer Group officially shuttered its reformed TimeSplitters team, Free Radical Design. A few weeks ago, 505 Games parent company Digital Bros laid off 30 percent of its staff.
Last month, Amazon Games laid off 180 staff members. In early November, we learned that Ubisoft laid off more than 100 employees. The week before that, roughly 100 employees were laid off at Destiny 2 developer Bungie.
In January, Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees amidst its ongoing $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which it completed last month.
In August, Striking Distance Studios, the team behind last year's The Callisto Protocol, laid off more than 30 employees, and that same month, Mass Effect and Dragon Age developer BioWare laid off 50 employees, including long-time studio veterans. The following month, in September, Immortals of Aveum developer Ascendant Studios laid off roughly 45% of its staff.
Just last month,
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hardcoredroid.com
17.12.2023 / 19:15
Dungeons & Dragons Characters Join Dragonheir: Silent Gods
Nuverse‘s and SGRA Studio’s Dragonheir: Silent Gods has officially launched its collaboration with Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons. This two-year collab introduces three new characters to the game: the Drow hunter Drizzt Do’Urden, his companion Guenhwyvar, and their nemesis Errtu the Balor. SGRA Studio is a brand-new game development studio based in China. Dragonheir: Silent Gods is the studio’s top priority, and with over 10 million global downloads since its launch, it is in good hands.
gamesradar.com
12.12.2023 / 17:37
D&D and Magic: The Gathering owner Hasbro lays off 1,100 staff as "a last resort"
Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering owner Hasbro is laying off 1,100 employees.
polygon.com
12.12.2023 / 16:23
Dear Disney: If you want to last another century, lay off the legacy
Walt Disney Animation’s newest movie, Wish, is the culmination of the studio’s celebration of its own centennial. That project stretched throughout 2023, through projects like the short Once Upon a Studio, specialized merchandise drops centered around each decade the company has been around, and the rebrand of the iconic Disney castle logo. But Wish leans so hard on celebrating the better Disney films that came before it that it doesn’t have much identity of its own. It’s openly a nostalgia-fest, pretty much on par with the other ways the company celebrated its 100-year anniversary.
techcrunch.com
12.12.2023 / 01:15
Hasbro to cut 1,100 jobs despite Dungeons & Dragons thriving
Hasbro is laying off 1,100 employees, according to anSEC filing. The company behind franchises like Dungeons & Dragons and Transformers, Hasbro already laid off 800 employees in January. While some employees will find out about the fate of their jobs on Tuesday, others will be cut in the coming year. By 2025, Hasbro told shareholders, the company hopes to save about $350 million to $400 million in costs.
mmorpg.com
11.12.2023 / 23:03
Darkest Dungeon II's First DLC, 'The Blinding Blade' Launches, Brings Back the Crusader and Adds Duelist
«The Binding Blade”, Darkest Dungeon II’ s first DLC is out today via Steam and Epic Games Store. The DLC features two heroes, a new boss, The Warlord, and more content.
gamingbolt.com
08.12.2023 / 02:33
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Free Demo Officially Announced
Prince of Persia’s long-awaited and long-overdue revival is just a few weeks away now, and as previously confirmed, the game received a new trailer at The Game Awards (which was leaked ahead of time), focusing on its central narrative premise and, more importantly, announcing a demo.
pushsquare.com
06.12.2023 / 23:01
PAYDAY 3 Dev Announces Live Service Dungeons & Dragons Multiplayer Game | Push Square
Developer Starbreeze has announced a new game, codenamed Project Baxter, a cooperative multiplayer game presumably in the style of its PAYDAY series. Further, Starbreeze has managed to snag the official Dungeons & Dragons branding. However, we don't expect the studio to treat the RPG setting as reverently as Larian recently did with Baldur's Gate 3.
techradar.com
06.12.2023 / 16:25
Payday 3 developer Starbreeze is making a game based on Dungeons & Dragons
Payday 3 developer Starbreeze Entertainment is developing a co-op multiplayer Dungeons & Dragons game.
pcgamer.com
06.12.2023 / 13:21
Armello studio lays off over half its staff and 'indefinitely' pauses development on its ongoing early access game because 'almost all funding and investment has evaporated from the videogame industry'
One more grim notch for the 2023 games industry meat grinder. Australian indie studio League of Geeks is laying off over half its staff and pausing development «indefinitely» on early access starship management game Jumplight Odyssey.
pcgamer.com
05.12.2023 / 17:23
The Embracer spiral continues as Insurgency: Sandstorm studio New World Interactive lays off employees
Saber Interactive, a division of Embracer Group, has confirmed that it has laid off employees at its New World Interactive studio, the developer of Insurgency: Sandstorm.
gamesindustry.biz
05.12.2023 / 14:31
EA lays off Codemasters staff
Electronic Arts has implemented a round of layoffs at F1 developer Codemasters.