Hasbro has confirmed that the company is currently working on several new video games, including a new Dungeons & Dragons-themed video game and a game based on the Commander format of Magic: The Gathering. Hasbro has seen some seismic shifts in its business in recent years. Wizards of the Coast has become the company's primary revenue driver, while toys sales have stagnated somewhat. Hasbro also offloaded its eOne movie and television studio in late 2023 as part of a major reorganization and refocus of its company.

As part of this realignment, Hasbro is also shifting its focus towards video games. Speaking with Bloomberg News, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks confirmed that Hasbro was developing its own Dungeons & Dragons video game. Additionally, Wizards is also working on a video game focused on the Commander format for Magic: The Gathering. According to the article, Hasbro is also looking for a way to add more digital collectability to Magic: The Gathering, similar to Marvel Snap or Pokémon TCG Pocket.

Dungeons & Dragons Video Games Explained

Hasbro Has Several Dungeons & Dragons Video Games In Development

Even before the success of Baldur's Gate 3, Hasbro was actively looking to build the video game side of D&D. Hasbro has partnered with several third-party studios to develop new D&D games, including Gameloft and Starbreeze Studios. Gameloft's D&D video game is a "survival-life sim" set in the Forgotten Realms, while Starbreeze's game is described as a "co-op urban crawl." Hasbro is also seeking a partner for Baldur's Gate 4, following developer Larian Studios' decision to focus on its own IPs for its next games.

Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast also canceled several additional D&D projects in 2023, including those in development by Otherside Entertainment and Hidden Path Entertainment. These canceled projects were part of a general realignment in Wizards' approach to video game development, with the company aiming to focus on games that were "strategically aligned" with developing existing brands. At the time, Hasbro stressed that it wasn't pulling away from video game development. In the Bloomberg News article, Cocks mentioned that Hasbro planned to budget between $100 million and $150 million toward video games annually.

Our Take: Digital D&D Video Games Are Fine, But Shouldn't Be The Focus

Dungeons & Dragons Video Games Should Promote The D&D Tabletop Game

Baldur's Gate 3 showed how much fun and successful a D&D video game can be. However, Hasbro should that one of the primary reasons that Baldur's Gate 3 was picked up by so many players was because it successfully captured the feeling of playing D&D at the tabletop.

While there are many D&D and characters, they all exist to facilitate tabletop play first and foremost. My concern is that Hasbro is trying to turn D&D into a video game franchise first and foremost, which would be a major mistake. If anything, Hasbro should be pumping more money into the development of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop game and then using that as springboard for future video games.

Source: Bloomberg