While the makers of Dungeons & Dragons ponder which developer will take on the daunting task of creating a sequel to Baldur's Gate 3, one of the most acclaimed games in a long time, They also put their own money into making video games. In fact, their own money is more than $1 billion.
Manage cookie settings
This is what Dan Ayoub, head of digital product development at Wizards of the Coast, publisher of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, recently told GamesIndustry.biz that the Wizards company He claimed that more than $1 billion was invested in the four video game studios he owned. Hasbro, the parent and literal maker of Monopoly.
Hasbro's various video game projects currently include an original sci-fi universe called Exodus from former Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic lead designer James Oren and former BioWare developer, as well as some sort of horror from studio Skeleton Key and G.I. Includes games. Joe Game Over at Atomic Arcade. (Hasbro is also a toy giant that produces GI Joe, along with Transformers and My Little Pony.)
Not surprisingly, Hasbro thinks there's more to the whole Dungeons & Dragons thing. The critical and commercial success of Baldur's Gate 3 provides solid evidence of that.
Ayoub optimistically suggested that the new Dungeons & Dragons video game being developed at Invoke Studios will be “something like” Baldur's Gate 3. Specifically, Larian has made a really, really good game, which also has deep roots in the world. The world and lore of D&D.
“One of the great things we took away from the success of Baldur's Gate 3 is that people really, really like a great, well-made D&D game, so we're excited to bring something like that to you. “I did,” Ayoub said.
“For the company and for myself, it was a great example of executing the brand in an authentic way. And the players came. They loved it and wanted more. And it was a great example of executing the brand in an authentic way. I think you'll see this in other brands as well.”
“I'm old enough to remember a lot of Star Wars games that may not have been what I expected as a gamer, but when these quality titles came out, the audience came along with me. …The appetite is there if we are authentic and we focus on quality and that is absolutely our number one priority and in many ways the reason for the origins behind these in-house studios. is.”
Ayoub also pointed to Exodus as an example of Hasbro's studios doing more than making money with games like D&D, Monopoly, and GI Joe, adding that the giant company is “creating new IP through video games and leveraging its scale. “We are probably considering it,” he suggested. Hasbro's scale allows them to do other things with it as well. ”
Eugene Evans, Hasbro's senior vice president of digital strategy and licensing, recently said that Baldur's Gate 4, or the next installment in the series, may take some time to get things right (though (I hope it's not the equivalent of 25 years.) Ayoub echoed similar sentiments in this latest interview, insisting that “we're not rushing anything” and that “we'll keep everything in the oven for as long as we need to.”
In fact, Hasbro's plans include looking ahead to the next 100 years of the 100-year-old toy giant, and video games will clearly be an “integral part” of that, and indeed the That would make a great video game.
“We have to make sure that everything that comes out is of the highest quality, authentic, and something that we can build on. Because we've got some studios and some games right now. But we have much bigger ambitions for it,''' Ayoub said. The full interview with GI is worth reading.
