Dungeons and Dragons and Wizards of the Coast owner Hasbro has reported that Baldur’s Gate 3 was a huge financial success for the company as it plans to lean into video games going forward. Its digital gaming revenue increased by 10% thanks to Baldur’s Gate 3, though cited that its overall revenue fell by 15% due to entertainment and consumer products also falling.
PC Gamer recently reported the new revenue numbers from Hasbro. Discussions were had between executives on Baldur’s Gate 3 and the Dungeons and Dragons license, claiming that its gaming revenue increased by 10% due to Baldur’s Gate 3 from Larian Studios and Monopoly Go! from Scopely. However, overall revenue went down by 15% due to a 19% plummet in consumer products and a further 31% dive in entertainment.
Hasbro spoke enthusiastically about the success of Larian’s RPG and how it paved the road for the company to start leaning into the video game market, stating, “Baldur’s Gate 3 is just the start of several new video games that will be coming out over the next five to 10 years that I think will continue to power that franchise.” Hasbro made about $90 million from the success of Baldur’s Gate 3.
It’s worth noting that the Dungeons and Dragons IP had seen several video games released in the past to mixed results. Baldur’s Gate 3 was a very special case due to its lengthy early access period amassing millions of players as well as a huge critically acclaimed launch that solidified its position as the highest-reviewed video game of 2023 next to Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which is no easy feat. Larian Studios had also managed to win over players due to its transparency as a developer and its stance against divisive industry trends like microtransactions.
If Hasbro wants to keep that momentum going with new Dungeons and Dragons games, it will need to carefully pick its developers and publishers.
In other news, Larian Studios has teased patch 6 for Baldur’s Gate 3 that clocks in at a massive 21GB. The full patch notes haven’t been released yet but the update is expected to drop sometime this week for consoles and PC.
Source: PC Gamer
