You may have heard chatter of Chinese conglomerate Tencent looking to buy the Dungeons & Dragons IP from Hasbro. According to the IP’s publisher and Hasbro subsidiary, Wizards of the Coast, that’s complete nonsense.
Word of this supposed sale originated from a report by Beijing-based outlet Pandaily on Jan. 31, which claimed have heard Hasbro was looking to sell Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) due to its recent financial troubles. Hasbro’s profits declined throughout 2023, which prompted mass layoffs throughout the company in December 2023. Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios would act as an intermediary since it’s worked with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast (Baldur’s Gate 3 is directly based on D&D), and Tencent owns shares in Larian.
Wizards of the Coast, however, denied the whole report in a short statement to VGC on Feb. 1. While it does regularly converse with Tencent and enjoys “multiple partnerships with them across a number of our IPs,” it has no interest in selling D&D to Tencent or anybody else, adding, “We will keep talking to partners about how we bring the best digital experiences to our fans.”
Frankly, it was always unlikely Hasbro would sell off D&D. Other companies would certainly pay a pretty penny for it, but D&D is one of Hasbro’s most profitable and popular properties. It makes far more sense for Hasbro to form partnerships for D&D-related projects, such as video games, since it can share the profits. Just last December, it was announced Hasbro had shared the license with Payday 3 developer Starbreeze for a new live service game.
As for Tencent, it’s apparently none too pleased with the state of its video games division. During an annual meeting on Jan. 29, Tencent chief executive and co-founder Pony Ma admitted to feeling like the company’s gaming business “achieved nothing” in the past year, with its game releases not proving as successful as it had hoped (according to Reuters). It wouldn’t be surprising if Tencent looked to acquire a big-name IP to bolster its portfolio. But, for now, you can rule out D&D being a potential target.
