Hasbro is upbeat on video games after the success of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Larian’s Dungeons & Dragons lore-accurate RPG was both a critical and commercial success, going so far as to win last year’s GOTY from The Game Awards. Today, Larian Studios is working on a deluxe four disc physical release of the title.
GamesRadar managed to talk to Hasbro’s head of game studios Dan Ayoub in the recent Game Developer’s Conference, and Ayoub had nothing but good things to say about video games, Dungeons & Dragons, and Baldur’s Gate 3.
Ayoub said:
“We’re all super excited by the reaction to [Baldur’s Gate]. I think it proved for us that people really want great D&D games. We’re certainly doing that.”
Ayoub also explained that Hasbro plans to start their own video game studios, as they increase their involvement in the industry moving forward. Ayoub revealed that they already have a studio in Montreal, working on an unannounced Dungeons & Dragons game, and that joins the GI Joe Snake Eyes game in development by Atomic Arcade. It turns out that Hasbro is also involved with Archetype Entertainment’s Exodus.
Ayoub outlined the lessons his company took from Baldur’s Gate 3. One, there’s demand for Dungeons & Dragons video games. Two, video games can get consumers interested in tabletop games. Third, Ayoub it is important to take the time “to get it right.” So, it seems that Hasbro will take their time developing their video game efforts.
Not to burst anyone’s order, but Hasbro may have good reason to shift into video games at the moment. In their last quarter, the company reported losing a staggering $ 1.06 billion . The company already laid off 1,100 employees, representing 15 % of their workforce, last December.
Baldur’s Gate 3 turned out to be a bright spot in a terrible year for the video game industry, and it was one of the few bright spots in Hasbro’s portfolio as well. Hasbro’s failures in the toy industry are beyond the scope of our little industry. But it’s clear that Hasbro is starting to recognize, like Paramount Global, and Warner Bros Discovery, that there’s a lot of money to be made in video games, and that they have a lot of IP that can be made into video games.
Dungeons & Dragons has a rich history in video games, dating back to PC RPGs from the 1980s and 1990s. But actually, Hasbro itself also has quite a history in the industry too. Their first video game division, Hasbro Interactive, operated from 1995 to 2001, and they licensed their properties for video games before and after.
Hasbro Interactive ended up getting sold to Atari SA (FKA Infogrames) because of its losses, but Hasbro won’t let that happen today. With dire financial prospects in recent years, the company needs a way to leverage their IPs outside of their toys, and video games genuinely holds a lot of promise for them.
