Following a report which suggested Hasbro had been in discussions with Tencent and Baldur's Gate 3 developer Larian regarding a planned sale of the Dungeons & Dragons IP, Wizards of the Coast has denied that it’s looking to execute such a sale.
If you weren’t aware, the rights to D&D currently belong to the toy giant, which Wizards of the Coast - the publisher behind Magic: The Gathering - is a subsidiary of. Given how strongly Baldur’s Gate 3, as a tabletop-style CRPG, has clearly been influenced by people sitting around with their mates and some dice, it’s not surprising to see it and D&D mentioned together, but Wizards of the Coast has suggested it’s planning to hang on to the latter for the time being.
Speculation regarding Hasbro’s plans for the IP has been kicked off by a report from Pandaily, which claims that Hasbro approached Larian Studios about potentially buying it, but was referred on to Chinese megacorp Tencent by the BG3 developer, reportedly due to Larian lacking the kind of cash to make what would be a pricey IP deal. If you’re not aware how Tencent might factor into this corporate chess wise, a 30% stake in Larian is part of the company’s numerous holdings in the games industry, which are headlined by the fact it owns League of Legends developer Riot Games.
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