Dungeons & Dragons owner denies rumors of selling rights to Tencent

Update: Wizards of the Coast has reached out to Dexerto with a statement denying the rumors regarding Tencent looking to acquire the video game rights to the Dungeons & Dragons IP from parent company Hasbro. The original story has been amended with the statement below.

Dungeons & Dragons has seen a swell of popularity throughout the last decade. The tabletop roleplaying game has enjoyed a cult following since its first edition back in 1974.

However, since the release of its latest and fifth edition of its rule set, and thanks to content like Critical Role, and the massive success of Baldur’s Gate 3, the popularity of the D&D franchise has seen a massive growth in new players and a surge in interest worldwide.

Toy company Hasbro has owned the rights to the D&D video game franchise since they acquired Wizards of the Coast back in 1999. However, despite the success of Baldur’s Gate 3 and D&D 5th Edition, Hasbro has seen itself hit by financial troubles in recent quarters.

Wizards of the Coast has denied rumors of selling D&D’s video game rights to Tencent

Originally, a report on Beijing-based pandaily claimed Tencent and Hasbro have been in contact about the possibility, with Larian Studios serving as an intermediary between the two during preliminary discussions.

However, Wizards of the Coast has since released a statement to Dexerto denying the validity of these rumors:

“We regularly talk to Tencent and enjoy multiple partnerships with them across a number of our IPs. We don’t make a habit of commenting on internet rumors, but to be clear: we are not looking to sell our D&D IP.”

“We will keep talking to partners about how we bring the best digital experiences to our fans. We won’t comment any further on speculation or rumors about potential M&A or licensing deals.”

As pointed out by Christian Hoffer on comicbook.com, much of the report’s speculation bears a strong similarity to a YouTube video posted by Roll for Combat.

The timing of a sale would also be off, considering Hasbro has already licensed out several D&D video games recently, including a VR one by the Demeo developers and a multiplayer game by the Pay Day 3 team.

The D&D license and its potential for use in other forms of media is a huge jewel in Hasbro’s crown, as proven by the runaway success of Baldur’s Gate 3, so it makes sense that the video game rights aren’t up for sale at the moment.