In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Dan Ayoub, Head of Digital Product Development at Hasbro, talked about the success of last year's most popular game, Baldur's Gate 3, based on the company's classic tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) IP, and revealed that the company plans to include more video games in the future.
Hasbro has previously launched a number of Dungeons & Dragons games, including The Dark Alliance, among others. However, due to the uneven quality level, these games were not able to gain more players beyond the existing Dungeons & Dragons audience. And from the success of Baldur's Gate 3, Hasbro seems to see hope. "The most important thing we've learned from the success of Baldur's Gate 3 is that people really really love a great, well-made D&D game," says Ayoub. ”
"For the company and myself, this is a great example of how to make a branded product in an authentic way. In addition to Baldur's Gate 3, Ayoub said Hasbro has four triple-A studios, one of which is working on a new Dungeons & Dragons game, and the other wants to "inject a shot in the arm" of the G.I. Joe franchise.
Asyoub explains, "Hasbro is a 100-year-old company that is based on games (cards or board games). It's always centered on games and always with the theme of entertaining people. Playing video games is the main form of entertainment for many people. So, in many ways, it makes sense for Hasbro to enter this (video game) space. ”
Hasbro's studio, Archetype, is home to a number of former BioWare developers who are currently working on the sci-fi role-playing game Exodus.
Having learned the importance of game quality, Hasbro doesn't seem to be in a hurry to take advantage of Baldur's Gate 3 to quickly launch a large number of Dungeons & Dragons titles. Ayoub said that all of the current games will "spend as much time as they need to continue development" and that Hasbro is "not rushing to launch any products" at this time.