Tencent, who owns League of Legends and Valorant maker Riot Games, is now reportedly expanding its wide range of IPs by purchasing the rights to Dungeons & Dragons from Hasbro. Here is all you need to know about the recent developments.
The report from Speed Daily, a Chinese media site (via Pan Daily), claims that either Tencent is looking to purchase the entire Dungeons & Dragons franchise or wants to get exclusive rights to develop video games based on D&D. It has also been claimed that Hasbro reached out to Larian Studios and offered the Dungeons & Dragons IP to them after the huge success of Baldur’s Gate 3. Tencent reportedly is acting as an intermediary in this deal as Larian Studios does not have the capital to see this deal through. For further context, Tencent holds a minority stake in Larian Studios.
The driving force behind this decision from Hasbro to sell the Dungeons & Dragons IP is reportedly the recent financial struggles. Most recently, the company laid off over 1,000 employees before the holiday season in 2023.
Hasbro, the toy-making company, owns the Dungeons & Dragons brand (via subsidiary Wizards of the Coast) along with Transformers and Monopoly. Wizards of the Coast had licensed Larian Studios to develop Baldur’s Gate 3 which went on to become the Game of the Year in 2023.
While the report seems credible, it remains to be seen if it does turn out to be true. It is difficult to rule out Tencent’s intention to make further investments. Apart from owning Riot Games and Sharkmob, the video games giant has a majority stake in Turtle Studios (Back 4 Blood) and Techland (Dying Light 2). They also have a minority stake in Epic Games (Fortnite), FromSoftware (Elden Ring), Krafton (BGMI), Ubisoft (Assassin’s Creed), Paradox Interactive (Stellaris), and Remedy Entertainment (Alan Wake), and Netmarble (Marvel: Future Fight).