Happy Halloween! As the moon rises, the shadows stretch out over homes, and the ghouls come out to play, StartPlaying TTRPG news emerges to show you the most frightening thing of all: corporate earnings meetings! Hasbro convened to see how Wizards of the Coast is faring and the result is a mixed bag for the biggest TTRPG brand.Â
In this week’s other stories, the new Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft novel shows off its cover, Starfinder 2E playtests level 10 content and WizKids announces a Faerun mapping game.Â
New Ravenloft Novel Synopsis Discovered
The next licensed DnD novel has a title, cover, and synopsis. Penguin Random House revealed Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd by Delilah S. Dawson for April 2025. The synopsis tells the usual story of a party who end up in Barovia and accept Strahd’s invitation to dinner at Castle Ravenloft. They have no memory of how they got to the cursed land or how to get out. As the horrors of Ravenloft threaten to claim them, they must confront their inner darkness, learn to trust each other, and use all their skills to survive. The novel can now be pre-ordered at a retail price of $30. Â
Starfinder 2E Level 10 Playtest Available Now
The Starfinder 2E playtest continues by introducing a high-level adventure. Empires Devoured puts players in control of 10th-level characters (free playtest rules needed separately) who oversee peace talks between the Azlanti Star Empire and Veskarium. A sudden attack on the meeting leads to chaos, and heroes need to save the day in order to maintain peace.Â
Paizo promises new monsters, known monsters updated for 2E, roleplay for negotiations, and the ability to take part in a historic Starfinder lore event. Playtest surveys are available to collect player input about high-level Starfinder 2E play, but the adventure itself is also being sold in print for its own merits. The print edition is $24.99 and a PDF is $19.99.
Hasbro Earnings Call Reports Good Sales On DnD 2024, Losses For WotC As A Whole
As Hasbro and WotC set up for another holiday season, their latest quarterly earnings call shows mixed results for DnD and tabletop in general. An overview of the call from EnWorld reports that CEO Chris Cocks talked up the higher-than-anticipated sales of the 2024 Player’s Handbook. He also had good things to say about D&D Beyond revenue.Â
However, despite these wins, WotC itself went down 5% in revenue from this time last year. Digital sales also took a huge 19% hit. Cocks credited the digital slump to Baldur’s Gate 3 driving up the numbers last year. A fall was expected with no comparable hit this year. Tabletop did also go up by 2%, and Magic: the Gathering rose 3%. Overall things continue to chug along for WotC, but the true impact of DnD 2024 probably won’t be felt until the next earnings call.
New DnD Board Game Has You Map Out Faerun
WizKids announced a new board game in collaboration with Wizards of the Coast called Dungeons & Dragons: Edge of the Realms. It’s meant to be a fast-paced game where all players take their turn simultaneously. Everyone reveals pieces of the map together and gets points for completing quests, with victory going to the one who has the most points after 15 rounds. At $24.99, it seems like a nice quick game for a break session in between campaigns. Pre-orders are available now with an expected summer 2025 release window.Â
And that’s another week wrapped! Happy Halloweekend, have a safe and fun time!
