Starting January 1, 2024, Penguin Random House will no longer be distributing Wizards of the Coast’s seminal TTRPG product, Dungeons & Dragons. The announcement was made via email to various retailers. io9 obtained a copy of this email for confirmation. There is currently a distributor portal live on Wizards’ site.
I’m absolutely shocked that Wizards wasn’t already doing distribution.
Sometimes it’s easier and cheaper to let someone with expertise do something rather than building the infrastructure inhouse and doing it yourself. The article says that the booksellers and game store owners aren’t looking forward to the change because penguin random house is really good about taking back outdated and overstocked books.
This isn’t Satanic Panic all over again, is it?
No, it’s just Hasbro changing their distribution strategy.