Welcome to Purple Pawn, covering games played around the world by billions of people every day.
OK…maybe that’s not exactly what they said, but it was definitely in the underlying context… At any rate, ICv2 did a very short interview with Greg Leeds, CEO for Wizards of the Coast, asking why Wizards chose to shut down PDF sales completely. Essentially, Leeds confirms that the decision was a direct reaction to piracy (particularly of the Player’s Handbook 2) and that they’re working on a non-PDF alternative. While he didn’t say that this alternative was their existing D&D Insider property, he didn’t exactly deny it either. I’ve got to admit, if all the books were available online via D&D Insider, it might actually be worth its price tag…
3 Comments
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
Trending
- Home
- Oh the Irony—Illuminati Card Game Continues to Inspire Conspiracy Theorists
- Sequence Game, and Variants
- Are Board Games Dangerous?
- Why Do Some Board Games Have ISBNs?
- The 20 Most Valuable Vintage Board Games
- Top 25 Board and Card Games on Facebook
- Karma Chakra, a Buddhist Board Game
- Pass It, the Dental Hygienist Study Game
- ASLingo, Play Bingo and Learn Sign Language
Archives
Most Popular Articles
- The 20 Most Valuable Vintage Board Games
- Sequence Game, and Variants
- USPS Adds Board Game Flat Rate Box
- Baila, the Estonian Drinking Card Game
- The 13 Most Popular Dice Games
- The Truth About Dominoes On Sunday in Alabama
- Oh the Irony—Illuminati Card Game Continues to Inspire Conspiracy Theorists
- Are Board Games Dangerous?
- The Convoluted Story of Iron Wind Metals, Ral Partha, and Battletech Miniatures
- Guess Who? The Naked Version
Recent Posts
- Toy Fair 2019—Breaking Games
- Talisman Kingdom Hearts Edition
- Toy Fair 2019—Winning Moves
- Toy Fair 2019—Games Workshop
- Toy Fair 2019—Star Wars Lightsaber Academy
- Toy Fair 2019—Stranger Things Games
- Toy Fair 2019—HABA
- Licensing Roundup
- Game Bandit
- 2018 A Difficult Year For Hasbro But Not For D&D Or MtG
Recent Comments
- on Toy Fair 2019—Winning Moves
- on Game Bandit
- on Second Look—Dungeons & Dragons Waterdeep Dragon Heist
- on Crowdfunding Highlights
- on Beyblade SlingShock
- on Game Bandit
- on Game Bandit
- on Watch This Game!, the Board Game Review Board Game
- on Second Look—Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition
- on Palladium Books Loses Robotech IP License, Cancels Five-Year-Overdue Robotech RPG Tactics Kickstarter
I can’t imagine that they’d put all this on D&D Insider. They’d stand to lose more money from lost PDF sales that way. D&D Insider doesn’t strike me as a great bargain in it’s current form, but total access to online manuals would result in WotC making a lot less money on digital product. At least with PDF sales, they got the money up front for individual titles.
Of course, I never would have predicted a complete yanking pf PDF product from the web…
I think we’re coming to a point where it’s becoming clear that Wizards hasn’t really thought out their digital strategy. The real question is whether they’ll get their act together in time for it to matter. That said, how many RPG publishers bother with a digital strategy beyond basic PDF publishing?
That’s a very good point Rjoshstreet. Catalyst Labs seems to have a strategy (offering PDFs in advance of print and as combos with printed material), but not too many do. I have no idea if WotC can turn this little fiasco around, but I’m sure that everyone will be paying attention to their next announcement on digital product!