Wizards of the Coast will increase the prices of its rulebooks, starting with the release of Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants later this year. Today, Wizards announced plans to increase the MSRP of its rulebooks to $59.95 starting later this year. While previously published books will be unaffected by these price changes, all future RPG books will be affected by the price changes. Additionally, the pricing changes for the digital-physical bundles currently sold directly by Wizards will also increase to $69.95, although Wizards has stated that the bundle will have a discounted price of $59.95 during the pre-order window.
“As materials, transportation, and other production costs have increased over the nine years since we released the fifth edition of D&D, we’ve kept the price of our books stable. Because we are committed to maintaining high standards and quality products for our fans, we have made the difficult decision to increase the price of our new release print books, starting with Glory of the Giants,” said Liz Schuh, Director of Product Management for D&D in a press release. “We are able to maintain our digital pricing because the cost increases associated with print products does not impact digital products. Players who purchase the digital-physical bundle through dndstore.wizards.com can get the bundle for $59.95 for the entire preorder window. This is consistent with our current digital-physical bundle pricing. After the preorder window closes, digital-physical bundle prices will go to $69.95.”
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It is noted that Hasbro reported that Dungeons & Dragons sales were up 13% in Q1 2023 compared to the same time period as last year and that its tabletop product generated over $200 million in revenue in the first three months of the year. Additionally, Wizards of the Coast reported a $77 million operating profit for the first quarter of 2023 and had a total operating profit of over $500 million in 2022.
Wizards will be releasing several new RPG products this year, with monthly releases occurring every month from August from November. Notably, the releases include one previously unannounced product – The Practically Complete Guide to Dragons, which is described as a “field guide” by Wizards that includes updated lore and art about dragons.
