Wizards of the Coast has announced a new Dungeons & Dragons VP. Dan Ayoub has replaced Jess Lanzillo as the VP of Franchise for the world’s most popular fantasy TTRPG. With this change in management comes a new shift in business, specifically to a “franchise model.”
The New Dungeons & Dragons VP
Dan Ayoub announced his new position as Dungeons & Dragons VP via a LinkedIn post. In the post, Ayoub expresses his love and passion for Wizards of the Coast’s enduring fantasy franchise, mentioning he’s been playing since he was 12 years old. The second half of the post explains that the internal structure of D&D will shift into what he refers to as a “full franchise model.”
What this means is all products and projects —books, video games, TV shows, films, etc. — that touch on the world and setting of Dungeons & Dragons will now be handled under one roof.
The impact here cannot be overstated; this is massive for D&D and will allow a strong, coordinated, and well-funded approach for the franchise, and most importantly, for us, the fans.
It should be noted that, thanks to some digging by EN World, Ayoub’s experience comes from the videogame industry. He has spent 11 years at Microsoft, notably as Studio Head and Executive Producer of 343 Industries. This means he had a noticeable influence on the post-Bungie era of Halo. In addition, he has been an executive producer at Ubisoft and as a Game Director for Disney.
Regardless of the state of those institutions under Ayoub, it is difficult to tell how the new Dungeons & Dragons VP’s franchise model will affect things going forward. Part of the longevity of D&D has come from it being such large, recognizable, malleable franchise in its current form.
On the consumer-facing side, there is already a plethora of different D&D products available. The critically acclaimed video game of Baldur’s Gate 3. The entertaining D&D movie, Honor Among Thieves. There are even new novels being published like Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd. As such, this model change may not be too noticeable.
As for the business side of things, it does mark a considerable shift in attitude by WIzards of the Coast. Considering Ayoub is filling in a gap of high-profile departures from the company, which include Lanzillo, Todd Kenrick, and lead designers Christopher Perkins and Jeremy Crawford, this change in direction may potentially be a means to consolidate their workforce from different departments.