Cynthia Williams Resigns as WOTC CEO

Cynthia Williams has resigned. 

In the coming weeks, we’re not likely to hear her side of the story (not that any of us really want to). We will probably hear from various WOTC and Hasbro officials and executives, and we’ll likely hear empty phrases like “realigning company vision,” “strategic differences,” and “desire to pursue new challenges.” They may all have a whiff of forced abdication. Of course, maybe Williams was getting out while the getting was good. 

It’s hard to say how much of her ouster — forced or otherwise — stemmed from how she instituted and handled the OGL debacle, where she'd tried (and failed spectacularly) to monetize cherished intellectual property in a way that alienated core players.

Then there was the “under-monetization” comment about DND. She openly admitted to never having played DND. Never once did she sit down at a DND gaming table to roll dice, move minis, or laugh about some ludicrously hair-brained scheme. Could she really understand the intricate balance of fun and fair monetization? It felt like a bad GM trying to nickel and dime their players out of the fun.

The final straw (for the DND community, though maybe not for Williams) was the pre-Christmas firing of beloved book writers and designers. This, too, echoed the GM who unilaterally changes the rules halfway through a campaign, leaving players bewildered and frustrated.

To me, it seems like the DND community wants the running of WOTC to not be about profit margins and quarterly reports. We want it to be about fostering creativity, understanding the community, and being the kind of leader who listens and builds something special together. We want a GM, not a CEO.

We want someone with the memory of being huddled around a gaming table with mismatched chairs, dice clattering, laughter filling the air. A DND gaming table is a far cry from a sterile boardroom table. 

It could be that in the end, the most successful companies, like the best D&D campaigns, aren’t about forcing victories. They were about creating a space where everyone could contribute, have fun, and maybe, just maybe, roll a critical hit on occasion.

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