Abstract
You can find the full article here Through a single case study utilising archival evidence and a digital artefact review, this research investigates the publisher Wizard of the Coast’s responses to digital piracy via changes to their business model and digital strategy. In response to the loss of revenue via illegally circulated PDF’s of their core content for the roleplaying game system Dungeons and Dragons, Wizard of the Coast stopped the sale of all forms of digital content—restricting the Dungeons and Dragons product to physical copies only. Comparative sales analysis of two editions of Dungeons and Dragons and their competitor Pathfinder, showcases a strong correlation between unrestricted availability of online content and improved sales performance. A further comparison of Wizard of the Coast’s recent digital content platform for Dungeons and Dragons analyses the factors in presenting digital content necessary to encourage a “willingness to pay” in the selected audiences. A combination of a complete content catalogue, personalisation and community features, access to free content samples or tiers, and the continued improvement in service quality are all identified in Wizard of the Coast’s digital platform DnDBeyond, with an increase in physical sales following its debut.
Highlights
Theft of intellectual property is a present threat for all companies in the commercial media business
This paper will identify the relevant strategic decisions that Wizards of the Coast implemented in its positioning of digital offerings in the market and analyse what impact these had on the prevalence of digital piracy
Whilst assessing the impact of digital piracy is a difficult task that has yet to be perfected, this case study has found a strong correlation between an open digital content strategy and improved sales
Summary
Theft of intellectual property is a present threat for all companies in the commercial media business. The development of computers and the advent of the World Wide Web made the circulation of illegally reproduced content of any medium a straightforward task requiring only basic, accessible hardware and software. The ability to digitally reproduce files infinitely and circulate them gave birth to the threat of digital piracy—the most widespread and effective counterfeiting movement in history. Publishing any content digitally is, today, filled with the inherent risk of the file being copied and circulated freely, undermining the publisher’s ability to monetise the content and directly impacting the author’s income. In the era of information and digital access many publishers cannot afford to forgo digital offerings entirely. Understanding the best methods of offering content online to encourage legitimate sales is an important step in securing the viability of the digital market
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