UPDATE: Hasbro denies any plans to sell their D&D IP. More here.

Hasbro may be looking to offload the Dungeons & Dragons (DND, D&D) IP onto a wealthy buyer, in this case it sounds like it may be Tencent.

According to multiple sources, due to financial difficulties the Dungeons & Dragons IP could be up for sale either now or in the near future. Larian Studios, the creator of the massively successful RPG Baldur’s Gate 3 reportedly don’t have the financial resources to make the deal themselves. However Larian allegedly helped bring Hasbro and Tencent together for a possible deal (Tencent has a minority stake in Larian).

It’s unclear just how much of the IP is up for sale, it could just be the video game rights, or it could be the entire D&D identity. Just a month ago we learned Hasbro was laying off over 1,000 employees, signaling the company’s difficulties.

While the Microsoft and Activision deal dominated headlines last year, Tencent has been investing in western game developers at an alarming rate. Currently the company owns Riot Games (League of Legends) and has stakes in companies ranging from Warhammer: Darktide developer Fatshark, to AAA developer Ubisoft, and even Japanese publishers like Visual Arts have been compromised.

Image: Source