This year, Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) is marking its 25th anniversary. At the same time, a number of properties are also celebrating major milestones. In this ongoing series, we examine the role in-person events and tradeshows have played in supporting the decades-long growth of these brands.

This week, we speak with Marianne James, Senior Vice President of Global Licensing at Hasbro, to discuss the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.

What is the significance of this anniversary?
The 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) is a landmark celebration of its enduring impact and legacy in the world of gaming and storytelling. Now recognized as the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game®, D&D has fostered a diverse, multi-generational community where creativity and imagination can flourish. The anniversary not only honors the game’s historic influence, but also celebrates its role in shaping the role-playing game genre and inspiring countless players to explore their creativity and embrace the spirit of collaborative storytelling. It also demonstrates the staying power of D&D in the cultural zeitgeist as the brand is more popular than ever, inviting new fans to experience its richly imaginative universe through movies and TV shows, digital gaming, in-person experiences, fashion, comics, and much more.

How are you celebrating this milestone?
The celebration kicked off in March 2024, when fans all over the world were invited to play the same adventure together—an excerpt from the new release Descent into the Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth—in game stores; at community centers and libraries; at conventions like Gary Con, PAX East, and C2E2; in video chat rooms; and on virtual tabletops.

From there, the team revealed a whole slate of new products coming in 2024, including new adventure campaigns and refreshed core rulebooks, along with updated features and immersion improvements on D&D Beyond. Plus, we have delivered an exciting lineup of licensed consumer products with best-in-class partners, including footwear and apparel from Converse, BlackMilk and Reyn Spooner; an official LEGO IDEAS building set complete with minifigures; stamps from the UK’s Royal Mail postal service; and gaming accessories and collectibles from WizKids, Sirius Dice, FanRoll and Beadle & Grimm’s.

Meanwhile, audiences in the U.K. and U.S. are invited to embark on an adventure D&D In A Castle, an immersive retreat led by world-class Dungeon Masters. In North America, the live theatrical production, Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern, has extended its run in NYC through April 2025 and announced a U.S. national tour beginning May 2025. In addition, a brand-new interactive touring experience, The Immersive Quest: A D&D Experience, is kicking off in Toronto this fall.

What are the keys to maintaining a property for so many years?
At Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, we have a ‘franchise-first’ mentality, which means across licensing, toy, and game, our teams are working together with world-class partners to fuel growth of our franchise brands. Central to this is ensuring our licensed offerings are authentic and reflect what fans love about our brands. D&D fans are passionate and loyal, and we’re focused on delivering the offerings that enhance their playing experiences.

For D&D in particular, the real success comes from the writers and designers at Wizards making the game as accessible as possible. The emergence of digital tools like D&D Beyond, infinite hours of video content on YouTube and Twitch, and digital gaming like Baldur’s Gate 3 from Larian Studios have made it easier than ever to get into the game. Plus, pop culture’s embrace of fantasy and the roleplaying possibilities of D&D as depicted on TV shows like Netflix’s Stranger Things and ABC’s Ghosts, have bolstered the brand’s staying power.

How has the brand evolved over time?
D&D’s humble beginnings sprung from the creative community surrounding wargaming in the Midwest in 1974. Since then, the game and its IP has grown into a global franchise with millions of fans around the world. Central to this is how the team at Wizards has continually refined its rules and introduced fresh adventures to engage new generations of players while preserving its core elements. At the heart of D&D is connection through storytelling, and that has helped to translate the brand across categories, from entertainment and digital gaming to apparel, accessories, publishing, and more.

Alongside our talented partners at Paramount, we were able to bring the fantasy to the big screen in 2023 with Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. The critically acclaimed feature film spurred collaborations across key categories and served as a foundation for the franchise’s resurgence in pop culture.

Additionally, the brand has embraced digital platforms and social media, fostering a broader community and integrating new technologies to enhance the gaming experience. Building on this momentum, this year we released Baldur’s Gate 3 with Larian Studios. We also recently announced new games based on D&D IP in development with Gameloft Montreal (PC and console), Resolution Games (VR game), and Starbreeze (cooperative game for all major platforms).

What role have in-person events played in the ongoing growth of your brand?
From fan conventions like San Diego Comic Con and Gary Con to major industry events like Brand Licensing Europe, we love showing up where our fans and partners are. Connection is at the heart of D&D, and there’s nothing like face-to-face interaction at in-person events to really solidify bonds and bring people together.

This is reflected in our licensed offerings, with location-based entertainment and live shows a huge opportunity for the brand. For example, Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern is a unique theatrical production where player choice is a key component to the live experience. Through Gamiotics, the power of play is in the hands of the audience, so they can tell the performers what to do, where to go, and what kind of dangers they’ll face. They are part of this interactive experience, helping control the quest as they journey through the heart of the Forgotten Realms. With player choice at the center of the show, The Twenty-Sided Tavern acts as a natural extension and evolution of the brand to help kick off D&D’s next 50 years.

Do you have any memories at BLE, specifically, that illustrate the show’s significance in the story of your brand?
BLE consistently proves to be an invaluable venue for discovering new potential licensees. Each event has provided us with the opportunity to secure impactful deals and forge connections with a diverse range of partners, both established and emerging. We have been approached by a variety of businesses, including some as unexpected as coffee companies, that have resulted in deals. This illustrates BLE’s remarkable ability to showcase how licensing can ignite creativity and open new avenues for collaboration.