Fans of both Dungeons & Dragons and Transformers have voiced their concerns about Elon Musk expressing an interest in purchasing Hasbro, the company that currently owns the rights to the franchise.
Musk, who has been handed a role in Donald Trump’s administration after helping him win the US election, teased purchasing Hasbro after taking issue with comments from Jason Tondro, the product lead on another Hasbro property, Dungeons and Dragons.
This comes just days after Musk and Donald Trump Jr had joked about the Tesla CEO purchasing MSNBC.
On 22 November, Musk responded to the forward by Tondro in the 40th Anniversary book “Making of D&D”, where they attempted to distance themselves from elements of the original game, created by E Gary Gygax and make it more inclusive.
After seeing this on X/Twitter, Musk took exception to this, writing: “Nobody, and I mean nobody, gets to trash E Gary Gygax and the geniuses who created Dungeons & Dragons. What the f*** is wrong with Hasbro and WoTC [Wizards of the Coast]?? May they burn in hell.”
Tondro was then reportedly asked about Musk’s pushback, admitting that he was surprised at the criticism, believing that the backlash would come from “progressives and people from underrepresented groups who justly took offence at the language of OD&D”.
Of Musk, Tondro said: “I just don’t take those critiques seriously even now. I consider those people not worth listening to, so I didn’t anticipate their ‘outrage.’”
After being made aware of this, Musk bluntly said: “How much is Hasbro?” According to Forbes, shares in Hasbro are currently worth $63.89.
