WotC has released their official convention calendar for 2017.  Gen Con was again left out.    I'm 100% certain that D&D will have a presence via Baldman Games, and I assume that Magic will be well represented by Pastimes.  That said, it's still not the same as an official booth presence.  Now, they haven't had one in several years.m yes, I understand that a big booth is expensive.

I wasn't shocked the last couple of years at their lack of presence.  However, with D&D/TSR's role in making Gen Con a major convention, I tried to remain optimistic that they would be back, even if only for this year, to celebrate 50 Gen Con's.   I used to ridicule Games Workshop for not having an official presence at the largest analog gaming Convention in America...   I guess that ridicule needs to be shifted to WotC..

Pat E

It's sad. It seems to me that WotC is determined to fade into obscurity as a game company.

It's kind of a bummer since it's the 50th anniversary and all. 

Pasttimes is just running MtG events.  They are not officially representing WotC. 

Would love for them to be there but Wotc and Gen Con both will do just fine this year.

Dave: Has it gown enough for you guys to get back into the Sagamore this year?   Last year you guys were out of sight.  And since WotC didn't have a booth, that meant out of sight, our of mind for a lot of attendee's...

Baldman Games does a great job running D&D games, actually, I think they do a better job than the "old days" run by RPGA folks during 3.5/4e.  However, not having WotC at Gen Con again this year is simply bad news.  D&D started Gen Con!  This is the 50th anniversary!  Gen Con is the biggest game convention, yet WotC thinks it is a better idea to go somewhere else?  What a crock!  

Supporting or not, it would be nice to see a presence at the convention. After all, this convention started as, and in many respects still showcases many aspects and products of D&D.

I understand it's costly to by a top tier supporter. But I fear it's more Hasbro then cost. This convention is not really inline with Hasbro's core products.

It's ridiculous that they aren't coming.  No idea if there is any truth here but I heard that WotC has been trying to distance themselves from Gen Con for some time now.  No clue why there would be a rift between the two but it is crazy they haven't been able to get it worked out.  Even if gamers at Gen Con don't play any WotC games it is better for the convention as a whole if the big player (company in this case) is there.

Given that they used to have a huge presence, and have decreased it over the years, and are having record high and growing sales of their main product (Magic), I would trust them to correctly evaluate whether going to Gen Con is good for them or not - and it appears the answer is that it's not good.

Why is it "ridiculous" that a company doesn't do what is not good for them exactly?

And, even if we agree, we can still lament the loss of a mainstay of Gen Con's past.

Wizkids does not come to Gen Con either. I would love to see a bigger Dice Masters presence at Gen Con, but they decided to leave as well. Instead they hold their big events at Origins. Which I do not know much about other than location & dates. Doesn't seem to be as big as Gen Con.

Ceo's come and Ceo's go. It was a past Hasbro CEO who wanted to get out of the game convention biz and sold Gen Con back to Peter. The next one might decide that it's to much of a bother for them to pay to have a show and thing will go back to WotC back at Gen Con.
Randu

Isn't Pathfinder pretty much this generations D&D anyway?  I find it far too common seeing friends playing D&D or saying they're doing a "D&D night" but they're actually just playing Pathfinder.

Go Paizo!

On the other hand, I'm gobsmacked by a bunch of forumites who behave as if they know better than Wizards/Hasbro what is good for those businesses, and who phrase their complaints not as:

"It would make me happy for Wizards to blah blah blah.", but as:

"It is rank incompetence, and proof of poor management, that Wizards does not blah blah blah." 

I assure you - public corporations don't leave money on the table if they can help it.  

Given the deeply intertwined history of the organizations and that Wizards made a proactive choice to stop attending, it's clear that Wizards analyzed the situation and determined attendance was a net negative for them.

In case those people are actually concerned about Wizards viability as a business, they should take comfort in Hasbro's annual report - the most recent of which repeatedly referred to Magic as one of the premier brands, indicated it's growing in sales and popularity, and routinely breaking their own records for sales and participation.  Evidently Wizards is not a brand in decline.

If I were a betting man, I'd gladly err on the side of corporations making stupid decisions. That's a good bet.