Critical Role’s business team talks Daggerheart, theatrical screenings and strategy

You’ve both been embedded in the team from the beginning. What did your role look like then versus now?

Ed: My origin story is that I went to do some product development for Legendary. To work on Critical Role, I obviously had to watch the content. I’ll be honest, when I first saw it, I didn’t understand it. Then I realized it felt a lot like Shakespeare — theater of the mind. As a huge Shakespeare buff, I related to it and realized how special it was. I thought, “Maybe this can be a business, a big multimedia company.” I worked with the cast, expressed my vision, and they trusted it. After that, it was a million miles an hour: opening a new studio, producing content, the Kickstarter, then the animated series, merch, and licensing.

Ben: When we moved independent, Ed and I helped the founders get this thing up and running. It was a classic startup vibe, building around a pop-up table and chairs. It’s crazy to look back because we’re now a company of roughly 70 people working out of that same space. My role then was to keep the lights on and make sure we had cash in the bank to pay people. Now, it’s about making sure we’re thinking responsibly about how we invest in the business.

What do you think is the most significant factor to Critical Role’s sustained growth and ability to still be relevant after ten years?

Ed: I always use the word “integrity,” but “authenticity” is probably better. What you see is what you get with them and the content. It’s authentic within the business, with people like us who aren’t in front of the camera, as well as the founders and the community. We speak that language well, and it’s interwoven in our stories. It’s easy for someone to watch and relate to the characters or storylines.

Ben: Ed’s right. It started with the cast and the show. It’s not “casted”—it’s a group of friends playing D&D. It didn’t start with a plan to put it on the internet. It started with them just being friends, so there’s no acting element. We’ve just done our best to maintain that authenticity as we do more things as a business. From an audience perspective, that’s what people latch onto from the jump: friends having fun telling stories together. That continues to resonate.

When you’re looking at options for scaling, like Daggerheart and your screenings, how do you decide what to pursue knowing you want to maintain that authenticity?

Ed: We go where the community asks us to go. We saw people asking for live shows, so we did live shows. We don’t have to guess to make certain decisions; the community tells us, and we look at it and say, “Okay, this is a good idea. This will resonate.” I don’t think anything we’ve done is truly an original idea. It’s about identifying what people are talking about in our space, what they’re passionate about, and seeing how we can bring the Critical Role ethos into that space and do something cool. Whether it’s screenings or Daggerheart. How many times do you hear people say, “I really wish there were people I can relate to in an RPG game”? We hear that and think, “We should create something that resonates with our community.” It’s not a secret, but it’s not something many businesses do.