Wizards of the Coast has tightened its requirements for the two most common tiers of its Wizards Play Network (WPN) organized play program, dramatically increasing the total event requirements for both its Core and Advanced level stores. Core stores will now be required to report at least 24 events per year (the preceding 12 months); the old standard was four events.  Advanced level stores must now report at least 48 events per year; the old standard was 20 events. 

The required changes are effective immediately, but existing Core and Advanced store members will have until December 2016 to meet the new requirements in order to maintain their current level.  Stores that are currently part of the Advanced Plus level, which requires 125 events per year, will not be affected by any changes (the Advanced Plus tier was added last year, see “WotC’s New Advanced Plus OP Level”). 

Current Core and Gateway stores will need to meet these new requirements in order to level up to the next tier.  Stores which do not meet these new requirements will be subject to re-evaluation and possible “leveling down.” New WPN stores must meet the Core level requirements within 12 months of being accepted into the WPN program.

The company stated that this change allows them to pass the benefits of the WPN on to stores doing the most to build community with regular player events. Asked why the change was being implemented now, a WotC spokesperson told ICv2, “We’re simply raising the bar a bit for what being a WPN store means, which is a good thing for WPN stores.” 

The WotC spokesperson also directed us to a relevant comment by Wizards of the Coast CEO Greg Leeds in his recent interview with ICv2 (see “ICv2 Interview: Wizards of the Coast CEO Greg Leeds, Part 1”).  “If I look back 10 years ago, what would be a great store 10 years ago would be an average store today. And everything we do at Wizards of the Coast is to make the great store of today an average store of tomorrow. So that’s the evolution we’re seeing.”