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Hasbro just poached a new leader for their lucrative Wizards of the Coast brand

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4 months ago

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Hasbro just poached a new leader for their lucrative Wizards of the Coast brand

John Hight was the general manager for the very lucrative Warcraft franchise

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  • Wizards of the Coast is a big revenue stream for Hasbro
  • John Hight has a long history in video game development

One of Hasbro’s most lucrative subsidiaries, Wizards of the Coast, has a new president with a long history with another extremely successful fantasy franchise: World of Warcraft.

Hasbro named John Hight, the former general manager of the Warcraft franchise at Blizzard Entertainment, to lead Wizards of the Coast. Hight worked at Blizzard for 12 years before coming to Wizards of the Coast and appears to have started work this month.

Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro Gaming have been without a permanent president since Cynthia Williams stepped down on April 26, according to an April 15 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. She gave the company a little less than a two weeks notice of her resignation.

Hight’s hiring is a “significant step in Hasbro’s strategic focus on digital experiences and video games,” according to a news release on his hiring.

He will be responsible for oversight over Hasbro’s “network of gaming studios,” digital licensing agreements and lead strategy for two of its biggest properties, Magic: the Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.

“I admire John’s career focus on fostering community,” Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks wrote in the news release. “He is a true embodiment of our mission to bring people together through play. John’s love of D&D and Magic: The Gathering, combined with his leadership in video games, will be crucial as we expand our digital offerings to deliver what our fans crave.”

Who is John Hight?

According to his LinkedIn page, one of Hight’s early roles was an executive producer and design director at Electronic Arts followed by a three-year stint at Atari, then six years at Sony as a product development director, with work on God of War 3 and the launch of the PlayStation Network.

  • From 2007 to 2011, he was an adjunct professor at the University of California.
  • In 2011, he was named an executive produce and vice president for the World of Warcraft franchise, a role he held for 10 years.
  • In 2021, Hight became the general manager of the entire Warcraft franchise, which includes a slew of different properties including Hearthstone and World of Warcraft.

Why is Wizards of the Coast important to Hasbro?

Wizards of the Coast is responsible for two giants in Hasbro’s portfolio of intellectual property, Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.

One of the biggest recent money makers for Hasbro has been the licensing for the game Baldur’s Gate III, part of the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

Wizards of the Coast also saw a 5% increase in revenue from the release of two sets in its collectable card game Magic: The Gathering. The gaming segment has long been a money maker for Hasbro and in last year’s third quarter, it and Hasbro’s gaming division saw a 40% increase in revenue

In an earnings call for first-quarter results, Cocks said Hasbro has signed two more licensing agreements with video game companies for its Dungeons & Dragons property.

Hasbro reports its second-quarter earnings on July 25.

Cocks was the president of Wizards of the Coast before being tapped to become Hasbro CEO in 2022.

Hasbro has been facing headwinds after closing Providence office, layoffs

Hasbro saw a major decline in revenue last year and announced 1,100 layoffs and the closure of its Providence office, by not renewing its lease.

According to the news website dicebreaker.com, “dozens” of Wizards of the Coast employees were part of those 1,100 layoffs announced last year, including artists, designers and product developers.

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

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