All Change At WotC: New President Arrives From Microsoft As Greg Leeds Resigns

WotC's President, Greg Leeds, has resigned, to be replaced by Microsoft's Chris Cocks. The changeover takes place on June 6th, with Leeds staying on to facilitate a smooth transfer. Greg Leeds has been President of WotC for 8 years, since 2008. Chris Cock's most recent position was Vice President of OEM Technical Sales at Microsoft. The full press release is below.

WotC's President, Greg Leeds, has resigned, to be replaced by Microsoft's Chris Cocks. The changeover takes place on June 6th, with Leeds staying on to facilitate a smooth transfer. Greg Leeds has been President of WotC for 8 years, since 2008. Chris Cock's most recent position was Vice President of OEM Technical Sales at Microsoft. The full press release is below.


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Chris Cocks

[h=4]Press Release[/h]
PAWTUCKET, R.I.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Hasbro, Inc. today announced that Greg Leeds has resigned as President of Wizards of the Coast, and will be replaced by Chris Cocks who joins the company from Microsoft. Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, offers games and entertainment under world-renowned brands such as MAGIC: THE GATHERING, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, and DUEL MASTERS. Leeds has served as the President of Wizards of the Coast since 2008, and started at Hasbro in 2001. He will stay on to ensure a smooth transition to Cocks, who will officially join the team in Seattle on June 6.

“We are incredibly thankful to Greg for the tremendous contributions he has made to Hasbro, especially during his time leading Wizards of the Coast,” said John Frascotti, President, Hasbro Brands. “Today, thanks to Greg’s commitment and passion, Wizards of the Coast’s brands are stronger than ever. Though MAGIC: THE GATHERING was introduced more than 20 years ago, it is more relevant and popular today than it’s ever been, with a record number of people around the world playing the game and participating in MAGIC organized play events.”

Leeds will be replaced by Chris Cocks, who most recently served as Vice President, OEM Technical Sales at Microsoft Corporation, where he led a global sales and technical engagement team. Prior to his eight-year tenure with Microsoft, Chris served as Vice President of Educational Games at LeapFrog, where he led a cross-discipline team to drive hardware planning, software design and development, marketing and channel management. He began his career in brand management at Procter & Gamble and served in product management and marketing leadership positions in Xbox and MSN, including work on hit franchises like Halo and Fable, prior to joining Leapfrog. Cocks is an avid player and fan of Wizards of the Coast brands, including MAGIC: THE GATHERING and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.

“We’re very excited to welcome Chris to the Wizards of the Coast family,” said Frascotti. “As an avid fan and player with extensive digital experience, I’m confident Chris is the right person to help us build on the tremendous momentum around our brands and take the franchise to the next level by delivering exciting new experiences to our growing and passionate fan base around the world."

See the list of ex-WotC employees here.
 

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Curmudjinn

Explorer
Nothing wrong with some younger ideals to fill the role of old bureaucrat. I can't see it being worse, and might truly benefit the future direction of WotC, especially digital.
 

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Mark CMG

Creative Mountain Games
Interesting. Show me.


You can click and scroll, as I did, yes?


You cited an opinion about a perceive bit of "semantic gymnastics", you mean...


Yes, we're posting opinions.


Who might that be? Is there a long list? Can you narrow it down to just 2 or 3?


He is drowned in the brook: look but in, and you shall see him. - Orlando from Shakespeare's As You Like It: Act 3, Scene 2


Or might you say that has something to do with your opinions around here regarding WotC?


What do you have against WotC? As said, at the time I posted, I was in the minority opinion that the new guy would be very good for WotC, so I fail to see what you are driving at. Are you someone who can only love or hate a company rather than look at their various products, actions, and whatnot individually? You do seem to be somewhat rabid in your defense of a perceived disagreement with the way in which they wrote their press release despite the remainder of my post being a very positive take on the new guy. I find that weird. Are you upset that I think a guy from Microsoft might be a good hire? Do you have something against Microsoft, and thus this new hire? Seriously, can we skip the rest of this dance and get down to what is actually bugging you about the new guy coming into WotC because that's really what this thread is supposed to be covering, isn't it?



*Edit* Ah, never mind. I just figured out who you are and what you're doing. We can just drop this now. Good luck with things, buddy.
 
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ChrisCarlson

First Post
eriously, can we skip the rest of this dance and get down to what is actually bugging you about the new guy coming into WotC because that's really what this thread is supposed to be covering, isn't it?
So you think this thread is about what is bugging me about the new hire? Interesting.

**Edit: Because that's how what you said can be parsed...**
 
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Hussar

Legend
As far as digital offerings go, I sincerely hope they sell a PHB/DMG app that allows crosslinking and easy searching. PDF is NOT the way to go for what I want from the core manuals. As clunky as it might have been, the DDi for 4e was a thousand times better as a reference than a pdf.
 

Nylanfs

Adventurer
Maybe they will finally realize that they should have been teaming up with the PCGen team this whole time? :)

Not, that I'm going to be holding my breath for an email from WotC. :)
 


Emirikol_Prime

Explorer
As far as digital offerings go, I sincerely hope they sell a PHB/DMG app that allows crosslinking and easy searching. PDF is NOT the way to go for what I want from the core manuals. As clunky as it might have been, the DDi for 4e was a thousand times better as a reference than a pdf.

No thanks. A PDF solution is far preferable.
 

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