Hasbro Lawsuit Over Magic Card Overprints Voluntarily Dismissed

A lawsuit claiming that Wizards of the Coast was harming its Magic: The Gathering brand by overprinting card was voluntarily dismissed last week, bringing this chapter of the lawsuit to an end. Earlier this year, Hasbro shareholders Joseph Crocono and Ultan McGlone filed a lawsuit against Hasbro and several of its executives claiming that Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks and others had made misleading comments about the printing strategy for Magic: The Gathering. The lawsuit claimed that the overprinting of Magic sets, which has increased exponentially in recent years, had weakened confidence of the brand and also resulted in a temporarily inflated stock price, influencing a stock buyback and ultimately resulting in a significant loss back in 2022.

One claim made in the lawsuit was that Wizards artificially overhyped the performance of its 30th anniversary set, which sold for $999. While Wizards claimed that the set sold out in an hour, the lawsuit claimed that leftover stock was dumped at a Texas landfill, reinforcing claims of misleading the public about its performance.

However, a year-end earnings report for Hasbro shows that Magic: The Gathering continues to be the primary revenue mover for Hasbro, accounting for a major part of Hasbro's 14% sales growth compared to 2024. Overall, Wizards of the Coast's revenue grew by 45% in 2025, largely due to Magic: The Gathering's performance.

As the lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed, it can be refiled at a later date. No reason was given for why the lawsuit was dismissed, nor has its plaintiffs commented on the dismissal.

 

[slobster]

I would expect the vast majority of Magic players to age out of the game at some point. Then you have the whales. Is that how it works?

I don't know about "vast majority", I don't have the numbers. I imagine the young cohort you are describing that graduates from high school or whatever and then never buys another pack does exist.

But completely anecdotally, I know maybe 40 or so players my age (also 40 or so) who have been in and out of the game for decades. We go through periods of buying a few packs here and there to crack, periods of buying a box or two every time a new set comes out and keeping a deck or four up to date in our format of choice, and periods of not buying anything before starting the cycle again. In my FLGS, we tend to outnumber the kids who are picking up the game for the first time.

I think Magic is a bit closer to video games than action figures (not that I aged out of that either, see my Warhammer collection...) in that there are lots of adults who play as well, or at least dip a toe in now and then when they are feeling nostalgic, and WotC's pattern of heavily servicing people in my age demographic with their nostalgic crossover sets from 80's and 90's IPs seems to reinforce that there is a lot of money in that consumer category for them to chase after.

 

[Parmandur]

Part of the dopamine hit comes from seeing what you get as valuable.

Only somewhat: a lot of people will just like getting cool cards. The percentage of people who are serious about any sort of thing like this, like baseball or Pokémon cards, is fairly small. A lot of people just have fun getting the stuff without referring to a theoretical market value.

 

[Parmandur]

I would expect the vast majority of Magic players to age out of the game at some point. Then you have the whales. Is that how it works?

The vast majority are casual players who pick up packs occasionally at the drug store and goof around with friends and family: but interestingly, not so much with aging out. Casual, but stick with it over time IIRC the numbers.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

The vast majority are casual players who pick up packs occasionally at the drug store and goof around with friends and family: but interestingly, not so much with aging out.

This reflects my IRL experience of MtG players for sure. All the "serious" or "sweaty" players (at least in my age range) burned out and stopped buying MtG at some point (or play digitally only). Most of the casual-as-hell ones still buy cards now and then.

 

[Parmandur]

This reflects my IRL experience of MtG players for sure. All the "serious" or "sweaty" players (at least in my age range) burned out and stopped buying MtG at some point (or play digitally only). Most of the casual-as-hell ones still buy cards now and then.

It's my own personal experience, I am blissfully ignorant of the "meta", I just like fun art cards that I can good around with.

 

[Silam]

How can I bid on the contract to let them use my backyard next time they need a place to dump $999 cards?