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.

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.

 

[Halivar]

I don't know what's worse, the kindergarten word-plays, or the fretting over Microsoft "cooties".

 

[Mercule]

WotC flies and dies by Magic the Gathering, so I'm sure Chris Cocks is just going to leave everything D&D to Mike Mearls for the forseeable future. Though the Microsoft Reference does leave a bad taste in my mouth :-( That's all I'll say

It really depends on exactly when he came in to Microsoft and what "camp" he was in. I've been heavily involved in the .NET community pretty much since its inception. In the late 2000s (about 2008), there was a huge shift in philosophy when a bunch of Alt.NET folks were actually hired into Microsoft. That mentality seems to have permeated the entire company, more or less. I won't touch any thoughts you may or may not have about Microsoft in the 1990s and early 2000s -- for that time period -- but I will say that if you're carrying baggage from that era, you're not dealing with an accurate picture.

Having moved into a Java and OSS group a while back, I get to hear all sorts of Microsoft rants that, quite honestly, make the ranter sound like a complete idiot. It's like reading a review of "The Force Awakens" that trashes Lucas for creating wooden characters. I'm well aware that there are plenty of reasons to dislike any given company and, if you dislike Microsoft of 2016 for reasons relevant in 2016 (or not, actually), it's no skin off my nose. IME, there is significant section of folks who have built up a straw man of Microsoft that is wholly detached from reality.

 

[jayoungr]

Though the Microsoft Reference does leave a bad taste in my mouth :-( That's all I'll say

Well, look at it this way: he didn't stay at Microsoft, so maybe he was glad to leave.

 

[mangamuscle]

Well, look at it this way: he didn't stay at Microsoft, so maybe he was glad to leave.

Lately microsoft has become less evil, they have started to embrace open source and are against the idea of police states, so I wonder where all that evil of old went to ...

 

[lvl20dm]

I know that WotC would like to get a nice, big Triple-A D&D video game made (like Baldur's Gate) and maybe this is part of that. I hope so, anyway. I know multiple people who got in to D&D through Baldur's Gate, and they are still some of my favorite computer games.

 

[Mark CMG]

Anyway, I'm sure Chris C was hired for his manager skills as-well-as his passion for the hobby. He'll probably keep delegating D&D tasks to Mike Mearls, and keep delegating MtG tasks to Mark Rosewater. That's what good managers do: delegate the tasks to experts and keep a hands-off approach.

This seems the most likely course of action.

 

[jayoungr]

I had an NPC named Chris Cock! Unfortunately, that was because it's a homophone for the Welsh "Crys Coch" - Red Shirt.

Was it a Star Trek game?

 

[Nylanfs]

Lately microsoft has become less evil, they have started to embrace open source and are against the idea of police states, so I wonder where all that evil of old went to ...

That's just part of their EVIL plan.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

[ccs]

I'm going to go out on a limb here & bet this management change will effect me about as much as any other has. IE; pretty much not at all.
I'll just keep gaming.

 

[ZzarkLinux]

FYI all, This thread has been having issues of dropping posts. Don't be suprised if you can't see certain posts or pages. Details here

It really depends on exactly when he came in to Microsoft and what "camp" he was in. I've been heavily involved in the .NET community pretty much since its inception. In the late 2000s (about 2008), there was a huge shift in philosophy when a bunch of Alt.NET folks were actually hired into Microsoft. That mentality seems to have permeated the entire company, more or less. I won't touch any thoughts you may or may not have about Microsoft in the 1990s and early 2000s -- for that time period -- but I will say that if you're carrying baggage from that era, you're not dealing with an accurate picture.

(...) IME, there is significant section of folks who have built up a straw man of Microsoft that is wholly detached from reality.

Don't worry. I'm no hater. I won't build that strawman I think the MS devs and community are good people. I'm glad you make progress with the dev community. My gripes are about the past decisions, and what was lost, and I don't think Chris C was involved in that.

Based on Chris's prior job title of "VP OEM Sales":
(0) Chris C probably wasn't involved with XP SP3 and "Windows Genuine Advantage"
(1) Chris C probably wasn't involved with "Windows Protected Bootload"
(2) Chris C probably wasn't involved with ODF vs OOXML
(3) Chris C probably wasn't involved with the anti-trust suits
(4) Chris C probably wasn't involved with funding SCO vs Novell
(5) Chris C probably doesn't control patent offices
(6) Chris C probably didn't cause Gamestops to go from Nintendo-and-Sony to 80% Microsoft products ;-)

I hope Chris C shares my philosopies
Curious on your thoughts.