Hasbro Hit With Layoffs, Wizards of the Coast Impacted

Hasbro has announced they had laid off "less than 100" employees, with Wizards of the Coast and the Dungeons & Dragons team impacted as a result. Hasbro announced the "operational streamlining" of their team ahead of their third quarter earnings report, along with several organizational changes impacting oversight of different business lines. as part of these business realignments, Chief Marketing Officer Jason Bunge will now oversee Wizards of the Coast and digital marketing moving forward.

EN World has learned that at least four people at Wizards of the Coast were laid off as part of these changes. One of the four is Dixon Dubow, who publicly announced that he was laid off on Twitter yesterday. Dubow was the creator relations manager for Dungeons & Dragons and was a critical part of helping to repair D&D's image after the 2023 OGL scandal. Dubow was a primary point of contact for content creators who worked with the D&D brand.

Hasbro previously laid off a number of Wizards of the Coast employees as part of a wider employee reduction line last year. Numerous employees from various Wizards teams were either laid off or retired as part of a 20% reduction in the overall Hasbro workforce.

Hasbro also announced year to date operating profits of $630 million during their quarterly earnings report, with a $98 million dividend payout to shareholders.

 

[Retros_x]

Investing your spare savings or pension pot into a business you think could do well isn’t dirty or something to be ashamed of.

I've rarely seen private investors who invest their pension into a business having some actual influence on strategic decisions. We all know what shareholders we speak about, its not these you name here.

 

[Parmandur]

I've rarely seen private investors who invest their pension into a business having some actual influence on strategic decisions. We all know what shareholders we speak about, its not these you name here.

Hasbro is actually basically controlled by pensions, specifically.

 

[Retros_x]

Hasbro is actually basically controlled by pensions, specifically.

Can you elaborate?

 

[Parmandur]

Can you elaborate?

The shareholders for Hasbro tend more towards pension funds and other conservative investors.

 

[Vaalingrade]

I've rarely seen private investors who invest their pension into a business having some actual influence on strategic decisions. We all know what shareholders we speak about, its not these you name here.

But those other ones are a very convenient ablative shield for the people who we all know are the problem.

Every thread, they get thrown up to deflect.

 

[TiQuinn]

But those other ones are a very convenient ablative shield for the people who we all know are the problem.

Every thread, they get thrown up to deflect.

Yeah, the stockholder arguments frequently brought up always have me questioning whether people understand how public offerings actually work and who the buyers are.

 

[Maxperson]

What are you talking about!? We aren't allowed to talk about "overall societal situations" here on ENWorld - you'd have to Mod us for it. We're only allowed to talk about what directly effects the game industry, and only very carefully.

I think it has more to do with the level of investment we have in D&D here on a gaming site. I get upset when Nike or some other corporation does something sleazy, but I 1) don't come to a gaming site to complain about it, 2) typically don't have enough investment to do more than make a complaining comment to my wife or some friends. It takes more work to go to a website and type up a complaint, and I just don't have nearly the same level of investment in most products that I have in D&D.

I don't think it's fair to point to a bunch of complaints against Hasbro/WotC here on this site and the lack of complaints here about Nike, petroleum companies, Amazon, etc.

 

[Maxperson]

Geez, don't call him.

I rarely truly laugh out loud at things, but that one got me good.

 

[TheSword]

Yeah, the stockholder arguments frequently brought up always have me questioning whether people understand how public offerings actually work and who the buyers are.

Are you disputing the concept of fiduciary responsibility to shareholders… and the obvious (when you think about it) reason this is the case. It’s not a shield, it’s not an excuse. No one is saying the shareholders are all grannies. I’m saying Hasbro have taken other peoples money and they have to take that seriously.

 

[Vaalingrade]

There is a reason why it [was] illegal to bribe people.

'You took my money, now do as I say' is not an admirable position. It's a loan shark of mafioso's position.

That's not what fiduciary responsibility was meant to be, it's what it was corrupted and mutilated into.