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.

 

[Maxperson]

Suing the company you own stock in is basically the same as suing yourself... If you're unhappy with how a company you own part of is run your options are to either sell your stock or push to replace the board of directors. Even if you win a lawsuit it's essentially your money that will be used to pay compensation.

The cost of a lawsuit is relatively minor when compared to the potential gains in stock prices/dividends that result from a corrected course. Assuming those suing are correct.

 

[slobster]

There is a huge clash between people who see MtG as primarily a game to be played, and often played as affordably as possible, and people who see cards as a store of value or even a way to trade and speculate into profit.

Often that clash happens within a single person. "I want the cards I own to be worth lots of money, and I want the cards I buy to be really cheap."

Frankly my problems with modern MtG are completely unrelated to the sustained collector value of their product. I don't like that they make so many sets these days that the quality is starting to suffer, that they do so much Universes Beyond sets that it makes it hard to care about (or even understand) any of it, that their predatory pricing practices are becoming more unabashed and alienating, and that all the crossover and pricing gimmicks and collector version baiting is beginning to remind me of 90's comics before the crash.

The game itself? Still solid, I'll pick up a few silly ninja turtles cards (as singles!) for EDH decks. Playing the game is as fun as ever (note I've never been a competitive player, so if WotC craps all over standard it's unlikely to affect me that much) and while I'm definitely going to spending A LOT less on MtG for a while because I'm annoyed at the company, I'll probably also be back in 2-4 years once more to see what the game looks like then.

 

[Parmandur]

Yes. When you're selling a collectible, once it becomes apparent the collectibility is gone, it reduces the incentive for future purchases. They're endangering a core aspect of the product that has sustained it for 30+ years for a temporary cash injection.

I mean, the game mostly sells in small packs at pharmacies and grocery stores for kitchen table play. The collectable market is not as important as many hardcore hobbyists think it is.

 

[Alzrius]

Maybe they need more time to find those landfill photos

No doubt WotC has the Pinkertons taking care of that for them.

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

I mean, the game mostly sells in small packs at pharmacies and grocery stores for kitchen table play. The collectable market is not as important as many hardcore hobbyists think it is.

You can print the cards yourself for next to nothing or buy high quality proxies for slightly more.
Without collectibility, why would people buy the expensive packs? Moreover, why would they buy BOXES of packs?

 

[Parmandur]

You can print the cards yourself for next to nothing or buy high quality proxies for slightly more.
Without collectibility, why would people buy the expensive packs? Moreover, why would they buy BOXES of packs?

Convenience and dopamine from just opening the packs. And mostly just to play the game.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Convenience and dopamine from just opening the packs. And mostly just to play the game.

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

 

[slobster]

You can print the cards yourself for next to nothing or buy high quality proxies for slightly more.
Without collectibility, why would people buy the expensive packs? Moreover, why would they buy BOXES of packs?

Without the frenzy over collectability, people probably wouldn't be willing to spend SO MUCH for real cards compared to what it costs to print them. (I do think players attach some amount of nebulous premium onto official cards that isn't easily quantified, but still) WotC would probably have to drop the prices of a pack, drop the prices of the super premium collector's packs and the like, might have to focus a bit more on their in-house IP instead of crossovers because it would be harder to upsell those Universes Beyond packs to such exorbitant prices to afford those licensing fees.

Now, for some reason, lots of people think the above scenario would be a bad thing... For me it sounds more like a welcome correction back to a healthy game, which gives the possibility of long-term collector value when people look back at a game they used to love, versus driving a speculative mania in the present based on a model of opaque scarcity, confusing pricing, and FOMO.

 

[MGibster]

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?

 

[Scribe]

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 of Magic players, never compete, crack a few packs from Walmart or buy a pre-built deck.

The problem is, Wizards could have EASILY had it both ways, they did not need to devastate the older formats, they did not need to print powerful cards into worthless paper.

They had a working ecosystem that was sustainable for literally forever, and they trampled all over it.