WotC New WotC President Is World of Warcraft's John Hight

After WotC president Cynthia Williams resigned a couple of months ago, taking up the CEO role at Funko, we've been waiting to hear who her replacement will be.

WotC has now announced that John Hight--who previously managed the World of Warcraft franchise for Blizzard Entertainment--is taking over. Like Williams, Hight comes from a video gaming background.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks said "I admire John’s career focus on fostering community. He is a true embodiment of our mission to bring people together through play. John’s love of D&D and Magic: The Gathering, combined with his leadership in video games, will be crucial as we expand our digital offerings to deliver what our fans crave."

Hight worked at Blizzard for 12 years, on both World of Warcraft and Diablo. According to Business Wire, his role includes oversight of Hasbro's network of gaming studios and digital licensing agreements.

 

[Lanefan]

Probably best to leave the jury out for a year or two - time enough to see what if any significant changes he brings or moves he makes - before deciding whether he's good for the game or not.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I am slightly optimistic with this appointment. It probably means that the focus now on growth in WoTC is on the video game are with a probably secondary axis on video and movies. This is a basically sensible approach and takes the pressure from the ttrpg to grow at unrealistic rates.

 

[Umbran]

There's nothing to be gained from licking his boots.

Mod Note:
There probably isn't much for you to gain from telling people they are "licking boots" either. And perhaps something to lose.

Treat folks with a bit more respect than this, hey what? Thanks.

 

[Aldarc]

I wish him and the company and our game, well.

I'm sure the diggity-diggers are out there trying to find a 2007 video where he kicked a puppy.

No but my first instinct was to check whether or not he was in “the Cosby Suite” photo. Thankfully at least, he was not.

 

[Vincent55]

I played WOW for like a day or two, but absolutely hated the cartoon graphics and other nonsense, i never liked raids so i like solo when it comes to games, also didn't wow put out an abomination of a pen-and-paper game version of wow. I liked the older BG1 and 2 pool, and most the rest up and including BG3, but bg3 is not that replayable unlike a few older ones which you could create your own adventures. But hasbro don't want this, as if they made their own then they could charge you to play, unless they force you to log on to a server they control to load the game. Digital is ok, and has its good points, in that distance is not a factor and people could play in a D&D game from any part of the world. But unless there is a DM option (BG3 doesn't appear to have) then to me its a waste of time and not as fun. Anyway before long all will be online books and you will have to pay to use them every day via subscription service, why sell them something once when you can rent it for ever.

 

[Parmandur]

I am slightly optimistic with this appointment. It probably means that the focus now on growth in WoTC is on the video game are with a probably secondary axis on video and movies. This is a basically sensible approach and takes the pressure from the ttrpg to grow at unrealistic rates.

Yeah, and his resume suggests he is probably savvy enough to see a healthy TTRPG hobby as good to maintain for those other lucrative ventures.

 

[The Myopic Sniper]

Congratulations, John! I hope your tenure is a long and fruitful one for both you and the fans. Welcome aboard!

 

[Malmuria]

Just remember that if you don't do an excellent job people who have never met you and really have little idea exactly what it is you do will never stop complaining about it.

The implication here is that consumers never have a basis to criticize CEOs, and if they do it's just uninformed "complaining." Or, hear me out, maybe consumers have a right to advocate for themselves, and that's not just whining, but actually helpful for keeping corporations somewhat in check?

 

[KYRON45]

The implication here is that consumers never have a basis to criticize CEOs, and if they do it's just uninformed "complaining." Or, hear me out, maybe consumers have a right to advocate for themselves, and that's not just whining, but actually helpful for keeping corporations somewhat in check?

We can all criticize all we want. I’m saying let’s give him some time before we blame him for anything.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

At least the WoW community has never had a particular problem with Hight, as far as I know. I've been playing for years and haven't heard complaints about him (then again, I might just be hanging out in the wrong places).

No, he was generally well liked. He always seemed like a very enthused gamer in his Blizzcon appearances.

Looking forward to giant shoulderpads being added to the armor chart for D&D.