WotC WotC Generates 75% Of Hasbro's Profit

ICv2 is reporting that WotC generated $110M of Hasbro's $147.3M operating profits in the first quarter of this year, with an increase of 15% on last year.

Of overall sales, WotC generated (only!) 22% of Hasbro's $1.1B.

The growth is attributed to Magic: the Gathering and D&D. Recently, Hasbro restructured with 'WotC and Digital Gaming' getting it own division.

WotC - D&D Gets A New Division At Hasbro

Hasbro is reorganizing and giving tabletop gaming -- Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: the Gathering -- a higher priority. According to the Wall Street Journal, WotC's revenue last year was $816 million (a 24% increase on 2019). Brian Goldner, Hasbro's Chief Executive, says WotC is predicted to...

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[dave2008]

I guess the main point is the script needs to suit the movie - F&F scripts aren't epics of amazing writing, but they're perfect for the movies, and get the themes of those movies, and how they work (like the whole "family" thing).

I agree 100%. Good writing for a movie doesn't mean a literary masterpiece, it is a script that fits the movies genre / audience.

EDIT: I will also add the JAWS still works today, despite some pretty bad VFX by today's standards. It has a good story and good writing. In fact, some of the actors were hired because the could also write (and did for the movie)!

 

[Dausuul]

I will use HBO's GoT as an example ( I know that is not a movie). The special effects got bigger and better as the series went on, but the writing and plot got worse. A lot of people think the last season or two were pretty bad because of the plot / writing, not the rather fantastic dragons and awesome battles.

GoT is an interesting case. Although GRRM was not writing the scripts (he did a couple episodes early on IIRC, but only a couple), the show's writing quality fell off a cliff once they left the novels behind.

And I'm not just talking about plot and worldbuilding. The dialogue and characterization--which you would expect to depend more on the scriptwriters than the source material--went over that cliff too. It was a fascinating, if infuriating, demonstration of how much difference it makes to have a top-notch writer at the heart of the project. Even at one remove from the actual scripts, Martin was indispensable to the show.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Editors in my opinion have far more impact that anyone else. Bad edit and pacing has messed up more films for me than any other thing. Even when the cast, director and writer mean I should love the thing.

Editors can have a huge impact for sure, though I did see a well-supported argument a while back that editing Oscars pretty often go to films with goddamn terrible editing, that's just so terrible that it's obvious, where great editing is frequently invisible.

The dialogue and characterization--which you would expect to depend more on the scriptwriters than the source material--went over that cliff too.

A shocking amount of the lines and character beats from seasons 1-4 of GoT are lifted directly from the novels. Like, really, it's amazing how much is. And often bit that seem a bit wonky in the earlier seasons are where they chose to divert from the ASoIaF take. Really it should have been a warning of what was to come!

 

[Urriak Uruk]

GoT is an interesting case. Although GRRM was not writing the scripts (he did a couple episodes early on IIRC, but only a couple), the show's writing quality fell off a cliff once they left the novels behind.

And I'm not just talking about plot and worldbuilding. The dialogue and characterization--which you would expect to depend more on the scriptwriters than the source material--went over that cliff too. It was a fascinating, if infuriating, demonstration of how much difference it makes to have a top-notch writer at the heart of the project. Even at one remove from the actual scripts, Martin was indispensable to the show.

I found it especially strange, as I read on of the head writers novels City of Thieves, and its one of my favorite books. But absolutely agree, all the writing was horrendous for those last two seasons.

 

[Dausuul]

Really it should have been a warning of what was to come!

Of course, when the show started, it still seemed plausible that Martin would be done (or at least well into the final novel) before the show caught up to him. Counting "Dance with Dragons," which came out the same year as the first season, he'd put out five books in fifteen years.

As of now, after twenty-five years, he's put out... five books.

I really wish he would take on an apprentice or two, somebody to help get this thing across the finish line. I mean, it's his series, he doesn't have to finish it (in the immortal words of Neil Gaiman, "George R. R. Martin is not your $&@#!"), but the way things are going, the show is going to stand as the final word on how it all turns out, and that's just a damn shame.

 

[CubicsRube]

Back to the topic at hand, I'd be interested to see the sales and profit for MtG vs D&D.

The profit margin for the brand seems extremely high even considering the context around the products. There can be a number of factors playing into this.

One key factor could be the apportionment of internal admin costs. If many head office costs are held within the Hasbro brand and not pro rated into WotC's operating results, that can hide the "real" profit margin of the products.

Similarly expenses for other shared services like software and other intangible assets, marketing and brand investment, shared infrastructure costs, etc will have a similar impact.

Source: I am financial accountant at a global company.

 

[Parmandur]

Back to the topic at hand, I'd be interested to see the sales and profit for MtG vs D&D.

The profit margin for the brand seems extremely high even considering the context around the products. There can be a number of factors playing into this.

One key factor could be the apportionment of internal admin costs. If many head office costs are held within the Hasbro brand and not pro rated into WotC's operating results, that can hide the "real" profit margin of the products.

Similarly expenses for other shared services like software and other intangible assets, marketing and brand investment, shared infrastructure costs, etc will have a similar impact.

Source: I am financial accountant at a global company.

To my knowledge, WotC actually has a lot of those sorts of costs (accountants, marketing, logistics, etc.) of their own in Redmond.

 

[CubicsRube]

To my knowledge, WotC actually has a lot of those sorts of costs (accountants, marketing, logistics, etc.) of their own in Redmond.

Sure. But without knowing the internals, it's impossible to know what Hasbro resources are being used for WotCs benefit.

This can be deliberate, for example retaining costs into regions with higher tax rates, it could be due to the difficulty of estimating the cost of shared resources (such as employee time), or even a lack of review processes/desire to allocate these costs (which normally require an employee at least part time to review and move).

My post is all speculation. But it's worth noting that the profit margin of a division is not necessarily a cut and done figure, as there are a number of levers in the background that can be used.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

With the numbers they are cranking out these days that will not happen for the foreseeable future.

OR, another strategy is to sell the property while it's hot, and make serious bank. Depends on what Hasbro needs right now. They'd have to spin it like heck though, as shareholders might not be happy if you sell the golden goose.

 

[bedir than]

Redmond.

Renton (actually WFH these days).

Although there was a Geekwire story that Wizards is opening a set of offices in Eastgate/Factoria area