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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[Professor Murder]

MtG Arena is a license to print money.
Current MtG physical products are coming out at a blistering pace and are starting to bypass traditional physical stores all together, leading to more pure profit for WotC.

If I want to run Candlekeep, worst case I'm buying it once physical and once either pdf or DnD beyond. To keep up in standard, thats not even the cost of ONE competitive deck. MtG is a hell of a drug.

 

[willrali]

Come on, guys. Can't we have a thread about a company that makes pretend elf games without sniping at one another?

... this has never been possible in the entire history of the internet. I think back fondly on some flamewars that made my eyeballs melt out of my head.

 

[willrali]

If they're making so much bank, could they extend a little and re-do Planescape?? How about some nice boxed sets? An Unearthed Arcana manual to make the game slightly less bland?

I know, I know, splintering the market, keep doing what you're doing, etc. But the more I look at Wizards and Hasbro, the stronger my pasteurized Disney/Star Wars vibes become.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The hardcore Magic community is a little confused at the moment, because even with FLGS closed, paper Magic sales have boomed. WotC has always maintained that most people playing Magic do it casually at home with friends and family (which is all I have ever done), and it seems they weren't just whistling Dixie. Magic can be pricey to maintain peak competitiveness, but casual Magic when stuck at home with a few people turns out to be very attractive.

Absolutely. Anyone who thought otherwise was fooling themselves. Most players don't try to keep up with standard, don't invest deeply in multiple play modes, etc. Most players have quite old cards in their decks, along with new stuff. The buying habits of hardcore players and most players are quite different, as with most games/hobbies.

 

[Professor Murder]

Absolutely. Anyone who thought otherwise was fooling themselves. Most players don't try to keep up with standard, don't invest deeply in multiple play modes, etc. Most players have quite old cards in their decks, along with new stuff. The buying habits of hardcore players and most players are quite different, as with most games/hobbies.

well.... I suspect it is more complex. Hardcore players are more likely to buy singles from a reseller. Those resellers are buying cards by the pallet and cracking packs to meet that demand. So the player typically buying a pack here or there may indeed be more casual. But those hardcore players are a big part of the business model, just its one WotC cant directly acknowledge because doing so highlights the secondary market which highlights that booster packs are gambling.

 

[Parmandur]

MtG Arena is a license to print money.
Current MtG physical products are coming out at a blistering pace and are starting to bypass traditional physical stores all together, leading to more pure profit for WotC.

If I want to run Candlekeep, worst case I'm buying it once physical and once either pdf or DnD beyond. To keep up in standard, thats not even the cost of ONE competitive deck. MtG is a hell of a drug.

I dunno, my decently competitive Arena Dwarf Tribal deck costs less than Candlekeep if I were to go get the actual cards (which I might, conditions allowing). And by "decently competitive" I don't mean "going to a tournament," I mean playing cards with my wife and enjoying decks full of kitty cats or knights in shining armor (and getting to Platinum on Arena, for that matter).

 

[Scribe]

I dunno, my decently competitive Arena Dwarf Tribal deck costs less than Candlekeep if I were to go get the actual cards (which I might, conditions allowing). And by "decently competitive" I don't mean "going to a tournament," I mean playing cards with my wife and enjoying decks full of kitty cats or knights in shining armor (and getting to Platinum on Arena, for that matter).

Right, but thats not the more common (imo) meaning of competitive.

My competitive Modern (before they absolutely ruined the format and I sold out) deck was over $1K, and it wasnt even the most expensive deck in the format.

Now that they have really bought into the boutique style releases, your looking at single cards in CURRENT sets that are pushing in some cases $100 per.

Its absurd.

 

[Parmandur]

Right, but thats not the more common (imo) meaning of competitive.

My competitive Modern (before they absolutely ruined the format and I sold out) deck was over $1K, and it wasnt even the most expensive deck in the format.

Now that they have really bought into the boutique style releases, your looking at single cards in CURRENT sets that are pushing in some cases $100 per.

Its absurd.

Yeah, but the point is, most people playing and buying cards are not playing "competitive" decks in that limited sense used by the highly enfranchised minority. Per Mark Rosewater, most constructed play is "playing with whatever cards I happen to have" and looks like a Sealed environment. This matches my observed experience as someone who has played Magic to some extent for over 15 years without ever drafting, or playing in a store at all.

 

[darjr]

I’ve heard this before about the large majority of Magic players being casual players. A friend of mine who owns a few stores said to me that the majority of Magic purchasers participated in more formal play. But that’s just one point from his perspective. Even during the pandemic he sells lots of Magic.

 

[Parmandur]

I’ve heard this before about the large majority of Magic players being casual players. A friend of mine who owns a few stores said to me that the majority of Magic purchasers participated in more formal play. But that’s just one point from his perspective. Even during the pandemic he sells lots of Magic.

I would reckon that most people who talk to the store owner about their purchases are participating in formal play. However, they sell Magic cards at Target, WalMart, and Walgreens, and have done so for year and years. Not to mention Amazon. And one FLGS is...one FLGS.