WotC WotC President Chris Cocks is Hasbro’s New CEO

Hasbro has appointed WotC president Chris Cocks as it’s new CEO.

Hasbro Names Chris Cocks as Chief Executive Officer

PAWTUCKET, R.I., January 05, 2022--Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Chris Cocks as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective February 25, 2022. Mr. Cocks currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of...

finance.yahoo.com

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Chris Cocks as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective February 25, 2022. Mr. Cocks currently serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming division, a global leader in tabletop and digital gaming. He will succeed Interim CEO, Rich Stoddart, who was appointed following the October passing of Hasbro’s longtime CEO Brian Goldner. Mr. Stoddart, who has served as a Hasbro independent director since 2014, will become Chair of the Board, effective February 25, 2022.

 

[dirtypool]

The Star Wars Franchise, Indiana Jones Franchise, Back to the Future Franchise, Furious Franchise, Bond Franchise, Star Trek Franchise, Halloween Franchise, Scream Franchise, Jurassic Park Franchise, DCAU, Harry Potter Franchise, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Rocky Franchise, Apes Films, Muppet Movies, Oceans films, Hunger Games films, M:I movies, Mad Max movies and countless others wave politely and remind you that a singular producer is not a guarantor of success, and two examples (one of which is incredibly financially successful despite bandwagon hatred) do not prove an opinion to be factual.

 

[Parmandur]

True. But since it is at Netflix, it will probably get the one season and cancelled treatment, like so many of their other shows.

I mean, they have plenty of multi season shows, they just follow the numbers.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

True. But since it is at Netflix, it will probably get the one season and cancelled treatment, like so many of their other shows.

Arcane will have a 2nd season on Netflix, and that's a series based on League of Legends which might have an equivalent cultural significance to Magic the Gathering.

Somehow even the confusing Netflix series, Dragon's Blood which based on the less popular competitor to LOL, Defense of the Ancients is also getting a 2nd season on Netflix.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

Arcane will have a 2nd season on Netflix, and that's a series based on League of Legends which might have an equivalent cultural significance to Magic the Gathering.

Somehow even the confusing Netflix series, Dragon's Blood which based on the less popular competitor to LOL, Defense of the Ancients is also getting a 2nd season on Netflix.

So even the nerds that D&D nerds made fun of are getting more mainstream?

 

[teitan]

How much of this is evidence of Planescape's success, and how much of it is evidence of the bloat that brought TSR down?



But, Dark Sun had... 6 boxed sets, 26 supplements and adventures, 16 novels!

List of Dark Sun modules and sourcebooks - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

List of Dark Sun novels - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Planescape? It was huge. Dark Sun was big sure but it didn’t have the same influence.

 

[dirtypool]

Planescape? It was huge. Dark Sun was big sure but it didn’t have the same influence.

Dark Sun had enough influence to receive adaptation guidance for 3rd edition play in Dungeon Magazine and a full revision for 4e. Planescape had no such thing

 

[AliasBot]

I mean, they have plenty of multi season shows, they just follow the numbers.

The sense I've gotten is that most of the Netflix shows that get canceled or rushed to wrap up early are new IPs - those series are all there's been, now they're all there will be. Netflix-based shows based on already-existing IPs have had a better track record: She-Ra did 5 seasons, Castlevania did 4, Voltron did 7 or 8, Camp Cretaceous is getting 5, Spy Racers (a Fast & the Furious-universe kids' cartoon) has 6 so far...

I suspect the main difference is that original IPs don't have the weight of a company or brand behind them, so the question of whether to keep a series going comes down purely to Netflix's more cutthroat decision-making. If there's another company with a vested interest in keeping a show going (as advertising for the larger brand, if nothing else), which has some level of influence on the process, odds are better that it keeps going for as long as they're willing to push it.

(In other words, what platform the Magic series will be airing on will likely have less impact on how long it runs for than how invested WotC is in keeping it going. Of course, its previous level of commitment to Magic media that isn't the card game itself has been...highly variable, so that's not necessarily reassuring.)

 

[antiwesley]

Given Cocks’ in-depth knowledge of WotC, I wonder if they will be given slightly more importance going forward and we’ll see increased exposure for D&D as a result.

Dear Olaf, have you been on the Internet lately? About the only exposure that DnD hasn't gotten yet is the sekrit government mind control ray that people believe in. I used to be a retailer. I was at a trade show when the "Essentials" line came out.

WotC held a seminar entitled "How to Advertise Dungeons and Dragons" by the halfway point, the room had very nearly emptied out as it was WotC/Hasbro explaining bragging about buying buswraps for the Penny Arcade convention and so on. It had no information for retailers to use locally, unless 'locally' meant Seattle. At the end, they had a Q&A, I was the only one to raise my hand, and the only one to ask "How does a buswrap in Seatlle advertise my sales of D&D in Wisconsin?" The WotC people stared at me, as if I had asked them if I had killed their kittens. How dare he ask that question!! type attitude. They had no response. They looked like dead fish, their cold, lifeless eyes staring back at me. Another person raised their hand, "How does advertising in Convention book in Seattle help my store in South Carolina?" More dead fish eyes, and then a half-hearted attempt to justify the last hour by saying that the 'customers' would see these things at the Convention and come back wanting to buy the product through us. The other gent and I started at it. "We don't have customers who can afford to travel to Seattle for conventions. Our customers are people who are under 18, or use what disposable income they have to buy product off of Amazon at discounted rates." Dead fish. Dead fish. Dead, lifeless fish. "Okay, thanks for attending our program, we hope to see you tonight at the dinner." and they quickly ran out. At dinner, the Hasbro/WotC sales head at the time, regaled us with a 45 minute talk about HER CHARACTER exploring the Essentials world. Quite a few people walked out after eating the free meal.

The point to this is that they already have enough promotion, and the market is becoming saturated with advertisement. It has been for some time. WotC is Hasbro's cash cow because of the mindless drones who have to rush out and buy every new book. From "Betty the White's Guide to Adventuring as a Senior Citizen" to "Boo's Fantasickal Tales of Adventuring in the Rear End" and fools will spend every dollar they have to get the exclusive pink/brown leathered cover. 6th Ed could be "Roll a d6, if you don't roll a 1, you win!" and it'd make them a few million dollars.

 

[Parmandur]

The sense I've gotten is that most of the Netflix shows that get canceled or rushed to wrap up early are new IPs - those series are all there's been, now they're all there will be. Netflix-based shows based on already-existing IPs have had a better track record: She-Ra did 5 seasons, Castlevania did 4, Voltron did 7 or 8, Camp Cretaceous is getting 5, Spy Racers (a Fast & the Furious-universe kids' cartoon) has 6 so far...

I suspect the main difference is that original IPs don't have the weight of a company or brand behind them, so the question of whether to keep a series going comes down purely to Netflix's more cutthroat decision-making. If there's another company with a vested interest in keeping a show going (as advertising for the larger brand, if nothing else), which has some level of influence on the process, odds are better that it keeps going for as long as they're willing to push it.

(In other words, what platform the Magic series will be airing on will likely have less impact on how long it runs for than how invested WotC is in keeping it going. Of course, its previous level of commitment to Magic media that isn't the card game itself has been...highly variable, so that's not necessarily reassuring.)

Not necessarily: Cowboy Bebop got 1, while Dragon Prince is working in Season 4, and Stranger Things is coming up on 4 as well. The pattern is "what people watch stays, what they don't watch doesn't."

 

[bedir than]

WotC is Hasbro's cash cow because of the mindless drones who have to rush out and buy every new book. From "Betty the White's Guide to Adventuring as a Senior Citizen" to "Boo's Fantasickal Tales of Adventuring in the Rear End" and fools will spend every dollar they have to get the exclusive pink/brown leathered cover. 6th Ed could be "Roll a d6, if you don't roll a 1, you win!" and it'd make them a few million dollars.

This seems like you hate the people who enjoy the modern game.