Hasbro has announced a new company business strategy. The toy and tabletop company behind Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons has announced Playing to Win, a strategy that will focus more on play-fueled franchises and ongoing partnerships.
The Hasbro Playing to Win Strategy Announcement
Hasbro's Playing to Win strategy was announced alongside their Q4 and Full Year 2024 Financial Report. In that report, Hasbro CEO, and AI advocate, Chris Cocks discussed areas of growth, revenue, and decline for the various IPs and studios under Hasbro's umbrella.
One of the major areas of growth was the franchises under the stewardship of Wizards of the Coast. Both WOTC and Digital games were up 4% YoY courtesy of Magic: The Gathering, Monopoly Go, and strong ongoing sales of Baldur's Gate 3.
Cocks even stated that Magic's ecosystem remains "as healthy and engaged" as it has ever been thanks to strong set sales and Secret Lairs.
Dungeons & Dragons also showed ongoing growth. The new 2024 Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and brand-new Monster Manual have been breaking sales records for the best-selling D&D books ever as well as increased digital revenue through the D&D Beyond marketplace.
Notably, while analog sales of Wizards products were down by 16%, digital sales were up 3% and digital licensing was up 7%. This does align with the rise of online TTRPG play over physical book purchases and WOTC's own investment in their own D&D-focused virtual tabletop, Sigil.
Within this financial report, Cocks discussed Hasbro's Playing to Win business strategy. Simply put, the plan involves Hasbro investing hard on their play-first franchises and partnerships, increasing play and appeal to older fans, expanding reach to emerging markets, and building more videogames with their IP.
The first part of this strategy is self-evident in Hasbro's toylines. Their toy robot franchise, Transformers, continues to sell to its target demographic of children, bolstered by the recent Transformers One feature film.
As for partnerships, the company has plenty. In addition to the recent Magic: The Gathering crossover with Final Fantasy, the popular card game will be crossing over with Marvel's Spider-Man in 2025 alongside a third unannounced Universes Beyond set.
Expanding their reach to emerging markets are covered with the recently announced Magic: The Gathering movie coming courtesy of Legendary Pictures and a new Dungeons & Dragons TV show by Netflix and executive producer Shawn Levy.
Finally, building new videogames based on Hasbro's IP aligns with the announcement that Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 developer Saber Interactive is working on new AAA game based on a Hasbro franchise. Given Space Marine 2's gameplay is full of high-octane action, there's a strong chance this game will align with Hasbro's appeal to older fans.
In short, the Playing to Win strategy seems to be the company leaning more into digital sales, leveraging partnerships with other studios for multimedia projects, and investing in their bestselling franchises.
