As part of Hasbro's second-quarter financial results, CEO Chris Cocks expressed the company's commitment to focusing on “digital play,” mentioning a $125 million capital package for video games and one to two new releases per year starting in late 2025 or early 2026.
In the Q&A portion of Hasbro's earnings call (transcribed by Seeking Alpha), Cocks noted that the recent appointment of John Hight as president of Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming, as well as an increasing number of executives with video game experience on the company's board of directors, is in line with the company's strategy.
He mentioned the goal of expanding some of its “mid-core and hard-core brands” and “digitizing” them.
Cocks said Hasbro's “total capital” is about $250 million a year, with “about half” of that going toward digital games.
“We think we're at a point where we'll be stable,” he continued. “We're aiming to release one or two new games per year starting in late 2025, possibly early 2026.”
Cocks added that looking at the company's full line of licensed titles, Hasbro has 150 projects that are either in development or already completed.
He commented: “I think between the board changes and the talent we've brought in, most recently with John, but even before that, we have studio leaders like Ames Kirshen, who was in charge of the Batman Arkham series at Warner Bros., James Ohlen, who was the head of creative design at BioWare, responsible for the first Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect. We're going all-in on becoming a digital games company.”
Looking at Hasbro’s second-quarter numbers, revenue from the Wizards of the Coast & Digital Gaming segment was up 20% year-over-year, in stark contrast to declines across the company’s other verticals. Consumer products was down 20% and entertainment was down 90% year-over-year as Hasbro sold its eOne film and television segment to Lionsgate.
During the first half of 2024, Wizards of the Coast & Digital Gaming revenue increased 20% year-over-year.
The segment's success was attributed, in part, to Scopely's Monopoly Go, which has already grossed more than $3 billion in revenue, making Hasbro the “top video game licensor over the past year according to Aldora,” Cocks said.
The continued success of Baldur's Gate 3 was also cited as a contributing factor to the segment's strong quarter.
“When you look at the gaming business, it's clear that digital is here to stay and is a more important factor than ever in growing and strengthening the brands of toy and game companies,” Cocks said. “We're years ahead of our peers, having spent hundreds of millions of dollars building our own studio capabilities and expanding our brands through digital partnerships. Games like Baldur's Gate 3 show us what the future looks like.”
Hasbro announced it will lay off 1,100 employees by December 2023, following a first round of layoffs in which 800 people lost their jobs.
We spoke to Hasbro's head of digital product development, Dan Ayoub, in April about the company's $1 billion bet on in-house game development.