Hasbro Hit With Layoffs, Wizards of the Coast Impacted

Hasbro has announced they had laid off "less than 100" employees, with Wizards of the Coast and the Dungeons & Dragons team impacted as a result. Hasbro announced the "operational streamlining" of their team ahead of their third quarter earnings report, along with several organizational changes impacting oversight of different business lines. as part of these business realignments, Chief Marketing Officer Jason Bunge will now oversee Wizards of the Coast and digital marketing moving forward.

EN World has learned that at least four people at Wizards of the Coast were laid off as part of these changes. One of the four is Dixon Dubow, who publicly announced that he was laid off on Twitter yesterday. Dubow was the creator relations manager for Dungeons & Dragons and was a critical part of helping to repair D&D's image after the 2023 OGL scandal. Dubow was a primary point of contact for content creators who worked with the D&D brand.

Hasbro previously laid off a number of Wizards of the Coast employees as part of a wider employee reduction line last year. Numerous employees from various Wizards teams were either laid off or retired as part of a 20% reduction in the overall Hasbro workforce.

Hasbro also announced year to date operating profits of $630 million during their quarterly earnings report, with a $98 million dividend payout to shareholders.

 

[Parmandur]

several organizational changes impacting oversight of different business lines. as part of these business realignments, Chief Marketing Officer Jason Bunge will now oversee Wizards of the Coast and digital marketing moving forward.

Key bit here, it seems. WotC own marketing always stepping on rakes, leading to a reorg.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

sigh

Laying off Dubow doesn't fit with the "end of the production cycle; let's lay everyone off" mentality that is common in the videogame industry. This feels more troubling, honestly (not that the other mindset is not troubling), in that having someone who specializes in working with the contractors who create most of the D&D books may not be seen as a priority for the company.

Hopefully we don't see the cycle of WotC finding more rakes to step on beginning again once the core books are out the door.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Lay off employees then mention profits.

Capitalism gonna capitalism.

 

[JDR]

Hasbro gonna Hasbro. Happy to support smaller, more deserving companies. Hopefully one day I can feel good about buying a D&D product again.

 

[Thakazum]

Hasbro also announced year to date operating profits of $630 million during their quarterly earnings report, with a $98 million dividend payout to shareholders

Ouch, that has to sting even harder.

 

[SteveC]

Ah, I suppose it's time to reset the "days since..." sign again.

 

[Dire Bare]

Well, I'm glad the shareholders are getting their millions.

Sigh.

I hate when reminded we live in a capitalist dystopia.

 

[DarkCrisis]

Ah, I suppose it's time to reset the "days since..." sign again.

"We forgive you, King."

buys latest WotC product

 

[SteveC]

"We forgive you, King."

buys latest WotC product

I think you have a very good point here. I honestly haven't liked a lot of things WotC has done and I'm not purchasing their products from them as a result. What I am doing is supporting the Foundry team by purchasing their products. I guess that's the point where I find myself comfortable. If it was just a question of buying the new book or getting it from WotC electronically ... I wouldn't be doing that. I don't know where that puts me on an ethics scale.

But: I'm also not judging anyone who is buying it, because it's a game we all love. And I sure am not in a position to judge anyone in any way for buying a product (far from it!) In my opinion, WotC made a shrewd decision by licensing their product through a company that I like and want to support. I'm sure there will be a similar thought from people who use Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds (or any other VTT that I'm forgetting the licensing for).