Do we like them?

Do we like Wizards of the Coast?

Makes Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, plus digital games. Based in Renton, Washington, USA.

Our score: 4 out of 10. Loved games and some charity work, but repeated labour rows, layoffs during record growth and a rocky history with creators. We'd hold off backing them for now.

Wizards makes Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons. It's a Hasbro subsidiary based in Renton, Washington. Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks was Wizards' president from 2016 to 2022, and Wizards' sales nearly doubled to $1.4 billion between 2019 and 2023 under him, according to Bloomberg via the Seattle Times.

In 2023 a leaked draft of a new D&D licence (OGL 1.1) reportedly would have taken a 25% cut of third-party revenue over $750,000. Fans cancelled D&D Beyond subscriptions and 66,000+ signed an open letter. Wizards admitted "we rolled a 1" and backed down. GamesRadar says some third-party publishers left D&D for good.

Now the labour side. The Seattle Times, via Yahoo, reported that Wizards staff began unionising after the 2025 layoffs, which came despite 45% revenue growth. Gizmodo reported Wizards declined to recognise the Arena team's union. PC Gamer relayed workers' claims of a daily union-avoidance email campaign. Gizmodo also reported Wizards had used Pinkerton agents against a YouTuber who leaked cards.

There's a leadership shuffle too. Hipsters of the Coast reports Dan Ayoub is taking over as president from John Hight. Wargamer noted Cocks is a divisive figure in tabletop circles for his enthusiasm for AI and for bringing Universes Beyond crossovers to D&D. On the plus side, Wizards announced another Extra Life drop, with 50% of each purchase going to Seattle Children's Hospital. Our score is 4.