After reporting a $56 million impairment (because of canceled games), Hasbro seems to be rethinking its big “gaming ambitions.”
Hasbro and WotC have, for the last few years, declared loudly and often that video games and “digital” were the future of both companies. You might recall back in 2021, WotC “leveled up” to be its own division in Hasbro, in charge of digital gaming. In interview after interview, Hasbro and WotC staff repeatedly outlined the company’s big investments in gaming. Most recently, to the tune of $1 billion.
Of course, accompanying those proclamations, usually 6-10 months down the line, we’d get news that Hasbro/WotC had canceled a project in development. Repeatedly. Including a recent game in development from Giant Skull. As recently as this May, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks reaffirmed Hasbro’s commitment to gaming.
Today, as Hasbro shared its Q2 earnings, the company revealed a $56 million “impairment charge.” That is, basically a write-down of something that it believes is worth less than initially reported. And this impairment charge, specifically was attributed to “the company’s refocused Digital Games portfolio for 2028 and beyond.”
Hasbro’s Gaming Impairment
In other words, Hasbro doesn’t think that its digital games portfolio is going to bring in what it thought. And this is likely due to many of its canceled games and laid off staff. After all, it’s hard for a project to bring in revenue when there’s barely anyone working on it.
It’s almost like you have to invest money in something in order to make it. Weird. But I’m not a CEO, so what do I know? I can say, that Hasbro’s CEO did confirm that both Exodus Hasbro/WotC’s big Mass Effect-like sci-fi RPG, and the relatively recently revealed Warlock, a D&D game where you play a Warlock, are still in development. But that Hasbro is switching focus to less risky things with more promise of profit, including “mobile, casino gaming, console, and PC.”
It’s no secret that, alongside the masterpiece of Baldur’s Gate 3, Monopoly Go! has been a big winner for Hasbro, raking in something like $8 billion in revenue. Which means that we probably won’t see Hasbro/WotC put out a big game every year. Or even every two, like it wants to.
But, gaming is still something Hasbro is confident about, as it said in a statement sent to Kotaku earlier today:
“We regularly evaluate our digital games portfolio to ensure we’re investing behind the titles and platforms with the clearest path to long-term success. As part of that ongoing work, we’ve made the decision to no longer proceed with select Digital Games projects, reflecting our refocused portfolio for 2028 and beyond
We remain highly confident in our digital games portfolio. Exodus and Warlock, slated for 2027, both meet the bar we are setting for owned publishing: big audience potential, strong genre fit, franchise potential and meaningful opportunities beyond the initial game.”
If I had to guess, I’d say that Hasbro is currently discovering that it takes time and money to make games that actually earn revenue. And that even then it’s not a guarantee, no matter how much money you throw at it. But surely that can’t be right. Number only go up, right?
Either way, it seems like Exodus and Warlock have some very big expectations set for them. Here’s hoping they can blow everyone away.
Bell of Lost Souls Staff Writer and DM, J.R. covers RPGs of all stripes and on occasion eats sandwiches. You can ask him about either at [email protected]
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