Hasbro Gaming revenues grew 20% in Q1, and the company revealed that Wizards of the Coast digital gaming revenues were $58 million in 2018, as the company reported its Q1 2019 financials on Tuesday.
By the broadest measure, Hasbro Gaming revenues were $243.4 million in Q1, up from $203.5 million in the year ago period. That includes $135.89 million in Franchise Brand revenues (i.e., Magic: The Gathering and Monopoly), both tabletop and digital, which contributed most of the growth, although Duel Masters, Connect 4, and Twister were also mentioned as growing brands in Q1.
For the first time, Hasbro gave some visibility into its Wizards of the Coast digital gaming revenues, although the numbers were from last year. The new visibility was due to a reclassification of digital revenues, which are being moved from the U.S. and Canada Segment to the Entertainment, Licensing and Digital segment, which was created by adding Digital to Entertainment and Licensing effective with the new year. As a result, Hasbro is reporting how much revenue it is reclassifying from the year ago period.
Wizards of the Coast digital Gaming revenue was around $58 million for all of 2018, and for Q1 2018, WotC digital gaming revenue was $10.4 million, with operating profit of $3.2 million. Magic: The Gathering Arena entered beta last year, and uptake through Q1 has been strong, with over 700 million games played to date with the average player spending eight hours per week in the game, according to Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner in the conference call. Hasbro is also rolling out a casual mobile game tied to Magic: The Gathering; Valor’s Reach is currently in test markets.
Overall, Hasbro had a good quarter for sales and profits, a positive turnaround after a tough Q4 (see “Magic,’ ‘D&D’ Rare Bright Spots on Hasbro’s Tough Q4”). Global Q1 revenues were up 2%, and profits were $26.7 million, versus a $112.5 million loss in Q1 2018, which was affected by $61.4 million in costs associated with the Toys ‘R’ Us bankruptcy, among other unusual costs.
