Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks answered questions on the company’s recent layoffs, the pivot to games from toys, the impact of the leaked changes to the D&D Open Gaming License last year, and on overproduction of Magic: The Gathering in an interview on the NPR podcast Here & Now Anytime.

Cocks was asked about the Hasbro layoffs, which cut 1,100 jobs in December 2023 (see “Hasbro to Lay Off Another 1100”), including some senior Wizards of the Coast employees. Cocks emphasized that the layoffs were concentrated in the toy business but did acknowledge that they also impacted WotC. He argued that the WotC layoffs were due to “changing priorities” in a growing business.  

Asked about the pivot to games from toys, Cocks pointed to the difference in growth rates, noting that toys had been growing at a single digit rate over the past decade, while games had grown at a high single digit rate.

Cocks argued that the overwhelmingly negative reaction to the leaked changes to WotC’s Open Gaming License for Dungeons & Dragons early in 2023 (which led to a reversal of the plan, see “WotC Folds”) had not damaged the brand, and that their data shows that overall satisfaction with the game is generally up.

And asked about whether overproduction of Magic: The Gathering was hurting the brand, Cocks pointed to the game’s overall expansion, which he attributed to new styles of casual play and an increasingly diverse player base, which for Magic is now 35% non-male (vs. 45% for D&D).